Douglas County took a big step toward its first region title in 16 years when it beat Mays 23-8 Friday night, ending the Raiders’ streak of 19 consecutive victories in region games.
The win left Douglas County as the only 5-AAAAAA team that is unbeaten in region play. The Tigers (6-1, 5-0) have won six consecutive games since a 17-0 season-opening loss to Hillgrove, which is undefeated in Class AAAAAAA and likely to move up from its No. 9 ranking after knocking off No. 7 McEachern on Friday.
Douglas County plays at winless Tri-Cities next week but closes the season against Creekside (Oct. 26) and Alexander (Nov. 2), the two teams that are now tied with Mays for second place. All three are 3-3 overall and 3-1 in region play and have not faced each other yet.
Douglas County’s last region title came in 2002, when the Tigers finished the regular season 10-0 and lost to Griffin 21-14 in the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs. The Tigers were 10-2 last year, matching the school’s best record since the 2002 season.
Mays lost a region game for the first time since Nov. 6, 2015, when it lost to Stephenson 10-9 in the Region 6-AAAAA championship game.
Here are some of the other big stories in Class AAAAAA from Week 8:
- Allatoona pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the week when it knocked off third-ranked Harrison 23-7 in a Region 6 game. It was the Buccaneers’ first victory in three tries against their Cobb County rivals, who won the region title last season. Allatoona and Harrison are both 4-1 in region play, a half-game behind fourth-ranked Creekview and a half-game ahead of fourth-place Sequoyah.
- The leaders in 1-AAAAAA after the first weekend in region play are not No. 1 Lee County and No. 2 Coffee. Lee County had the week off, but Coffee wasn’t as fortunate, losing to sixth-ranked Northside-Warner Robins 30-20. Northside led 23-7 at halftime and held on. The Eagles share first place with fifth-ranked Valdosta, which had little trouble with Houston County in a 55-14 win.
- Greenbrier, which went 5-0 in non-region games each of the past two years but failed to make the playoffs, appears to be taking a new approach. The Wolfpack went 0-5 in non-region games this season but opened play in Region 3 with a 21-10 win over Heritage-Conyers, which won the region in 2016 and finished third last year. Greenbrier is tied for first with Lakeside-Evans and Grovetown.
- Cambridge (3-4, 3-2) climbed back into the playoff picture in Region 7 with a 40-21 victory over Northview (4-3, 3-2). It was Cambridge’s second consecutive victory after a 1-4 start. The Bears and Titans are tied for the fourth playoff spot, although Cambridge currently holds the tiebreaker advantage. Johns Creek and Centennial are unbeaten in region play, and Alpharetta is 3-1.
- Dacula and Lanier, the only Gwinnett County teams in AAAAAA, are tied for first place in Region 8 after Dacula beat Apalachee 34-21 and Lanier beat Winder-Barrow 38-20. Both teams are 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the region. Apalachee (3-4, 1-1) fell into a tie for third place with Habersham Central, which beat Gainesville 49-34. Apalachee and Habersham both missed the playoffs last year.
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