AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 31 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTake 10: Best surprise games
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At Take Ten, we love a good surprise. Even as kids, we didn’t go snooping through the closets looking for our Christmas presents because we’d rather tear off the shiny paper and find out Christmas morning. (“Ooooo … an Ewok Village!”) So, naturally, we enjoy it when games turn out how we didn’t expect. This year, like pretty much every year before it, has given us its share of surprises: Chattahoochee over Camden County, Avondale over Greater Atlanta Christian, Sandy Creek over Carrollton. Who’da thunk it?
As the playoffs creep up on us, we decided to put together our list of the top 10 Biggest Surprise Games of the past 10 years. Did any of those games from this year make the cut? Keep reading to find out.
10: 2003 regular season — St. Pius 20, Marist 17
It had been 21 years since the Lions had taken down their rivals, and this didn’t look like a likely candidate for their streak-breaking victim. The Eagles were undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the state when they made the short trip over to St. Pius for the regular-season finale. And when Marist dominated the first half, taking a 17-6 lead, it only added to the shocking nature of the result.
9: 2003 quarterfinals — Newnan 20, Parkview 14
The biggest surprise here came in what it meant and how it ended. The Panthers were the three-time defending state champs and had only lost one game since 1999. Newnan was a top-10 team, but finally slaying the Parkview dragon was going to take a Herculean effort. The Cougars got that effort from Santez Mays, who ran a fumble back for a touchdown with 7 seconds left for the win.
8: 1999 semifinals — Lincoln County 35, Commerce 21
Commerce had been No. 1 the entire year, entering the game 13-0 and was the solid favorite to win it all. Lincoln County was only 7-3 during the regular season, but this was one of the games that helped build the Larry Campbell legend in the postseason.
7: 2005 first round — Southwest DeKalb 17, Tucker 2
For all of Tucker’s regular-season success, the Tigers have only been to the Dome once for the semifinals, in 2003. After three straight trips to at least the quarterfinals, though, this looked like it might be the team that would turn the corner. Instead, the Panthers shut down a Tucker offense that was averaging 38.6 points per game and did just enough offensively to claim the upset.
6: 1999 semifinals — Lowndes 31, Northside 28
Before the game, Lowndes looked like it might have a chance if the Vikings could play a flawless game against the undefeated, No. 1 Eagles. That chance was gone once Lowndes fell behind by 25 at halftime against a team that had dominated its opponents all year. Somehow, the Vikings charged back to win and shut out Brunswick the following week to win the school’s first state title in 19 years.
5: 2002 quarterfinals — East Coweta 35, Harrison 28
East Coweta’s was one of the most improbable playoff runs in recent memory. The Indians started the year 0-3 and only went 5-5 in the regular season but got hot in the postseason. This was the culmination, taking advantage of some Hoya injuries to take down undefeated Harrison. No previous opponent had scored more than 17 on the Hoyas, as the Indians got in the way of a much-anticipated Harrison-Parkview showdown.
4: 2005 first round — Douglas County 24, Warner Robins 20
The Demons were the defending state champions just starting another run. Douglas was a solid but unranked team that looked like it might be overmatched going into the game and definitely looked overmatched as Warner Robins jumped out to a 17-point lead. But the Tigers charged back, and then-coach Phil Williams called it “The greatest win in the history of our school.”
3: 2006 quarterfinals — Warner Robins 14, Norcross 3
If the Demons’ win over No. 2 Camden County the previous week was surprising, this one was downright eye-popping. A Warner Robins team that only went 6-4 in the regular season, losing two of its last three, was a giant killer all of a sudden. The Blue Devils were unbeaten, No. 1 in the state and No. 15 in the country before the loss in a game Warner Robins dominated without a single complete pass.
2: 2005 regular season — Ware County 28, Lowndes 7
Ware simply wasn’t in the same class as Lowndes - literally. Ware was a good AAAA team, but the Gators weren’t supposed to be anything more than a warmup for region play for the AAAAA No. 1 Vikings. In retrospect, it’s even more shocking than it was at the time. Lowndes didn’t really come close to losing the rest of the year, not giving up more than 18 points to any opponent on the way to the state title.
1: 2005 second round — Cook 20, Dublin 14
The Fighting Irish dominated their first 11 opponents, giving up 10 total points while scoring at least 45 points in each game while ascending to No. 1 in AA. Cook was a solid but seemingly unspectacular team on the road. Surprising doesn’t begin to describe it. The Hornets scored double the number of points Dublin had surrendered all season while holding the Irish to just 14 points. Cook then got beaten soundly the following week, 27-6 by Greene County.
Go on. Take Ten. Which ones did we leave out? And what do you remember about these games? Surprise us with your insights. Give us YOUR take.
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Permalink | Comments (46) | Post your comment | Categories: Take Ten
Comments
By Don
October 31, 2007 12:19 PM | Link to this
5-5 Bainbridge upsetting undefeated 10-0 Sandy Creek in 2003 31-13.
By November 2005
October 31, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this
Unranked ML King Upsets NO. 1 Carollton in First round of AAA playoffs
By Jeff Haws
October 31, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this
Good one, Don.
I had that on my list of choices but ended up leaving it out only because it’s hard to say what effect the in-game injury to the Sandy Creek QB had on the Pats. It took awhile for them to get EMS to him that night, and he was taken away on a stretcher. At that time, it was a close game. Afterward, Bainbridge pretty much dominated.
But yeah, that one definitely could have been on the list. I just had so many to choose from that I couldn’t include them all.
By Jeff Haws
October 31, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this
That’s another one I considered, November.
Part of omitting that one was that I didn’t want to have half of the 10 come from 2005. Another part was that I, personally, wasn’t that surprised when it happened. I was thinking Carrollton would go out early that year and, while I didn’t necessarily anticipate it being that early, MLK was a good team that was definitely capable.
By Atlanta50
October 31, 2007 1:25 PM | Link to this
Unranked 9-2 Westminster defeats 11-0 Gainesville 16-6 in the 2nd round of the AAA playoffs in 2003
By K
October 31, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this
What about MLK upsetting Peach County @ PC in 2004 to go to the dome.
By Sugrueisajoke
October 31, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
nice post atlanta50, i think you had like 14 sacks in that game.
By 28 Sweep Pass
October 31, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this
The Dublin folks still seem to shudder whenever they hear the word “Cook.” Even though they say that they “avenged” the loss in the 2006 playoffs, that upset is a great choice for the Top Ten listing this week. Who’d a’thunk it?
By laneyovervidalia2004
October 31, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
2004 unranked Lucy C. Laney over #1 ranked, undefeated 12-0, at home over Vidalia 34-28.
By Reeze
October 31, 2007 3:51 PM | Link to this
Mr.Haws, please never again make reference to that NSWR/lowndes 1999 semi final matchup.I am still under therapy for that one.
By kunifa
October 31, 2007 4:10 PM | Link to this
1972 Douglas County 6 vs North Clayton 7 Enough said, I still can’t get over it :( I contribute this to my depression…:)
By Ham
October 31, 2007 4:20 PM | Link to this
Valdosta should be on the top ten in GA
By Jeff Haws
October 31, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
Reeze-
I can imagine. That had to be a painful loss. But at least it came against a team that showed how good it was by winning the state title the next week.
Think of this list as therapy. Look at Dublin from a couple of years ago. No offense to Cook, but they had no business beating that Dublin team. How does Dublin lose that game? That one was pretty amazing.
By brent wicker
October 31, 2007 5:52 PM | Link to this
Walton over Valdosta in the 17-14 in the 2004 State Playoffs
By John
October 31, 2007 7:44 PM | Link to this
Benedictine over LaGrange- 1996 2nd Round State Playoffs
By John
October 31, 2007 7:48 PM | Link to this
Benedictine over LaGrange- 1996 2nd Round State Playoffs
By CLTN
October 31, 2007 7:59 PM | Link to this
MLK beating Carrollton was big but lets remember MLK already had the team from a AAAAA size school playing AAA schools. They were giants!
By Jeff Haws
October 31, 2007 8:05 PM | Link to this
brent-
I dunno about that one. That game was at Walton. The Raiders were 11-1, while Valdosta was 8-4. I think an oddsmaker would have made Walton about a 7-point favorite in that game. The only “upset” about that was that it was as close as it was.
By A
October 31, 2007 10:33 PM | Link to this
How about Westminister Over Dacula in the 96 AA state quarterfinals. Dacula was undefeated and Westminister went through AA playoffs upsetting teams left and right until they finally lost in final four to Washington County.
By king
November 1, 2007 8:07 AM | Link to this
2004 Martin luther King upsets Peach county at Peach county.
By whatever
November 1, 2007 8:10 AM | Link to this
yea, CLTN that year king upset carrolton was the year they were supposed to be the best team in the state.
By EPDAD
November 1, 2007 8:59 AM | Link to this
1985 PAULDING CO. PATRIOTS 21 McEachern INDIANS 7
PAULDING WAS 2-6-1 MCEACHERN 9-0 RANKED 2-3 IN STATE WOW””WHAT A GAME
By EPDAD
November 1, 2007 9:06 AM | Link to this
1985***1985 PAULDING CO. PATRIOTS 21 MCEACHERN INDIANS 7 WOW WHAT A GAME… PAULDING CO. WAS 2-6-1 MCEACHERN 9-0 THIS WAS COACH PHILIPPS GREATEST WIN BY FAR!!!!!!!
By JDAWG
November 1, 2007 9:21 AM | Link to this
How about 1984 unranked Lowndes travels to Clarke Central and knocks off the #1 ranked team in the nation 31-6. This should probably be #1 on the list!
By Rossi
November 1, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
1977 Region 8-AA championship game. Stephens County 10, Unbeaten and number 1 ranked Gainesville 0.
By JDAWG
November 1, 2007 9:25 AM | Link to this
Sorry, I just realized that you said in the last ten years, but Lowndes over Clarke Central in ‘84 was still unbelievable!
By Jeff Haws
November 1, 2007 9:46 AM | Link to this
JDAWG-
Yeah, that one was pretty incredible. No doubt. If I had kept going back to infinity, it would have made for some really difficult research and decisions on what to leave in, so I kept it to the past 10 years to make it a bit more palatable.
Good thought, though. If I had gone back another 15 years, there’s a good chance that would have been No. 1.
By Coach T
November 1, 2007 10:54 AM | Link to this
2001 Ghsa state quarterfinals North Forsyth traveled to Sandersvile and Defeated Coach Rick Tomberlin and Washington County 17-14 to advance to the Georgia Dome.
By COWBELLMAN
November 1, 2007 10:59 AM | Link to this
How about in 2001 when Paulding county beat Americus in the playoffs. Americus had some great receivers and a pretty dang qb.
By Walker
November 1, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this
How about 6-4 Sequoyah going into 10-0 and #2 in the state Tucker and beating them in 17-0 in the first round in 2001? The wet and muddy weather helped make it a good one for the Sequoyah team. That was a great game, I don’t remember anyone picking Sequoyah to win that game, aside from the folks in Hickory Flat.
By Camden Boy
November 1, 2007 1:25 PM | Link to this
Dacula upsetting Camden County 10-7 in the 2005 state quarterfinals. Whats even worse is the fact that we had the game winning touchdown called back for a holding call. That was my sophmore year, and let me tell you it was like a movie.
By sw
November 1, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
In regards to MLK 15 Peach Co 14 in 2004
It was an upset only in name, b/c King was an upstart and Peach was highly ranked. Everyone with any knowledge knows King was also the beneficiary of the the fact that Dougherty instigated a fight with Peach the game before, which they fell for. Though a passionate rivalry, the game was an obvious loss for Dougherty and they therefore turned to fisticuffs. After a substantial delay, a number of players on both sides were ejected. The ejection called for the ejected players to miss the next game. It didn’t matter to Dougherty b/c their season was done and they ironically had a number of seniors involved in the fracas. However, this was a major loss for Peach because individuals (e.g., Chris Slaughter) missed the game against King. In addition, qb Antonio Henton was injured against Dougherty (u do remember him entering the game & hobbling on the field to start the last drive of the 1st half against King, right?). It doesn’t take a novice of GHS football to remember what happened when those two were healthy and on the field together. People in Fort Valley, including myself, were praying that we could slide by King and make it to the next game b/c of the suspensions from the Dougherty game. Yes, King earned the victory but to list it as one of the top 10 upsets? No. That would be a stretch. As a side note, I am pulling for King to win the state title this year.
Any upset on this list can be questioned but there is no debating Cook-Dublin as #1.
By buldawg216
November 1, 2007 2:19 PM | Link to this
What about 2001 Starrs Mill 11-0 going into McConnell Talbert Stadium and thumping Warner Robins 21-7 even with Willie Reid?
By Raiderbeater
November 1, 2007 4:21 PM | Link to this
1985 Paulding County (2-6-1) 21, #2 McEachern (9-0) 7
By RHSalumni
November 1, 2007 5:13 PM | Link to this
1996- Defending state champs Southwest Dekalb geting knocked out of the first round by Roswell 9-7
By john
November 1, 2007 6:29 PM | Link to this
Northview Titans upset Chattahoochee Cougars 22-21 on botched extra point turned two point conversion.. 2003 i think
By spartan
November 1, 2007 8:02 PM | Link to this
campbell beating central gwinnett last year in 1st round
By king alum
November 1, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this
As a player on that King team from Peach County, that was definitly the greatest game of my high school career, with Carrolton being a close second. No one gave us a snowballs chance in hell in EITHEr of those games. And Peach county wasnt as depelted as people try to make it sound. They had plenty of capable players who PLAYED and we were simply the better (and luckier) team that day. It was a top 20 suprising upset
By Chamblee Alum
November 1, 2007 9:15 PM | Link to this
That Southwest dekalb win over Tucker wasn’t suprising to me. Tucker had been exposed by Chamblee weeks earlier only to lose because of bad officiating. I was at this game (our playoff game was on saturday) and SWD used many of our plays and formations and just dominated Tucker.
By Reeze
November 1, 2007 10:32 PM | Link to this
Can’t forget about the #1 Nationally Ranked Warner Robins Demons (1989)defeated by NSWR Eagles 7-6
By DawgGrad
November 2, 2007 7:54 AM | Link to this
I was on the sidelines for the Newnan Parkview game - and that was an incredible football game! Newnan went in without much of a chance - Parkview had their noses up in the air - and hadn’t been beaten on their home field in 6 years! Good choice for one of the top 10 upsets in the past 10 years. Great list - this is fun!
By Hornet03
November 2, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this
Cook played an almost perfect football game to beat Dublin that year. In my opinion, Dublin was no doubt on its way to an easy State title that year, but for one Friday night, Cook knew something that no else in the state knew, “how to beat the best team in GA.” Dublin is a class act, as well as Cook, it was just a great game both ways. Those teams have met three straight years in the playoffs. All but one were nail biting games (60-0 Dublin win last year).
By SGT CHRIS
November 2, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this
HEY REEZE…UNLESS NSWR BEAT WR IN THE REGULAR SEASON, THEY WERENT THE ONES THAT BEAT WR IN 89..THAT WAS LAGRANGE AND SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK RODNEY HUDSON THAT BEAT WR AND KNOCKED THEM OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS THAT YEAR…TALK ABOUT UPSETS LOL!!!
By surelyujest
November 2, 2007 12:32 PM | Link to this
golgatha-28, ricks academy-10…hands down!!
By spectatorSHS
November 2, 2007 11:11 PM | Link to this
I DONT KNOW HOW ANYONE COULD FORGET #3 AND UNDEFEATED MARIETTA GETTING BEAT IN THE 2004 SECOND ROUND BY SEQUOYAH. 17-14 IN OT. I BELIEVE MARIETTA’S QB THREW 4-5 PICKS IN ONE GAME AFTER THROWING ONLY 2 THE WHOLE SEASON.. WHAT A GAME
By footballfan
November 2, 2007 11:38 PM | Link to this
yeah i was just about to bring that up spectator. as a marietta fan that was truly the biggest upset marietta had witnessed in a long time, as they prepared to go to the third round against lowndes, completely overlooking sequoyah. you had to hand it to sequoyah, even though there were insights later about an illegal player…