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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Take 10: Georgia’s most highly anticipated football games
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Northside-Lowndes game Friday night in Valdosta matches reigning state champions that are ranked nationally. In terms of build-up for a regular-season game, how does that rank all-time?
Here are the 10 mostly highly anticipated regular-season high school football games in Georgia history. And check out these classic AJC archive photos: Carver tops Brown, 1966.
Honorable mention
West Rome at Carrollton, 1971 — Both were 9-0. West Rome was No. 1 in Class AA, and Carrollton was No. 1 in A. It was a young Nick Hyder (West Rome) against the legend, Charlie Grisham (Carrollton). West Rome won 14-7.
The aftermath — Carrollton won Class A, but West Rome was upset in the AA semifinals. Hyder left in 1974 for Valdosta, where he would win seven state titles.
10: Washington-Wilkes at Lincoln County, 1986 — It was the season opener, and Lincoln was defending Class A champ, while Washington-Wilkes was Class AA runner-up. Both were preseason No. 1. Washington-Wilkes won 12-10, ending a 10-game losing streak in a series that dates to 1922.
The aftermath — Lincoln repeated as Class A champion, and Wilkes wound up runner-up again in AA after going 14-0.
9: Tift County at Valdosta, 1983 — In a game between 9-0 teams, defending Class AAAA champion (but ranked No. 4) Valdosta ‘’upset’’ No. 2 Tift 14-10 to extend its winning streak to 25 games.
Aftermath — Tift won the rematch in the region playoffs and then its first state title, beating LaGrange 59-6 in the AAAA final.
8: Brown vs. Carver, 1966 — It was the first year of integrated football in the Georgia High School Association, but no all-black team was state-ranked. Carver upset No. 7 Brown 20-7 at Cheney Stadium, signaling the start of the modern era of Georgia high school football. Carver was No. 7 in the next Atlanta Journal poll.
The aftermath — Carver was beaten twice down the stretch, and Brown emerged as city champion. Carver would reach the Class AA title game the next year. Historic photos: Carver tops Brown, 1966
7: Lowndes at Valdosta, 1980 — Both were 7-0. Lowndes had been No. 1 since preseason, although it had never won a state title. Valdosta, the underdog in a rebuilding year, won 17-8. Using the Bradley-Terry model, computer-rankings expert Loren Maxwell determined these were the best two teams that ever have played each other in the regular season since 1948.
The aftermath — Lowndes won the rematch in region playoffs 6-0 - its first-ever victory at Hyder-Bazemore Stadium, and its first state title.
6: Brookwood at Parkview, 2003 — About 10,000 fans squeezed in to Parkview’s Big Orange Jungle and saw second-ranked Brookwood end the top-ranked Panthers’ state-record 46-game winning streak in a rematch of the previous year’s Class AAAAA title game. The final was 35-21.
The aftermath — Parkview reached the quarterfinals. Brookwood finished unranked.
5: Avondale at Decatur, 1967 — Both were 8-0, but in those days, only the region champion qualified for the state playoffs. People were photographed watching the game on telephone poles at Decatur Stadium. Decatur’s Dennis Chadwick (brother of Alan Chadwick) and Avondale’s Charlie Dudish were the state’s best quarterbacks. Decatur won 24-14 and jumped Columbus to take the No. 1 ranking in Class AAA.
The aftermath — Decatur lost to Columbus 6-0 in the semifinals.
4: Thomasville at Central-Thomasville, 1987 — The annual city championship featured Class AAA’s top two teams (Central No. 1, Thomasville No. 2), both 5-0, and each fielded an AJC Super 11 quarterback — Central’s Charlie Ward and Thomasville’s Shawn Jones. Thomasville won 15-6 before 10,000 fans.
The aftermath — Central beat Thomasville in the region final and reached the Class AAA semifinals. In 1990, Jones led Georgia Tech to a national title, and Ward led Florida State to its first national title in 1993.
3: Northside vs. Warner Robins, 2000 — Two 9-0 teams, one No. 1, the other No. 2, each averaging more than 40 points a game, winning every game by at least 14 points. Northside had Chansi Stuckey, and Warner Robins had Willie Reid, both future NFL players. A crowd of 20,000 at McConnell-Talbert Stadium saw Warner Robins win 23-20.
The aftermath — Both teams lost in the second round of the playoffs.
2: Northside at Lowndes, this Friday night — Two nationally ranked teams, two reigning state champions, one with a 35-game winning streak, the other holding three of the past four titles in the highest class. Both are ranked in USA Today’s Super 25.
The aftermath — We’ll find out.
1: Boys’ vs. Tech, 1945 — Games between old Tech and Boys’ high schools, which shared the same campus at what’s now Grady High, were the top-drawing sporting events in the state in those days except when Georgia played Georgia Tech. For this one, a record crowd of 25,000 gathered at Ponce de Leon Park, and another 7,000 were turned away at the gate. Boys’ had won five of the past six state titles, while Tech was 9-0, with its best team in years. Boys’ won 14-0 on touchdown runs by Porter Payne (father of Billy Payne) and went on to win the GIAA title for the ninth and final time.
The aftermath — The Atlanta schools closed in 1947. The series ended 18-18-1.
Go on. Take Ten. Tell us which games you think were Georgia’s most highly anticipated of all-time. And let us know how you’d rank our top 10.
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State report: The Great Northwest, Take 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state HOT and NOT report moves to the great Northwest this week where temperatures are always a little bit cooler, but the football heats up the fans. Again, we will divide the Northwest into two reports. This week, we focus on the Class AAAAA and AAAA teams in the area.
HOT
> East Paulding: The Raiders have made the transition from Class AAAA to AAAAA with relative ease this season with their biggest tests on the horizon. East Paulding takes on Etowah, North Cobb, Harrison and Kennesaw Mountain during the next four weeks, and coach John Reid’s team and the East Paulding fans can earn the respect in AAAAA that they are looking for.
> Dalton: Cat scratch fever is growing in Dalton, and with a 5-0 overall record and 2-0 mark in region play, the third-ranked Catamounts have taken care of business. However, Dalton ends the season with games against Sequoyah, Cass, Rome and Northwest Whitfield before playing a region play-in game for a chance to make the playoffs. Nothing is guaranteed for coach Adam Windegarden’s team.
> Rome: The No. 9 Wolves dropped the season opener to East Paulding, but have looked impressive since then. A gritty 26-21 victory over Sequoyah should assure that Rome will be 6-1 headed into the two-game gauntlet of Northwest Whitfield and Dalton.
> Northwest Whitfield: The jury is still out on the Bruins, who have a 4-1 record overall, but also sport a black eye with a 21-14 loss to Hiram. Mike Falleur’s team played 12 games last season, but the playoffs still a long way to go and the bulk of NW Whitfield’s schedule is back-loaded.
NOT
> Murray County: Victories will be hard to come by for the Indians, who were 0-for-last season. Murray County already has a win this season, and three could come their way by the end of the year.
> Paulding County: The Patriots (1-3) have given up more than 30 points in their three losses this season, and their only victory came against 1-4 Haralson County.
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