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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
AJC Football Predictions: Northside-Lowndes will be close
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrilla in Manilla. The War on the Shore. The Trial of the Century. The Rumble in the Jungle. The War of Northern Aggression. The Shot Heard Round the World.
We sports fans (and history buffs) love a good title to throw on a game or event that transcends the sports and takes on epic proportions.
Such is the case this week as the state’s football senses focus on a concrete structure off of I-75 South in a town that has become synonymous with high school football excellence. Make no mistake about it; tonight’s game between Northside (not Warner Robins) and Lowndes (not county) is the biggest sports event of the weekend in the state of Georgia.
The Bulldogs are off. The Falcons are, well, the Falcons. If they were playing this game at Bobby Dodd on Saturday night, it would be a sellout — something the Jackets probably won’t get against Duke.
Sports writers, venters, bloggers and columnists have had this date circled on the calendar since last December when Lowndes wiped up North Gwinnett for the Class AAAAA state title and Northside claimed its second consecutive Class AAAA title. So, finally, let the fun begin, and if the game is indeed a classic, someone come up with a heckuva title for it.
Northside is averaging 27 points per game and giving up 9.2, most of which has come in mop-up duty. Lowndes’ offense scores at a clip of 38.8 a game and has three shutouts while allowing an average of 4.2 points per game on defense.
Running back Greg Reid and the Lowndes offense is the unstoppable force, while the Northside defense of tackle Abry Jones and linebacker Eric Fields is the immovable object. But something has to give, and it is on the other side of the ball for both teams.
Flat out, I think Lowndes’ defense is just better than Northside’s offense. No longer is wizard Marquez Ivory back there to bail the Eagles out when things break down, and Lowndes has a defense that will make an opposing offense simply break down. I’ll be in other parts of the state, but someone please TiVo this one for me. Lowndes 21, Northside 17.
Now that the BIG ONE is out of the way, it was a 7-3 record for the peerless prep pigskin prognosticator (that’s a lot of alliteration for you English majors out there) last week. That’s about what you could expect from a BCS-shaking weekend as Newnan made a mockery of the Upset Special of the Week, and Marist made a mockery out of all things having to do with Tucker.
Region 5 ramblings — There are two big games this week in Region 5-AAAAA, and one has state repercussions. East Paulding and Etowah meet in a battle of respect since both teams are undefeated and feel they should be ranked. After this week, one of them will deserve to be. Load the cannon, boys, because I want to hear it fire a few times. Whitfield is coming to Paulding County! Raiders blast the Eagles. … The other game is between Marietta and McEachern — two teams that are “fair to middlin” at best, but they have a good history. I’ll give the edge to the Indians in Powder Springs.
A lot in a little — Running out of space, so here goes a quick rundown of the best of the rest. In Gwinnett, take South Gwinnett at home, Grayson to keep on rolling and Blessed Trinity to top GAC. Gwinnett Rules! … No. 9 Carrollton is a lot tougher at home, but still take them over Cartersville. … No. 2 Westminster to handle Lovett … Upset Special of the Week: Sequoyah at home over No. 3 Dalton. … M.L. King to trounce Douglass. … Whitewater in an aqua-battle over Sandy Creek. … Whit(e)field Academy (you just knew I was partial to the Wolfpack) over Landmark Christian.
Pick / pan our Predix: Tell us how wrong - or right - we are with this week’s picks. And send in your predictions for Week 6.
AJC Weekend Predictions - Week 6
FRIDAY: Winner / Loser
Adairsville / Dade Co.
Alcovy / Dutchtown
Allatoona / North Paulding
Apalachee / Winder-Barrow
Appling Co. / Pierce Co.
Athens Academy / Commerce
Bainbridge / Jones Co.
Baldwin / Burke Co.
Banks Co. / East Jackson
Berrien / Albany
Blessed Trinity / GAC
Bowdon / Mt. Zion-Carrollton
Bradwell Institute / Jenkins
Brantley Co. / Jeff Davis
Brooks Co. / Mitchell Co.
Brookstone / Pacelli Catholic
Brookwood / Meadowcreek
Brunswick / Wayne Co.
Buford / Avondale
Cairo / Worth Co.
Calhoun / Gordon Central
Calvary Day / Bryan Co.
Camden Co. / Beach
Carrollton / Cartersville
Cedar Grove / Druid Hills
Cedar Shoals / Monroe Area
Central-Carroll / Haralson Co.
Chattooga / Sonoraville
Chestatee / Lumpkin Co.
Clarke Central / Rockdale Co.
Clinch Co. / Bacon Co.
Columbia / Towers
Creekview / Johnson-Gainesville
Crisp Co. / Perry
Dacula / South Gwinnett
Darlington / Walker
Dawson Co. / Oglethorpe Co.
Decatur / Cross Keys
Douglas Co. / Lithia Springs
Dublin / Bleckley Co.
Eagle’s Landing / Rutland
Eagle’s Landing Christ. / S.W. Atl. Christ.
East Laurens / Southeast Bulloch
East Paulding / Etowah
Evans / Butler
Fannin Co. / Union Co.
Fellowship Christ. / Our Lady of Mercy
Fitzgerald / Cook
Flowery Branch / West Hall
Gainesville / West Forsyth
Glascock Co. / N. Cobb Christian
Gordon Lee / Trion
Grady / Riverwood
Grayson / Shiloh
Greene Co. / Monticello
Greenville / Chattahoochee Co.
Habersham Cent. / Madison Co.
Hardaway / Upson-Lee
Harrison / Cherokee
Hart Co. / Jackson Co.
Hawkinsville / Irwin Co.
Heard Co. / Spencer
Henry Co. / Putnam Co.
Hephzibah / Lakeside-Evans
Hillgrove / South Paulding
Hiram / Paulding Co.
Holy Innocents’ / Pace Academy
Jackson / South Atlanta
Jefferson / Riverside Military
Jefferson Co. / Swainsboro
Johnson Co. / Wheeler Co.
Johnson-Sav. / Groves
Jonesboro / Ola
LaFayette / Heritage-Catoosa
LaGrange / Kendrick
Laney / Toombs Co.
Lanier Co. / Atkinson Co.
Lincoln Co. / Aquinas
Loganville / Heritage-Conyers
Lowndes / Northside-W.R.
M.L. King / Douglass
Macon Co. / Crawford Co.
Marion Co. / Central-Talbotton
Mary Persons / Woodland-Stockbridge
Mays / Tri-Cities
McEachern / Marietta
McIntosh / Fayette Co.
McIntosh Co. Acad. / Benedictine
McNair / Clarkston
Metter / Montgomery Co.
Miller Co. / Terrell Co.
Morgan Co. / Franklin Co.
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro / Stockbridge
Newton / Redan
North Clayton / Forest Park
North Cobb / Woodstock
North Hall / White Co.
North Oconee / Rabun Co.
Northeast-Macon / Southwest-Macon
Northgate / Starr’s Mill
Northwest Whitfield / Cass
Oconee Co. / Elbert Co.
Parkview / Central Gwinnett
Peach Co. / Monroe
Pepperell / Armuchee
Pickens / Gilmer
Pike Co. / Manchester
Prince Ave. / Athens Christian
Richmond Academy / Harlem
Ridgeland / Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe
Ringgold / S.E. Whitfield
Rockmart / Temple
Rome / Woodland-Cartersville
St. Pius / North Atlanta
Sav. Country Day / Portal
Schley Co. / Taylor Co.
Seminole Co. / Calhoun Co.
Sequoyah / Dalton
South Effingham / Glynn Academy
Sprayberry / Osborne
Statesboro / Effingham Co.
Stephenson / Luella
Stewart Co. / Webster Co.
Tattnall Co. / Long Co.
Thomas Co. Central / Americus-Sumter
Thomasville / Early Co.
Thomson / Liberty Co.
Tift Co. / Houston Co.
Towns Co. / Hebron Christian
Treutlen / Jenkins Co.
Troup / Columbus
Twiggs Co. / Turner Co.
Union Grove / Greenbrier
Valdosta / Colquitt Co.
Vidalia / Screven Co.
Villa Rica / Alexander
Washington / Therrell
Washington-Wilkes / Hancock Central
Wesleyan / Social Circle
West Laurens / Richmond Hill
Westside-Macon / Lee Co.
Westminster / Lovett
Whitefield Acad. / Landmark Christian
Whitewater / Sandy Creek
Wilcox Co. / Telfair Co.
Wilkinson Co. / Randolph-Clay
Windsor Forest / Savannah
Woodward Academy / Spalding
SATURDAY
Callaway / Jordan
Coffee / Warner Robins
Coosa / Model
Cross Creek / Glenn Hills
Georgia Military / Mt. Paran
Mundy’s Mill / Morrow
Savannah Christian / Claxton
Stephens Co. / Eastside
Westover / Dougherty
Westside-Aug. / Josey
The Weekend Predix W-L percentage
Last week: 128-32 (.800) / Season: 613-196 (.758)
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