When the results of reclassification were announced in the offseason, much of the talk about the schools coming into Class 6A centered on the four private schools moving up, Roswell’s move down from the highest class, and the return of Gainesville and its new coach, Josh Niblett from Hoover, Ala.
Thomas County Central was under the radar at the time, but it’s getting harder and harder to overlook the Yellow Jackets.
Thomas County Central (3-0) made its debut in the rankings at No. 9 this week after a 35-14 victory over then-No. 5 Bainbridge of Class 5A Friday night. It was the Yellow Jackets’ third consecutive lopsided victory against a lower-classification but well-respected team. They had beaten Class 4A Cairo 50-7 in the opener and rival Thomasville of Class 3A 31-0 in Week 2.
Sam Brown was 14-of-18 passing for 163 yards and a touchdown against Bainbridge, and Tyler Floyd had nine receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. Brown passed for 302 yards and rushed for 72 in the win against Thomasville.
The Yellow Jackets won five state championships in the 1990s but have not had a winning season or won a playoff game since 2016, so Justin Rogers was hired in the offseason to resurrect the program. Rogers had compiled a career record of 71-22 in stops at Jones County (2014-18) and Colquitt County (2019-21).
The Yellow Jackets are off this week and will play teams from Florida the next two weeks – Chiles on Sept. 16 and Godby on Sept. 23 – before opening play in Region 1 at home against Veterans on Sept. 30.
Here are some other observations of Class 6A after Week 3:
- Thomas County Central is one of 13 remaining undefeated teams in Class 6A three weeks into the regular season. The others are Houston County, Lee County and Veterans of Region 1, Brunswick and Evans of Region 2, North Atlanta of Region 4, Hughes of Region 5, Etowah and River Ridge of Region 6, Roswell and Blessed Trinity of Region 7 and Gainesville of Region 8. At least one of those teams will take its first loss this weekend as North Atlanta faces River Ridge at Henderson Stadium in Atlanta.
- Northside lost its sixth straight game against crosstown rival Warner Robins, but unlike the past three seasons, the Eagles were in this one until the very end, and then some. Warner Robins got a 15-yard touchdown run in overtime by Chase Reese for the 17-10 win. Northside had a chance to win in regulation, blocking a Warner Robins punt with less than a minute left and recovering at the 8. But the Eagles fumbled in the rainy weather two plays later. Warner Robins had outscored the Eagles 135-7 in the past three meetings.
- Allatoona had a chance to pick up its first victory of the season and knock off a No. 1-ranked team in the process but couldn’t hold off Cartersville down the stretch and lost 28-20. Allatoona led 20-0 late in the third quarter, but Cartersville freshman quarterback Nate Russell, who came into the game after starter Paul Gamble was injured just before halftime, led four touchdown drives in the final 13 minutes. Russell passed for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Allatoona’s Jayden Ponder ran for a season-high 192 yards.
- Lakeside of DeKalb, a member of Region 4 playing a non-region schedule for the third consecutive season, is 3-0 for the first time since 2003 after a 24-20 victory over Forest Park. The Vikings opened the season by beating Berkmar 20-6 and Northview 30-6, and with another win this week against Osborne would reach 4-0 for the first time since its 1996 team reached the state final. Osborne, a Cobb County school that moved up to the highest class from 6A this year, is off to its own good start, 2-0 for the first time since 2001.
- The four private schools in the classification will go head to head for the first time as members of 6A this weekend when Marist visits Woodward Academy and St. Pius travels to Blessed Trinity. No. 8 Marist lost to Gainesville in the opener but has won two straight since. No. 5 Woodward is 1-1, with the loss coming against McCallie of Tennessee in Week 2. No. 4 Blessed Trinity has double-digit victories against Calhoun and Eagle’s Landing Christian. St. Pius has struggled the most out of the group, scoring just 10 points total in a 1-2 start.
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