Milton and North Gwinnett became the presumptive champions of their regions after their arch-enemies were beaten by someone else on Friday.
In Region 5, Milton (8-1, 6-1) beat Pope 35-7, then thanked Etowah (7-2, 5-2), which knocked off Roswell (6-3, 5-2) 28-18 and put Milton back in control of its destiny. Milton will win its first region title since 1952 with a victory next week over Wheeler (4-5, 3-4).
In Region 7, Mill Creek’s 30-0 victory over Norcross gave the Region 7 title to North Gwinnett, assuming that North (7-2, 5-1) beats Mountain View (2-6, 1-4) next week. There remains a three-way tie for first among North, Mill Creek and Peachtree Ridge, but North has beaten both. North will have won or shared a region title five of the past six seasons.
In other Class AAAAA results of note …
-Colquitt County beat Tift County 62-21 to win Region 1, the Packers’ first region title since 1999.
-Also in Region 1, fourth-ranked Lee County beat Camden County 40-23, eliminating Camden from the playoffs for the first time since 1988.
-Further in Region 1, Valdosta’s 13-10 victory over Lowndes was the first in the rivalry on Valdosta’s home field since 2002, before the renovation of Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Lowndes, which spent four weeks in September ranked No. 3, now faces a must-win game next week against Tift County. The loser is out of the playoffs. Both teams are 6-3, 1-3.
-Tucker won Region 2 with a 27-12 victory over Lovejoy. Tucker’s move into the highest classification made this game one of the more highly anticipated of the 2014 season. Tucker beat Lovejoy for the AAAAA title in 2011. Tucker has won 15 region titles. This is the second in the highest class. The other came in 1966.
-Alpharetta clinched Region 6-AAAAAA with a 17-0 victory over Northview. That’s the third region title in four seasons for the Raiders. Jacob Nichols, the offensive coordinator last season, likely be the only first-year head coach to win a title in AAAAAA this season.
-Archer’s 24-10 victory over Dacula means there is only one undefeated team in AAAAAA – Colquitt County (9-0). Archer, the defending Region 8 champion and preseason favorite, is tied with second-ranked Dacula and third-ranked Grayson, which are 1-1 against the others.
- Westlake (6-1, 5-0) can clinch its first region title (Region 3) since 2005 with a victory over South Cobb (4-4, 3-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Lakewood Stadium.
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