The GHSA recently released football schedules for the 2016 season. The is the second in a series of articles on some of the schedule’s interesting features. Today, we look at Class AAAAAA in 10 blurbs.
-Valdosta is playing below the highest level for the first time since 1957, but old rivals Lowndes, Tift County and Lowndes remain on the schedule. Valdosta's new Region 1 will be a musical-chairs game of four playoff berths with five 2015 playoff teams. The others are Houston County, Northside-Warner Robins, Coffee and Lee County. All except Valdosta (8-4) was ranked at some point last season.
-Northside and Warner Robins are no longer in the same classification. That also happened in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, when Northside put together back-to-back 15-0 seasons. They've been region rivals every other season since 1968. This year, they'll play each other in an Aug. 19 game. That will be the first time in the 59-year history of the rivalry that they've met in a season opener. Warner Robins will play a class down in Region 1-AAAAA.
-Houston County is perhaps the preseason favorite in stacked Region 1. The Bears will get ready with some good local non-region opponents such as Warner Robins, Peach County and Mary Persons. Houston County features quarterback Jake Fromm, the 2015 Class AAAAA offensive player of the year and a recent commitment to Georgia.
-Jonesboro had its best season in history last fall (11-2 after finishing 4-6 the season before), and the Cardinals' new schedule is indicative of the Clayton County school's new status. Non-region opponents include McEachern and Class A private-school champion Eagle's Landing Christian. Jonesboro is in Region 6, which includes Tucker, Stephenson and Lovejoy. Jonesboro has never played Tucker or Stephenson.
-Tucker is back down in the second-highest class after a two-year stint at the top. The Tigers won state titles in the second class in 2008 and 2011. They travel to Colquitt County on Sept. 2 in a game between Wing T and spread offenses. Tucker plays Stephenson in the regular-season finale on Nov. 4. They've played each other only twice (2012-13), when they shared Region 6-AAAAA.
-Allatoona, the 2015 AAAAA champion, has scheduled non-region opponents Cartersville (Aug. 19, road) and Sandy Creek (Sept. 2, home). Allatoona is the most prominent team in Region 6, which now includes Cobb County rivals Harrison, Sprayberry and South Cobb.
-Lanier has gone 10-0 each of the past two regular seasons. The three-peat isn't likely with games at Northside-Warner Robins (Sept. 9), and St. Pius (Sept. 23) and home against Lambert (Sept. 16) before a Region 8 schedule that includes Gainesville and Lanier's new Gwinnett County region rival Dacula.
-Gainesville is always good about getting some prime pre-region action (ie Grayson, Buford in recent seasons). This year, the Red Elephants will play home against Alpharetta (Aug. 26), at Jefferson (Sept. 30) and home against Marist (Sept. 30). Gainesville and Jefferson, the two most recent Northeast Georgia state champions (both won in 2012), have never played each other in football.
-Glynn Academy, the AAAAA runner-up to Allatoona, is the team to beat in Region 2 as former rival Ware County is now in AAAAA. Glynn's pre-region play couldn't get much tougher with trips to Benedictine (Aug. 19), Ware (Aug. 26) and Camden County (Sept. 9). If that weren't enough, the Red Terrors are playing Sept. 1 in Orlando. Pomona was Colorado's Class 5A runner-up last season.
-The Region 7 is the land of opportunity. Its nine teams are Johns Creek (4-6 last year), Pope (0-10), Centennial (5-5), Northview (6-5), Cambridge (7-3), Chattahoochee (1-9), Alpharetta (5-5), North Atlanta (4-6) and Dunwoody (3-7). Alpharetta has won recent region titles (2011, 2013, 2014), and Chattahoochee a state title (2010), but there's plenty of room to make history here.
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