Two games beat all others this week in Class AAAAAAA – Archer at Grayson tonight and Marietta at McEachern on Friday – but two others might decide region titles.
Those are North Gwinnett (5-2, 3-0) at Collins Hill (2-4, 2-0) and Milton (4-2, 1-0) at South Forsyth (4-2, 1-0).
North Gwinnett is heavily favored in the Region 6 matchup. The Milton-South Forsyth game should be a good one. Milton is favored by six points over the defending Region 5 champions.
But the big game in this class, and the state really, is Archer vs. Grayson in a 7 p.m. game televised on ESPN2.
The chances that the winner of this game is not the Region 8-AAAAAAA champion are about 500,000-to-1, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, which rate Grayson and Archer as the best pair of region rivals in the state and pretty evenly matched, as Grayson is a four-point favorite.
Grayson, which has lost to nationally ranked Colquitt County and Bergen Catholic of New Jersey, has a balanced offense. J'Kori Jones has thrown for 1,118 yards. Jonathan Halyard has rushed for 602. Kenyon Jackson (committed to Texas A&M) has 334 yards receiving.
Grayson has about a dozen major-college recruits that include LB Owen Pappoe (Auburn) and OL Wanya Morris (Tennessee), both rated as five stars.
Pappoe and Archer CB Andrew Booth are AJC Super 11 picks. Booth intercepted two passes in Archer's victory over Grayson last season. He returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in a victory over Newton last week.
Archer QB Carter Peevy is 85-of-120 passing for 1,103 yards and 17 touchdowns. Braylen Weems has 32 catches for 476 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Marietta-McEachern also should be outstanding.
Beaten last week by Hillgrove, McEachern has not lost back-to-back region games since 2007, nor lost two games in region play since 2013.
Sophomore QB Carlos Del-Rio Wilson has thrown for 1,163 yards and 11 touchdowns, at least two to five different receivers. Paris Brown (408 yards rushing, 165 receiving) and Jordon Simmons (357 rushing, 279 receiving) are three-star recruits at running back.
Free safety Jamari Bellamy (four sacks, three interceptions) and DT Jamil Burroughs (team-leading 22 solo tackles, committed to Georgia) are playmakers on defense.
Marietta is on a record-setting pace for passing. Harrison Bailey has thrown for 2,168 yards - 367.7 per game. Bailey missed the 2017 McEachern game because of injury. WR/TE Arik Gilbert has 61 catches for 827 yards. Ramel Keyton has 44 receptions for 694 yards and 10 touchdowns, although he injured an ankle last week against North Paulding and is questionable.
Here are the projected margins of victory in Class AAAAAAA games this week, per Maxwell.
Thursday
Grayson vs. Archer -4
Friday
Adairsville at Sonoraville -6
Brookwood at Central Gwinnett -21
Cherokee vs. Woodstock -2
Colquitt Co. vs. Camden Co. -30
Hillgrove at Kennesaw Mountain -31
Lambert at North Forsyth -3
McEachern vs. Marietta -7
Mill Creek vs. Discovery -37
Milton at South Forsyth -6
Newnan vs. Campbell -17
Norcross vs. Lakeside, Atlanta -39
North Cobb at North Paulding -3
North Gwinnett at Collins Hill -26
Parkview vs. Berkmar -42
Peachtree Ridge at Duluth -4
Roswell vs. Lassiter -29
South Gwinnett vs. Rockdale Co. -19
Walton vs. Etowah -29
West Forsyth at Forsyth Central -16
Westlake at Pebblebrook -16
Wheeler at East Coweta -5
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