When the season opener is a rematch of the previous year's state championship game, and it's a No. 1 vs. No. 3 matchup, an exciting game is anticipated. Fans weren't disappointed, as defending state champs Benedictine edged out GAC in a 47-44, double-overtime slug fest.
The No. 1-ranked Cadets will obviously hold on to the top spot, but it may be hard for pollsters to penalize GAC with a rankings drop, seeing as how the Spartans matched Benedictine blow for blow, miles from home in Savannah no less, and came up just short in a game that wasn't settled after regulation.
If anything, an argument could be made the Spartans move up to No. 2.
Fitzgerald is AA's No. 2-ranked team and had a comfortable home opener against a far inferior opponent. The Purple Hurricanes rolled to a 48-27 win over Worth County. Their win was expected, but was enough to keep the Spartans from taking their spot in the rankings?
Aside from Benedictine and GAC, we knew another top 10 team would lose with No. 7 Lovett and No. 10 Pace Academy facing off. The Lions may drop from the top 10 after Pace earned a 24-0 shutout. The Knights, on the other hand, appear to still be riding the momentum from last year when they took a five-game win streak into the quarterfinals. They are a team demonstrably trending upward and one to keep an eye on as a legitimate state title contender.
The most shocking development from Week 1? Half of the top ten teams lost.
Other ranked teams on the wrong side of the scoreboard include No. 4 Lamar County, No. 8 Rabun County, No. 5 Brooks County.
It will be interesting to see how next week's rankings shape up and which teams on the outside break in to the top 10. And if Week 1 is any indication of how the rest of the season plays, expect a lot of excitement and parity from Class AA.
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