AA in brief: Another long TD run for Bigsby

ajc.com

The new top 10 is in and the No. 5 Dodge County Indians are knocked from the rankings after losing 34-10 to the Dublin Fighting Irish, who take their spot in the top 10, returning at No. 9. With the loss, the Indians snapped their regular season win streak at 17.

While the Indians — like most of the ranked teams that have lost this season — paid the price for losing by being exiled from the top 10, the Thomasville Bulldogs remain ranked in the final spot despite losing convincingly, 27-11, to then-No. 10 Brooks County, which moves up to No. 8. It’s Thomasville’s second consecutive loss and the Bulldogs are 2-3 in their last five, including a 50-0 loss to Colquitt County. If that stretch isn’t enough to bump them from the rankings, nothing remaining on their schedule is, save an upset loss to Fitzgerald this week.

For a recap of Friday's games, go here.

Below are the current rankings, with the number in parenthesis representing the team's ranking for the previous week.

1. (1) Hapeville Charter (6-0)

2. (2) Callaway (6-1)

3. (3) Rockmart (7-0)

4. (4) Bremen (5-1)

5. (6) Rabun County (5-1)

6. (8) Washington County (6-0)

7. (9) Vidalia (6-0)

8. (10) Brooks County (5-2)

9. (NR) Dublin (6-1)

10. (7) Thomasville (4-3)

Out: No. 5 Dodge County

In brief:

  • Check out the one-handed catch from a Toombs County receiver at the beginning of this highlight. The Bulldogs are 5-2, 3-0 in 2-AA and will host No. 7 Vidalia (6-0, 2-0) on Friday.
  • Now that's school spirit. The No. 4 Bremen Blue Devils are 5-1, 1-1 in 5-AA after a 50-7 win over Jordan.
  • Trent Boss of No. 6 Washington County earned local player of the week honors for his four tackles and interception returned for a touchdown in the Golden Hawks' 54-20 win over Bleckley County. The Golden Hawks are 6-0, 2-0 in 3-AA with No. 6 Dodge County on deck.
  • Former Callaway standout Terry Godwin made one of the best plays of the college football season last week.
  • Check out this mean run from Rockmart running back Markus Smith against Pepperell. The No. 3 Yellow Jackets are 7-0, 4-0 in 7-AA after beating the Dragons 40-10.
  • Also against Pepperell, Paine Culver had a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and a forced fumble. The blocked punt resulted in a touchdown, giving the Jackets' defense seven on the season.
  • WTXL has highlights of Brooks County's win over Thomasville.
  • WCTV gave Brooks County a play of the week nomination.
  • The Walton Tribune has a writeup on Social Circle's 48-14 win over Clarkston. The Redskins are 4-2, 1-2 in 8-AA.
  • WJBF has highlights Hephzibah vs. Harlem and Westside vs. Butler from 4-AA.
  • Jay Hawkins has a writeup of Gordon Central's 36-7 win over Armuchee for The Calhoun Times.
  • Rabun County coach Lee Shaw was at his old stomping grounds on Friday in Flowery Branch, where he was 79-41 in 10 seasons from 2002-11.
  • Heard County's Aaron Beasley earned top five performance honors from GHSF Daily with his 302 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries in the Braves' 41-7 win over Temple. Best of the rest honors went to Coosa's Kenon Dixon (252 passing yards, 123 rushing and seven total touchdowns), Harlem's A.J. Brown (219 rushing yards, two touchdowns), Social Circle's Tate Peters (210 rushing yards, 15 carries) and Swainsboro's Kade Youmans (13-of-15 passing, 197 yards, five touchdowns in first half). Vidalia's offensive line earned "lines of distinction" honors for helping the Indians rack up 408 yards of offense.
  • Brown also earned WJBF Scholar Athlete honors.
  • Tank Bigsby had a 71-yard touchdown run in No. 2 Callaway's 45-6 win over Lamar County. This comes a week after his touchdown runs of 80, 80 and 58 yards. He's one of the country's most coveted running backs for the class of '20.
  • The Swainsboro Tigers beat Bacon County 40-0 for their second consecutive shutout, the other coming against Metter in their 2-AA opener. They're 4-2, 2-0 with their only losses coming by one score to ranked teams — 20-13 to Dublin 20-13 and 47-45 to Washington County.
  • Rockmart's entire team signed a team jersey in honor of Pike County's Dylan Strong, who passed away last week after collapsing on the field. The jersey signed is No. 32, Strong's number.
  • Here's the SportalSpace coaches poll from Week 7.
  • Former Rabun County standout and AJC player of the year nominee Bailey Fisher is excelling at the next level with Tennessee Tech, earning Tennessee Sports Writer's Association Offensive Player of the Week honors.

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