AA in brief: Bremen welcomes itself with big win

All the hype that was built leading into the season has passed, as has Week 1. But it didn’t pass without a major shakeup to the rankings. The Bremen Blue Devils officially welcomed themselves into Class AA with a 13-10 win over the No. 3-ranked and state runners-up Rabun County Wildcats with a field goal as time expired. With the win, the Blue Devils shot up from No. 9 to No. 6 in the new polls, while Rabun County fell to No. 8 and saw their 28-game regular season win streak come to an end.

Speaking of the No. 8 spot, it was previously held by the Jefferson County Warriors, who lost 14-12 to unranked Swainsboro. The loss boots them from the rankings, allowing Rockmart in at No. 10 after the Yellow Jackets shocked Cedartown — the then-No. 10 team in AAAA — with a 20-14 win.

The Thomasville Bulldogs moved up a spot to No. 4 with their incredible come-from-behind 15-14 win over Cairo in a game they trailed 14-0 with 7:25 left. Maxwell’s projections had the Bulldogs winning by one point and that’s what happened.

Other close calls include No. 2 Heard County edging AAAA’s LaGrange 10-3, and No. 7 Dodge County topping Bradwell Institute of AAAAAA by a score of 23-15.

No. 5 Brooks County (with a 43-6 win over Mitchell County)and No. 9 Fitzgerald (45-7 over Bacon County) were the only ranked teams to win convincingly, while No. 1 Hapeville Charter and No. 3 Callaway didn’t play.

Here's a glimpse at the updated rankings, with the previous week's rankings in parenthesis:

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

2. (2) Heard County (1-0)

3. (4) Callaway (0-0)

4. (5) Thomasville (1-0)

5. (6) Brooks County (1-0)

6. (9) Bremen (1-0)

7. (7) Dodge County (1-0)

8. (8) Rabun County (0-1)

9. (9) Fitzgerald (1-0)

10. (NR) Rockmart (1-0)

Out: No. 8 Jefferson County

In brief

No. 1 Hapeville Charter begins its title defense on Saturday, 5 p.m. against AAAAAA's River Ridge Knights, which lost 28-0 to Etowah last week in their opener.
Callaway's Keyshawn Cameron and Tyrique Andrews were invited to compete in the Elite Raw Talent All-American Bowl.
Bleckley County's Nykeem Farrow made WMAZ's plays of the week list with his three touchdown runs, one of which can be seen at the 44-second mark of this video.
Bremen's Evan Fuller gives praise to his teammates for helping him kick the game-winning field goal over Rabun County.
Model came up just short in its 28-25 loss to LaFayette in Blue Devils coach Richard Ross' debut. Ross took over when Gordon Powers retired following last season.
Gordon Central coach Cory Nix called out his Warriors for not showing up for their opener against Haralson County, which they lost 35-7.
Here are highlights from Douglass' 22-12 win over Washington.
Hapeville Charter's helmet is prominently displayed at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, commemorating the Hornets' 2017 state title.
Screven County held on to beat South Carolina's Bluffton 31-30 after Bluffton's 2-point conversion failed at the end of the game.
Here's Pat Donahue's writeup of Thomasville's thrilling 15-14 win over Cairo for the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
WJBF has highlights for the games of Laney, Swainsboro-Jefferson County, Screven County, Josey, Jeff Davis-Glenn Hills, Hepzibah, Washington County and Dublin.
Jeremy Green's rain-soaked debut as Armuchee coach was a success, as the Indians beat Murray County 28-7. Jonathan Blaylock of the Rome News-Tribune spoke to Green after the game.
Here's an impressive interception from a Swainsboro Tigers defensive back in their win over Jefferson County. Swainsboro is understandably fired up about the win.
WCTV's Football Friday Night features its game of the week between Thomasville and Cairo and also has highlights from games of Brooks County and Early County.
Toombs County is picking up where they left off last season, beating Twiggs County 35-0.
Thomas County Central at Thomasville was voted by fans to be WCTV's next game of the week.
South Atlanta dropped a tough one to Central-Carrollton, 21-20 in overtime.