Columbus at Carver Columbus
Last season, Columbus snapped its head-to-head eight-game losing streak and defeated Carver-Columbus for just the second time in 14 tries with a 36-13 win at Columbus Memorial Stadium. While it was a huge victory for the school (and the 50-year-old rivalry), it was Carver-Columbus that took the No. 4 seed into the playoffs with a 3-4 region record, while Columbus missed out on the playoffs with a 2-5 Region 1-AAAA finish. Columbus defeated Westover 46-23 on Sept. 6 and had a bye this past week, giving the Blue Devils a clean 1-0 region standing. Carver-Columbus has already tallied a pair of region victories (27-21 over Hardaway and 41-0 over Dougherty). Besides the heavy playoff implications surrounding this matchup, the other intriguing storyline is Carver-Columbus head coach Corey Joyner, who took over the program this year and has the Tigers off to an 4-0 start and looking like a top contender for this year’s region title.
Troup at Chapel Hill
Troup and Chapel Hill are two of the 11 undefeated teams left in Class AAAA and meet for a high-stakes Region 5-AAAA opener at Callaway Stadium. The two programs didn’t faceoff for the first time until reclassification put them in Region 5-AAAA in 2016 and Troup has defeated the Panthers in both games (48-12 in 2017 and 42-21 in 2016). The inability to slow down Troup has been the leading cause of not only the two losses, but the wideness of their margins. This year’s Chapel Hill defense, however, is off to a blazing start that could close the gap and perhaps make this year’s clash significantly more competitive. Four games into the season and Chapel Hill is allowing just 8.25 points per game, a dramatic shift from last year’s 34 ppg allowed. The results of this game will provide a measurement of just how improved the Panthers’ defense is this season. As for Troup, its 2018 offense has yet to be slowed down. The Tigers are scoring 42.3 ppg and supplementing a strong defensive effort that is surrendering just 10 ppg.
Chestatee at Denmark
First-year program Denmark hosts Chestatee in its first-ever region game this Friday. After its outstanding 3-0 start to the season, Denmark was served a 38-21 defeat by Class AAA’s Dawson County this past week. How the Danes respond will be interesting to see and Chestatee is also the first Class AAAA opponent that the program has faced. Dawson County is a common opponent of both programs and the Tigers got the best of Chestatee 58-0 on August 24. Defense remains a massive concern for Chestatee this season as they have allowed 54.8 ppg during its 1-3 start. Expect Denmark’s young, but talented offense to outmatch the War Eagles and expect the Danes to be determined to get off to a strong start against a region slate that is only going to get tougher and tougher each week.
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