Class AAAAAA blog: Johns Creek remains team to beat in Region 7

Johns Creek, the defending champion in 7-AAAAAA, is the team to beat again this year after just two weeks of region play.

Beyond the Gladiators, however, things seem to be changing. A perennial region title contender is off to an 0-4 start. Three teams that are no strangers to the bottom half of the standings have shown signs of improvement. And playoff regular Alpharetta, which got off to a terrible start against some tough competition, rebounded with a big victory in its region opener last week.

On Tuesdays over the next few weeks, we’ll examine the playoff outlooks for every team as region play kicks off (or shortly after it begins). We continue today with Region 7.

Here’s a closer look at each of the teams, broken down by playoff likelihood, in alphabetical order within each group:

Defending champion: Johns Creek 

Current standings: 

Team - Region / Overall

Johns Creek - 2-0 / 3-1

Northview - 2-0 / 3-1

Alpharetta - 1-0 / 1-2

Cambridge - 1-1 / 2-2

Dunwoody - 1-1 / 2-2

Pope - 1-1 / 2-2

North Atlanta - 0-1 / 2-1

Chattahoochee - 0-2 / 1-3

Centennial - 0-2 / 0-4

Safest playoff bet: Johns Creek 

Johns Creek won the region title in 2016, stumbled to 3-7 in 2017, then returned to the top spot last season. The Gladiators went 1-1 against out-of-state competition to open this season but rolled through the first two weeks of region play, beating North Atlanta and Chattahoochee by a combined score of 83-13. They have won 10 consecutive region games, nine of which were by at least 18 points.

In the hunt: Alpharetta, Northview, Pope 

Northview is off to a 3-1 start, just as it was last year when it went on to a 5-5 season and fifth-place finish in the region. However, the defense appears improved this year, and the door is open to a much higher finish in the region. Alpharetta was beaten soundly by Class AAAAAAA No. 7 Milton (45-0) and AAAAAA No. 8 Lanier (23-0) in its first two games but picked up a big win last week, beating Pope 24-21 in its region opener. The Raiders won four region titles, most recently in 2017, in the past eight years. Pope has started slowly the past two years (0-3 in 2017, 0-4 in 2018) but recovered to make the playoffs both seasons. So the Greyhounds’ 2-2 record in 2019 is another step forward. The Greyhounds have improved from zero to three to four to five wins the past four years.

Long shots: Cambridge, Dunwoody, North Atlanta 

Dunwoody hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2009. North Atlanta hasn’t been since 1996. Cambridge went once in its first seven seasons. They finished in sixth place or lower in the region last year, but all have at least a shot of making the playoffs this year. Dunwoody’s only region victory last year came in the next-to-last week of the regular season. The Wildcats already have one this year. Cambridge lost its region opener to Dunwoody 21-19 but bounced back with a 29-7 victory over Centennial. North Atlanta opened the season with two lopsided victories in non-region play before losing to Johns Creek 42-13 in the region opener.

Not this year: Centennial, Chattahoochee 

Centennial, the runner-up the past three seasons, is off to its first 0-4 start since 2012, losing to Northside-Warner Robins, Roswell, Pope and Cambridge by an average of 28.5 points. The Knights’ streak of three consecutive playoff berths is in serious jeopardy. Chattahoochee already surpassed its victory total from last year when it beat Lambert 46-28, and its two region losses have come against top teams Johns Creek and Northview. However, the Cougars have a long way to go to advance from 0-10 to playoff team.

Games to watch: 

Johns Creek travels to Northview this weekend in what could be the biggest game in Northview history, considering the Titans have never finished higher than fourth place in their region in their 17 seasons. The winner will emerge as the favorite to win the region. Alpharetta plays Northview (Oct. 25) and Johns Creek (Nov. 1) late in the season in games that could impact the title chase, as well.

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