It was a wild weekend for Region 1-AAAAAA when Lee County and Northside-Warner Robins suffered surprisingly lopsided losses to lower-classification teams last Friday.
There to provide a sense of normalcy was Valdosta.
The Wildcats beat Columbia 54-34 in a game that was a late addition to the schedule after both teams had games against their original opponents canceled because of Hurricane Dorian. Valdosta led 37-6 at the end of the first quarter and held on to win. The victory improved the Wildcats’ record to 3-0 and helped vault them to the No. 1 spot in this week’s Class AAAAAA rankings. It is Valdosta’s first time at No. 1 since the final poll of 2016.
The Wildcats’ first task as the new top team in the classification is a home game Friday night against Colquitt County, the No. 2-ranked team in Class AAAAAAA. Colquitt County has won the past six meetings in the series, the last five of which have all been by at least 21 points.
“Moultrie is gonna be Moultrie,” Valdosta receiver Jaheim Bell told Shane Thomas for the Valdosta Daily Times. “That’s a hard-nosed team. We’ve got to come out and compete for it to be a great game.”
Colquitt County (2-0) is coming off a 45-3 victory over Thomasville and beat North Gwinnett 17-6 on Aug. 24 in the Corky Kell Classic.
Lee County, the two-time defending state champion and previously the No. 1-ranked team, was knocked off by Class AAA No. 1 Peach County 40-17. The loss was the first for Lee County since the next-to-last game of the 2017 regular season, 31-28 against Valdosta. The Trojans fell to No. 6 in this week’s rankings.
Northside lost to Class AAAAA No. 5 Jones County 56-33. The 56 points were the most ever allowed in a game by Northside, which hung on to its top-10 ranking but fell from No. 7 to No. 10.
Here are five other games involving Class AAAAAA teams to keep an eye on this weekend:
*Creekside at New Manchester: Creekside was the surprise team in Class AAAAAA last year, winning the Region 5 championship after going 0-10 in 2017. The Seminoles beat New Manchester 38-0 in the region opener last year to end a 12-game losing streak and went on to finish 7-1 in region play. Creekside is 0-2 again this year and needs to get back on track quickly. New Manchester is 1-1.
*Mundy's Mill at Morrow (Twelve Oaks Stadium): Mundy's Mill was the fourth playoff team behind Stephenson, Tucker and Lovejoy in Region 4 last season. The Tigers already have one loss in region play, against Lovejoy two weeks ago, and can't afford to fall too far back from the pack. Morrow is rated sixth in the region by the Maxwell Ratings but already has one victory in hand.
*North Atlanta at Johns Creek: This 7-AAAAAA opener matches the region's only undefeated team (North Atlanta) against the defending champion. North Atlanta is 2-0 after victories over Grady and KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, but the Warriors beat those teams last year and went on to finish sixth in the region. Johns Creek is 1-1 against out-of-state opponents, as it was last year at this point.
*Richmond Hill at Camden County: Richmond Hill will be playing for the first time in three weeks when it meets AAAAAAA Camden County, which is 3-0 for the first time since 2015. After beating Greenbrier 44-0 in the opener, Richmond Hill had a scheduled week off in Week 2, then had its game last week against Wayne County postponed to Nov. 1 because of Hurricane Dorian.
*Sequoyah at Dalton: Dalton lost to all four Region 6 playoff teams last season and missed the postseason for the first time since 2010. To make a return trip, the Catamounts will need to beat at least one of those teams. First up is Sequoyah, a state quarterfinalist which beat Dalton 42-14 in the region opener. Two other playoff teams, Creekview and Harrison, are next on Dalton's schedule.
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