Athens Academy wins Region 8 dress rehearsalWith No. 1 (Private) Athens Academy and Hebron Christian already secured as the Region 8 Division A and Division B champions, respectively, Friday's match up was a glorified scrimmage. The teams agreed to play with a running clock, and Hebron (7-2, 5-0) played its JV squad for most of the game. The Spartans (9-0, 5-0) took a 20-0 first quarter lead and never looked back. Palmer Bush was 8-of-8 passing for 98 yards and a touchdown. Deion Colzie returned interception 10 yards for a touchdown. The teams will meet this Friday for the region championship.
Fellowship, Darlington keep winning
While 2018 runner up Athens Academy, and upstart Holy Innocents' are undefeated teams that have grabbed most of the attention, two other teams with unblemished records will meet Friday to decide the champion of one of the state's most competitive regions.
No. 5 (Private) Fellowship Christian will head north to Rome to face No. 4 Darlington for the Region 6 title game. They each warmed up for the contest with impressive wins. Fellowship (9-0, 7-0) rolled up 438 yards rushing, 219 by Murphy Reeves, en route to a 31-6 victory over Whitefield Academy (7-2, 6-1). Meanwhile, Darlington (9-0, 6-0) earned the 150th career win for head coach Tommy Atha, 21-6 over North Cobb Christian (6-3, 3-3). Griffin Brewster was 24-of-36 passing for 238 yards. Kolin Rogers rushed for 77 yards on 22 carries. Trystin Wright had eight receptions for 93 yards.
Savannah Country Day stays unbeaten as well
The Hornets continued their historic season by ending a near decade-long losing streak to Calvary Day in dominating fashion, 49-14. Sophomores Barry Kleinpeter and Davion Smith had huge games. Kleinpeter was 14-of-20 passing for 263 yards and three touchdowns and intercepted a pass on defense, while Smith rushed for 162 yards on 15 carries. Junior Erik Brown had five receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and senior Kenneth Reedy added to the defensive effort with two sacks.
No. 9 (Private) Savannah Country Day (9-0, 5-0 in Region 3-Division A) is poised to finish undefeated during the regular season for the first time since 1980, which is also the last time they won a region title. Prior to last week, the Hornets had lost the last nine meetings with Calvary Day.
Prince Avenue's Vandagriff appears in playoff formThough he missed most of the season with a leg injury, Prince Avenue Christian QB Brock Vandagriff looks like he's fully recovered in time to lead the No. 7 (Private) Wolverines on another deep playoff run. The junior, considered one of the nations' top QB prospects for the class of 2021, was 20-of-27 passing for 338 yards and four touchdowns as PAC ( 7-2, 3-1 in Region 6-Division A) downed George Walton Academy (6-3, 2-2), 41-13. Almost a third of those passing yards, 120, went to fellow junior Logan Johnson on five receptions.
Wilcox County is back
After six seasons in the doldrums, it looks like the Patriots are back. Senior ATH Desmond Tisdol, one of the state's most versatile players, ran for 78 yards and a touchdown, had two sacks and placed three of five punts inside the 20-yard line to lead No. 4 (Public) Wilcox County (7-2, 4-2 in Region 2) to a 22-7 win over Turner County (6-3, 4-2). The Patriots only two losses this season have been to the top two teams in the region and the state – No. 1 Irwin County and No. 2 Clinch County.
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