Here’s a look at the top games of Week 7.
No. 1 (Private) Athens Academy (4-0, 0-0 in Region 8) at No. 7 (Private) Prince Avenue Christian (4-1, 1-0). (Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily) Prince Avenue has won five of the past nine Region 8-A titles. Athens Academy won the other four, including the past two. In the 2018 game, Palmer Bush threw a 23-yard TD pass to Kurt Knisely with 42 seconds left for the winning score, which was the third lead change of the fourth quarter. Len'Neth Whitehead rushed for 243 yards. James Williams kicked a 57-yard field goal. All those players are back, although Whitehead, a major Division I recruit, has missed the past three games, and his status is unclear. Prince Avenue will be without its blue-chip recruit, QB Brock Vandagriff, who suffered a leg injury last month. Freshman Lucian Anderson has filled in well as he's 21-of-26 passing for 465 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. Landon Owens has rushed for 454 yards. Athens Academy has become more reliant on Knisely, who has rushed for 306 yards on just 20 carries, led the team with 22 tackles and run a punt back for a touchdown. WR/CB Deion Colzie is another two-way starter and preseason all-state pick. Athens Academy won last season's meeting in the regular season, 31-28, and beat PAC in last season's state semifinals, 28-21.
No. 9 (Private) Christian Heritage (4-0, 1-0 in Region 6-Division A) at No. 4 (Private) Darlington (5-0, 2-0). (Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily) These are two of the three unbeaten teams in the subregion. The other is No. 5 Bowdon (4-0, 1-0), a public school. Christian Heritage's strength is its defense. The Lions are allowing 5.0 points per game, the fewest among Class A private schools. They've not allowed any long scoring drives with the game in question this season. Their five leading tacklers, including junior LB Ben Hermann (38 stops), are underclassmen. Sophomore LB/RB Gage Leonard had 171 yards from scrimmage and 12 tackles last week against Mount Zion. He had a 234-yard rushing game earlier this season. Darlington is sixth in scoring offense among the private schools (39.8) and fourth in scoring defense (8.2). Griffin Brewster is 59-of-77 passing for 774 yards and nine touchdowns. Kolin Rogers has 583 yards rushing on 89 carries. Trystin Wright has 15 receptions for 314 yards. OL/DL Tate Ratledge is committed to Georgia. Darlington leads the series 6-0 and scored the winning touchdown last season on a TD pass with 7:25 left. Darlington won last year's meeting, 24-21.
No. 9 (Public) Lincoln County (3-2, 1-1 in Region 7-Division B) at Washington-Wilkes (3-2, 2-0). (Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily) Eighth-ranked Aquinas is the subregion favorite, especially after beating Lincoln County 10-7 two weeks ago, so this battle between east Georgia rivals could settle second place. However, Washington-Wilkes is still undefeated in the subregion and plays at Aquinas next week in a game that could virtually decide the title. Lincoln County averages 226 yards per game on the ground while completing just 12 of 28 passes for the season. Kolbi Ferguson is the leader with 597 yards and 13 touchdowns on 88 carries. He has averaged 146.3 yards the past four games. The Red Devils are allowing just 6.8 points, 86.6 yards rushing and 116.6 total yards per game. Washington-Wilkes has struggled offensively (17.8 points per game), but QB Donovan Anthony is a threat. Anthony, committed to Army, is 43-of-73 passing for 697 yards and has rushed for a team-leading 192 yards and four touchdowns on 53 carries. Sophomore Dalen Cobb has 437 receiving yards and 234 yards on kickoff returns. The Tigers have scored and allowed 89 points this season. Washington-Wilkes won last year's meeting, 26-21.
No. 6 (Private) Wesleyan (4-1, 1-1 in Region 5) at No. 3 (Private) Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (4-1, 1-1). (Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily) Two weeks ago, this game was expected to decide the Region 5 title. But Holy Innocents' appears to have stolen the championship in the night by beating ELCA 42-41 and then Wesleyan 31-0 in consecutive weeks. But these two remain state contenders. ELCA is four-time defending champion while Wesleyan made its mark with a 24-14 victor over then-No. 3 Prince Avenue Christian on Sept. 6. In the 2018 game between the two, ELCA's Keaton Mitchell rushed for 311 yards and four touchdowns. He's back, and he has run for 811 yards. He's rushed for at least 130 yards in 16 consecutive games. Gabe Wright is 43-of-77 passing for 718 yards and 10 touchdowns. Justin Robinson, committed to Georgia, has 19 receptions for 247 yards and four touchdowns. For Wesleyan, J.C. French is 55-of-92 passing for 646 yards and 11 touchdowns. Griffin Caldwell has rushed for 378 yards and two touchdowns.
Other games of note:
No. 2 (Private) Holy Innocents’ (5-0, 2-0 in Region 5) vs. Mount Vernon Presbyterian (3-2, 1-1)
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