Class AA blog: Week 9 Friday night recap
The Thomasville Bulldogs have done it again.
For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs have knocked off a ranked opponent in Region 1 and now surprisingly sit in the driver’s seat for the league title. On Friday, they beat the No. 7 Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane 20-14 on the road despite being 10-point underdogs, according to Maxwell’s projections.
Clint Thompson has the story for the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
With the win, the Bulldogs pull to .500 for the first time this season after an 0-3 start and are now 4-4, 2-0 in league play. They are the only team undefeated in the region, which is only five teams deep. That means they’d need to lose to to both Berrien (2-5, 0-1) and Early County (4-2, 0-0) to not win their second region championship in the past three seasons.
Last week, the Bulldogs upset then-No. 8 Brooks County 31-20 at home, knocking the Trojans from the rankings as a 12-point underdog. It’s very possible the Bulldogs have now knocked the Purple Hurricane (6-2, 1-1) from the rankings as well.
Here’s how the rest of the top 10 faired:
- Top-ranked Rockmart all but clinched its third consecutive Region 7 title, defeating the only other team with an undefeated league record, Pepperell, by a score of 34-17. The Yellow Jackets are 7-0, 4-0. Kevin Myrick has the game story for The Polk County Standard Journal.
- The No. 2-ranked Hapeville Charter Hornets and AAAAAA's No. 7 team, the Allatoona Buccaneers, met at Tri-Cities for a rematch of last year's thriller and played to a 21-21 tie. For the second year in a row, the Hornets blew a second-half lead, as they were ahead 21-10 in the third quarter on Friday. The Hornets are 5-1-1.
- In Region 5 play, the No. 3 Callaway Cavaliers (6-1, 3-0) will host Spencer (2-4, 0-2) at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus.
- The No. 4 Dublin Fighting Irish made easy work of Southwest in Region 3, winning 70-16. It's the second time this season they've put up a 70-burger on an opponent — they beat East Laurens 77-13 on Sept. 27. They are 7-0, 4-0. WMAZ has highlights.
- In Region 8, the No. 5 Rabun County Wildcats beat Elbert County 52-14 to improve to 7-0, 4-0. AccessWDUN has details.
- No. 6 Swainsboro pounced on Bryan County 55-0 in Region 2 action. The Tigers are 6-1, 3-0.
- The No. 8 Bleckley County Royals beat East Laurens 59-7 in Region 3. They are 6-2, 3-1. The Bleckley Progress has details. You can listen to a recording of the broadcast here.
- No. 9 Union County beat Banks County 14-7 in Region 8. The Panthers are 7-0, 4-0. AccessWDUN has details, which include the Panthers winning without their starting quarterback and two receivers.
- In Region 3, the Washington County Golden Hawks beat Dodge County 35-14 to move to 5-2, 2-1.
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