Here are some of the top games in Class A this weekend.
No. 5 Landmark Christian (1-0) at Class AA No. 5 Pace Academy (2-0). Landmark Christian preseason all-state RB Lofton Tidwell has rushed for 399 yards in two games and returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. QB Stockton McGuire has passed for 259 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns. CB Payton Hayes has made 10 solo tackles and broken up eight passes. Pace Academy RB Jordan Payne has rushed for 190 yards, caught five passes for another 61 yards and returned an interception for a touchdown. QB Gunnar Faulk is 21-of-31 passing for 304 yards. WR Trey Blount (three SEC offers) has five catches for 101 yards. DL Anthony Trinh had four tackles for losses in the 34-3 win over Our Lady of Mercy last week. PK Samuel Sloman has three field goals and nine touchbacks. Pace is coached by former NFL DE Chris Slade. Landmark won 27-21 last season.
No. 1 Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (1-1) at Class AA No. 3 Greater Atlanta Christian (1-1). ELCA has rushed for 500 yards in its first two games, led by Trevor Gear (191 yards, two touchdowns) and Josh Mays (147, one). Tackle Chandler Reeves graded out at 96 percent last week, spending much of the night going up against Stockbridge's Charles Wiley, an AJC Super 11 player. LB Chase Burdette (committed to Clemson) leads the team with 18 tackles. GAC QB Davis Mills was 7-for-8 for 135 yards and three touchdowns in one half during the Spartans' 55-21 victory last week over North Oconee, a game the Spartans led 34-0 at the end of the first quarter. Mills, who has a reported 20 offers from Division I schools, passed for 270 yards in a season-opening loss to Benedictine. Markus Young had 90 of the team's 149 rushing yards against North Oconee. GAC won 23-16 last season.
No. 6 Irwin County (1-0-1) vs. Class AA No. 2 Fitzgerald (2-0). Irwin County LB/FB D.J. Pollard was the Region 2-A defensive co-player of the year in 2014 and the only Indians player on the Class A preseason all-state team this year. He scored three touchdowns on offense last week in a 32-14 victory over Berrien. Irwin will be without two-way starter Ty Hogan, who tore his ACL. Hogan was a second-team all-region defensive back last season. Fitzgerald's running game has been overpowering in its two season-opening, three-touchdown victories. Junior J.D. King has rushed for 456 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore James Graham has 308 yards and five TDs. Fitzgerald rushed for 436 and 510 yards against Worth County and Heard County. Fitzgerald is 14-0-1 in its past 15 meetings with Irwin County and leads the series 41-17-3. Irwin County stopped a 13-game losing streak in the series with a 20-20 tie in 2013 but hasn't beaten the Purple Hurricane since a 32-13 victory in 1999. Fitzgerald won last season 40-12.
No. 10 Commerce (1-0) at Hebron Christian (2-0). Commerce came within a game of playing for the public school state title last season and got 2015 started with a bang by drilling community rival Class AAA Banks County, 55-13. After the first quarter, the Tigers scored 41 unanswered points to blow the game open. Commerce rolled up 471 yards rushing, led by FB Will Thomas' 170 yards on nine carries. Hebron, located in Dalton, is 2-0 for the second consecutive season but has not made the state playoffs yet in six seasons of varsity football. The Lions finished 5-5 last season. Commerce has won all three meetings between the two schools including last year, 36-14.
More games worth checking out:
No. 4 Mt. Paran Christian (2-0) at Class AAA North Clayton (0-1)
No. 8 Calvary Day (1-0) at Class AAAAA Bradwell Institute (0-1)
No. 9 Aquinas (1-1) at Our Lady of Mercy (0-1)
Turner County (1-0) at Dooly County (1-0)
North Cobb Christian (1-0) at Class AA Jeff Davis (1-0)
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