Friday night recap: Week 8
Another week, another shutout for the top-ranked, defending state champion Hapeville Charter Hornets. On Friday, they blanked South Atlanta 37-0 for their fifth shutout to improve to 6-0. As stated before, they've only given up a field goal all season, to then-No. 2 Heard County, and have now outscored the competition 257-3.
They're 4-0 in 6-AA and on pace for the first undefeated regular season in program history. The defense has a shot at going the entire regular season without allowing a touchdown.
Elsewhere, two ranked teams lost in the No. 6 Dodge County Indians and No. 8 Thomasville Bulldogs.
The Indians were shocked by the unranked Dublin Fighting Irish, 34-10, in a game in which Dublin led 21-0 at halftime. WGXA has highlights and a writeup, in which it notes this is the first time the Fighting Irish have beaten Dodge County since 2011. The shock doesn't come from the Fighting Irish winning — they were ranked as high as No. 8 a few weeks ago — but from the margin of victory. The Indians were a 10-point favorite according to Maxwell's projections.
The Fighting Irish move to 6-1, 2-0 in 3-AA, and with Thomasville’s loss, could return to the top 10. For the Indians (6-1, 2-1), it’s their first regular season loss since Oct. 14, 2016. Things could get interesting in 3-AA if No. 8 Washington County beats Dublin but loses to Dodge County, as that will likely create a three-way tie.
In Quitman, the No. 10 Brooks County Trojans dominated No. 7 Thomasville, 27-11. Tim Morse covered the game for the Thomasville Times-Enterprise. The Trojans' Omar Blankumsee had two interception returns for touchdowns.
One would have to assume this loss takes the Bulldogs (4-3, 0-1 in 1-AA) out of the rankings, but that’s not a given. The pollsters have been very generous to them thus far. They lost 50-0 to Colquitt County (ranked No. 1 in AAAAAAA) and didn’t even lose their then-No. 4 ranking, and dropped only four spots to No. 7 with last week’s loss to AAA’s unranked Crisp County.
The Trojans will climb in the rankings but most importantly, they’re in the drivers seat in 1-AA for their first region title since 2015.
Here’s how the rest of the top 10 faired:
- The No. 2 Callaway Cavaliers picked up a 45-6 win over Lamar County in 5-AA play, moving to 6-1, 3-0. Kevin Eckleberry of The LaGrange Daily News has the coverage and The Herald-Gazette in Barnesville has the game log.
- In 7-AA, the No. 3 Rockmart Yellow Jackets beat Pepperell 40-10 in what likely served as the region championship. Rockmart has all but locked up its second straight league title with only the bottom feeders of 7-AA left on its schedule. Jeremy Stewart covered the game for the Rome News-Tribune.
- In 5-AA, the No. 4 Bremen Blue Devils rolled over Jordan 50-7 to improve to 5-1, 1-1.
- In 3-AA, the No. 8 Washington County Golden Hawks beat Bleckley County 54-20 to improve to 6-0, 3-0. The game is best summed up by this sentence.
- In 2-AA, the No. 9 Vidalia Indians beat Jeff Davis 43-15 to improve to 6-0, 2-0. Southeast Georgia Today has a recap.
- On bye: No. 6 Rabun County
Correction: In a previous version of this post, it was incorrectly reported this was Washington County’s best start since 1989.
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