Creekview and Athens Academy won cross-county showdowns between highly ranked teams on Friday in a night in Georgia high school football.
Irwin County and Callaway also asserted their prowess in high-powered games while Alpharetta, Thomasville, Savannah Country Day and Christian Ridge were among ranked teams to lose in mild surprises.
In a Class AAAAAA game that was the first ever played between ranked teams from Cherokee County, No. 5 Creekview defeated No. 4 Sequoyah 24-14. Creekview, which opened in 2006, moved to 6-0 overall, 4-0 in Region 6-AAAAAA, tied for the lead with third-ranked Harrison (6-0, 4-0). Creekview, which has never won a region title, nor even been ranked until this season, will play Harrison in the final game of the regular season.
In Class A, Athens Academy, ranked No. 3 in the private-school division, defeated No. 2 Prince Avenue Christian 31-27 in a game that saw five lead changes, three in the final six minutes. Palmer Bush threw a 19-yard pass to Kurt Knisely in the final two minutes for the game-winning touchdown.
Those two teams have accounted for the past eight championships in Region 8-A. Athens Academy won in 2010, 2012 and 2017, and Prince Avenue Christian won in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. (Though both are associated with Athens, they’re technically cross-county rivals of Oconee County.)
Irwin County, the No. 1 team in the Class A public division, defeated No. 5 Charlton County 46-20. Irwin (6-0, 3-0) is the favorite in strong Region 2-A, which includes defending champion Clinch County. Irwin, the 2017 state runner-up, has already beaten Clinch and appears to have its best chance at a state title since the 1970s.
In a AA game between ranked teams, No. 2 Callaway defeated No. 4 Bremen 37-25. That makes Callaway (5-1, 2-0) the front-runner in Region 5-AA.
In AAAAAA, Centennial beat No. 7 Alpharetta 14-6 in a game between north Fulton County teams. That puts Centennial (3-2, 3-0) at the top of nine-team Region 7-AAAAAA with Johns Creek (4-1, 3-0). Centennial hasn’t won a region title since 2002.
Crisp County, a AAA team, beat No. 3 Thomasville of Class AA 42-38.
There was a pair of upsets in Class A.
Claxton (5-1, 2-0) continued its turnaround season with a 32-10 victory over Savannah Country Day, the No. 7 Class A private team. Claxton was 3-7 last season, 0-9 the one before.
Darlington beat No. 10 Christian Ridge 24-21 in a game between Class A private teams.
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