Observations from Friday night, Week 4:
Irma’s impact
Hurricane Irma’s impending arrival has impacted the high school football schedule, this weekend and for the next couple of weeks when region games will need to be rescheduled:
- Savannah Country Day 44, Johnson-Savannah 16. This game was moved up to Thursday.
- Savannah Christian at Charlton County, and Portal at Jenkins County have been cancelled.
- Bryan County at McIntosh County Academy has been cancelled.
- 6 Calvary Day at Aquinas has been postponed.
Ranked Class A teams split with top Class AA teams
Two of the classifications best met up with two of the top teams from Class AA with mixed results. Both games were stark reversals from last year.
No. 3 Wesleyan was 3-0 entering Friday night’s game against Hapeville Charter, No. 2 in Class AA. The Wolves had won four of the five games against the Hornets, including a 31-14 decision last year. But Hapeville traveled north to Norcross and dominated Wesleyan, 35-0. The score was indicative of how thorough Hapeville’s victory was, but other stats put it in clearer perspective: Hapeville had nearly five times the yardage (498-120) as Wesleyan. Hapeville had more yards in penalties (220) than Wesleyan had total (120).
On the flip side, No. 6 Macon County, the defending public school champs, rolled over Fitzgerald, No. 4 in Class AA, 35-21. It was sweet revenge for the Bulldogs, who were mauled by the Purple Hurricanes last season, 70-42. Macon County’s win showed the associative property might work in math, but not in sports. The Bulldogs’ (2-1) loss this season was last week to No. 5 Irwin County, 36-28. Fitzgerald (1-3) has just one win this season, 31-6 over Irwin County on Aug. 25.
Athens Academy dominates rival Athens Christian
The No. 9 Spartans (3-0) remained unbeaten this season and beat rival Athens Christian (1-2) for the third consecutive time, 47-0, Friday. Payton Bowles ran for touchdowns of 24, 11 and 48 yards to lead Athens Academy. It was the most lopsided decision in the community and region rivalry, which has been dominated by Athens Academy, 11-3. The Eagles’ wins came in a four-season stretch – from 2011 to 2014 – where they won three out of four.
Other scores of note:
No. 1 (Private) Eagle’s Landing Christian 49, Class AAA Hart County 19
No. 2 (Private) Prince Avenue Christian 28, Towns County 0
No. 4 (Public) Commerce 55, Lakeview Academy 21
No. 7 (Private) Fellowship Christian 24, Our Lady of Mercy 6
No. 7 (Public) Mt. Zion-Carroll 14, Class AA Coosa 0
Class AA Heard County 21, No. 8 (Private) Darlington 7
Abbeville (S.C.) 28, No. 9 (Public) Lincoln County 14
No. 10 (Private) Stratford Academy 56, Atkinson County 0
Mt. Pisgah 45, Walker 21
Brookstone 33, Landmark Christian 7
Hebron Christian 39, Providence Christian 0
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