Lee County and Mays moved into sole possession of first place in their regions, Glynn Academy is closing in on a region title, and Tucker dashed Lovejoy’s championship dreams on a busy Week 9 of the high school football season.
Here are five games from Friday night that made the biggest impact on the playoff and region-title chases in Class AAAAAA:
*Lee County 16, Northside-Warner Robins 13 (overtime): Lee County's Jase Orndorff threw the game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass to Josh Asbury after the Trojans held Northside to a field goal on its overtime possession. The victory moved Lee County into sole possession of first place in Region 1, a half-game ahead of Coffee. Northside fell to third place. Lee County travels to Valdosta next week and meets Coffee in the regular-season finale on Nov. 3. Lee County, which is seeking its first region title since 2013, is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in Class AAAAAA (Winder-Barrow and Richmond Hill are the others).
*Glynn Academy 26, Brunswick 13: Glynn Academy moved closer to a region title than any team in Class AAAAAA with its fourth consecutive victory against its city rival. The Red Terrors can clinch the Region 2 championship by beating Richmond Hill next weekend. Glynn Academy has won four consecutive games against Brunswick, its longest winning streak in the series since 1983. Brunswick fell into third place but can virtually wrap up a playoff berth with a victory against Effingham County next weekend.
*Tucker 36, Lovejoy 7: The chase for the region title in 4-AAAAAA is now a two-team race after Tucker and Stephenson won their games on Friday. The two DeKalb County teams are 4-0 in region play with three games remaining, and their closest competitor – Lovejoy – is 3-2 and has already lost to both teams. The title will be decided when Tucker and Stephenson meet on Nov. 3 at Hallford Stadium. Tucker was the region champ last year, followed by Lovejoy and Stephenson. All three won at least one playoff game.
*Hughes 26, Alexander 20: Mays is alone in first place in Region 5 after Hughes' victory against Alexander, which was the only other unbeaten team in region play. Five teams still have a realistic shot at grabbing one of the region's four playoff berths. They are Mays (5-0 in region), Douglas County (5-1), Alexander (4-1), Hughes (4-2) and Northgate (3-2). Mays has beaten Douglas County and Hughes and will face Alexander and Northgate in the final two games of the regular season. Mays won the region last year.
*Dalton 21, Sequoyah 17: Dalton, Sequoyah and Harrison were the only unbeaten teams in Region 6 play going into Friday's games. Dalton and Harrison were the only two that kept their perfect marks intact. That sets up their showdown next weekend at Harrison in a game that will determine the favorite for the region. Neither team is at the point of clinching yet, as Harrison still has to play Sequoyah and Dalton finishes the regular season against Allatoona. Sequoyah and Allatoona both have just one loss in region play.
Here are all the scores from Class AAAAAA on Friday:
Region 1
Coffee 35, Houston Co. 0
Lee Co. 16, Northside-Warner Robins 13
Region 2
Glynn Academy 26, Brunswick 13
Richmond Hill 56, Bradwell Institute 28
Region 3
Evans 42, Grovetown 32
Heritage-Conyers 36, Greenbrier 28
Lakeside-Evans 16, Alcovy 14
Region 4
Stephenson 21, Drew 17
Tucker 36, Lovejoy 7
Mundy’s Mill 34, Mount Zion-Jonesboro 29 (Thursday)
Jonesboro at M.L. King (Saturday, Godfrey Stadium)
Region 5
Douglas Co. 19, Tri-Cities 16
Hughes 26, Alexander 20
Mays 67, Creekside 7
New Manchester 20, South Paulding 6
Region 6
Allatoona 37, Sprayberry 18
Creekview 24, River Ridge 7
Dalton 21, Sequoyah 17
Harrison 42, South Cobb 13
Region 7
Alpharetta 36, Johns Creek 7
Cambridge 17, Northview 10
Centennial 45, North Atlanta 0
Pope 35, Dunwoody 34
Region 8
Dacula 28, Gainesville 0
Lanier 25, Habersham Central 21
About the Author
