Here’s a recap of some of the big stories in Class AAAAA from Week 3:
- Gainesville, Flowery Branch, Clarke Central and Heritage-Conyers have represented 8-AAAAA in the playoffs each of the past two seasons, but things already look different in the region this year. Clarke Central opened region play with a 35-20 loss to Lanier, which moved into 8-AAAAA after reaching the second round in Class AAAA last season. Heritage dropped to 0-1 in region play when it lost to Salem 19-14. Preseason favorites Flowery Branch and Gainesville were off on Friday and begin region play next weekend.
- Nichols Kashama, a former defensive coordinator at M.L. King who spent the past season on the staff at Georgia Prep Sports Academy, has gotten off to a rough start as the Lions’ head coach. M.L. King lost to Mays 34-0 on Friday, falling to 0-2 for the first time in school history. The Lions opened the season with a 30-0 loss to Norland of Florida in the Battle of the Borders Showdown last weekend, and the back-to-back shutouts are also a school first. M.L. King plays Tucker on Friday at Hallford Stadium.
- The longest losing streak among Class AAAA teams is over. Lithia Springs ended a 14-game slump with a 27-7 victory against Chapel Hill in the Region 5-AAAAA opener for both teams. The Lions, who lost to Landmark Christian 48-36 in the season opener, had not won since beating Woodland-Cartersville 27-14 on Oct. 19, 2012. Lithia Springs faces eighth-ranked Allatoona on Friday. The longest losing streak in AAAAA now belongs to Apalachee, which was upended by Winder-Barrow for its 12th consecutive loss.
- Several teams have gotten off to unusually good starts. Alexander defeated Paulding County 41-31 to reach 2-0 for the first time since 1994, when it finished 10-2. Forsyth Central followed up a season-opening victory against Dawson County with a 26-14 win over Woodland-Cartersville to get to 2-0 for the first time since 1998. And Dunwoody is 2-0 for the first time since 2008 after beating Chamblee 19-12. The Wildcats’ 2008 team won 12 straight to open the season but lost to LaGrange in the AAA quarterfinals.
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