There is a new No. 1 team in Class AAAAAA, and that’s not unusual.
McEachern became the third team in four seasons to open No. 1 in the highest classification and lose its opening game when North Gwinnett defeated the Indians 52-49 Saturday in the nightcap of the Corky Kell Classic. It was the second-highest scoring season opener in GHSA history and ended at nearly 1:30 a.m. Sunday after a 10:09 p.m. Saturday start.
Colquitt County – the new No. 1 – had beaten No. 6 Mill Creek 34-14 in Saturday’s second game of the Kell Classic, some 12 hours before.
Thirteen ranked teams lost in the opening week of the season, and two others tied, leading to some significant shuffling, but mostly in the highest class.
McEachern joined a club that includes 2013 Norcross and 2011 Brookwood as preseason No. 1 teams to open in defeat. North Gwinnett quarterback John Urzua passed for 498 yards and seven touchdowns and drove North Gwinnett to the winning touchdown with a 68-yard drive that began with 1:48 left. Urzua completed 38 of 48 passes.
McEachern’s Taj Griffin, rated the consensus No. 1 all-purpose running back in the nation, rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns. He suffered a knee injury late the game and did not return and will have an MRI on Monday. Griffin’s father told an AJC reporter that he believes the injury to be only a sprain.
Norcross moved up five places to No. 4 after a 32-29 victory over previous No. 5 Tucker. Blake Bingham made a 28-yard field goal in the first overtime, and linebacker J.B. Kouassi recovered a fumble on Tucker’s second play of the extra period to end the game. Norcross returned only four of 22 starters from its 2013 championship team.
Archer fell from No. 3 to No. 10 after losing to Sandy Creek, the No. 2 team in AAAA. Sandy Creek’s Eric Swinney rushed for 231 yards and a touchdown.
Class A had the next-biggest shakeup in the rankings. Mount Paran Christian moved from No. 10 to No. 4 after a 31-14 victory over previous No. 4 Eagle’s Landing Christian, ending ELCA’s 36-game winning streak in the regular season against Class A opponents. Mount Paran’s Dorian Walker rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 70 yards and a touchdown in the game played on a neutral field in Columbus.
The other classes were relatively stable. Perhaps the biggest win for a Georgia team came in AAAA, where No. 1 Buford defeated Trinity Christian of Jacksonville 17-0. Buford scored on its first two possessions, allowed 56 yards in total offense and shut out a team ranked No. 7 in one national poll. Trinity has nine players rated three-star recruits or higher by Rivals.
More movement in the rankings could come after this week’s schedule.
Colquitt County plays nationally ranked Hoover, Ala. The No. 1 team in AAAAA, Creekside, plays No. 7 Hughes of AAAAAA.
In the Battle of the Borders on Saturday at Hallford Stadium, second-ranked Stephenson of AAAAA plays Central Miami, and No. 9 Tucker of AAAAAA plays Booker T. Washington of Miami. Both Florida teams are nationally ranked.
Class AAAAAA
1. (2) Colquitt County (1-0)
2. (4) North Gwinnett (1-0)
3. (8) Camden County (1-0)
4. (9) Norcross (1-0)
5. (1) McEachern (0-1)
6. (7) Lovejoy (0-0)
7. (10) Hughes (1-0)
8. (NR) Lowndes (1-0)
9. (5) Tucker (0-1)
10. (3) Archer (0-1)
Out: No. 6 Mill Creek
Class AAAAA
1. (1) Creekside (1-0)
2. (2) Stephenson (1-0)
3. (3) Coffee (1-0)
4. (4) Northside-Warner Robins (1-0)
5. (5) Ware County (1-0)
6. (7) Kell (1-0)
7. (6) Warner Robins (0-0)
8. (8) Gainesville (0-0)
9. (9) Carver-Columbus (1-0)
10. (NR) Allatoona (1-0)
Out: No. 10 Mays
Class AAAA
1. (1) Buford (1-0)
2. (2) Sandy Creek (1-0)
3. (3) Griffin (0-0)
4. (4) Marist (0-0)
5. (5) Carrollton (0-1)
6. (6) Thomas County Central (0-0)
7. (7) St. Pius (0-0)
8. (8) Woodward Academy (0-0)
9. (NR) Burke County (1-0)
10. (9) Whitewater (0-0)
Out: No. 10 Westover
Class AAA
1. (1) Washington County (0-0)
2. (2) Calhoun (0-0)
3. (3) Callaway (1-0)
4. (4) Cedar Grove (0-0)
5. (5) Jefferson (1-0)
6. (6) Blessed Trinity (0-0)
7. (7) Elbert County (0-0)
8. (8) Ringgold (1-0))
9. (9) Peach County (0-0)
10. (10) Westside-Macon (0-0)
Class AA
1. (1) Greater Atlanta Christian (1-0)
2. (2) Lovett (1-0)
3. (5) Heard County (0-0)
4. (3) Benedictine (0-1)
5. (6) Washington-Wilkes (0-0)
6. (7) Vidalia (1-0)
7. (NR) Fitzgerald (1-0)
8. (4) Brooks County (0-1)
9. (NR) Seminole County (0-0)
10. (9) Dublin (0-1)
Out: No. 8 Bowdon, No. 10 Lamar County
Class A
1. (1) Aquinas (1-0)
2. (2) Marion County (0-0)
3. (3) Calvary Day (1-0)
4. (10) Mount Paran Christian (1-0)
5. (7) Clinch County (1-0)
6. (8) Charlton County (0-0)
7. (6) Irwin County (0-0-1)
8. (NR) Brookstone (1-0)
9. (NR) Dooly County (0-0)
10. (4) Eagle's Landing Christian (0-1)
Out: No. 5 Mount Pisgah Christian, No. 9 Stratford Academy
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