To say that this past weekend was not a good one for Class AAAAAA football would be an understatement.
Sure, defending champion and top-ranked Lee County represented the classification well, rolling to a 35-3 victory over Dr. Phillips, the reigning state champion in Florida’s Class 8A.
But elsewhere, things took a sour turn. The losses were numerous and some surprising, either for the lopsided scores or the fact that they happened at all.
Is it a down year in Class AAAAAA?
An argument can be made that the results from the first two weeks of the season have been skewed by the fact that some of the classification’s top teams have played more difficult schedules than usual. Take Tucker, for example. The Tigers, semifinalists last season, have been blown out in their first two games, but the losses came against state powers Buford (No. 2 in AAAAA) and Grayson (No. 1 in AAAAAAA)
The same holds true for Mays. The Raiders’ two losses have come against Norcross (No. 10 in AAAAAAA) and Central-Phenix City, which reached the semifinals in Alabama’s highest classification last year.
Neither Tucker nor Mays will play anybody that good again in the regular season, and both could finish 8-2 and win region titles.
But the overall numbers are still sobering. Here’s a look at a couple of areas where the classification’s struggles have stood out:
The top 10
In the first week of the season, ranked teams Tucker (then No. 3), Mays (No. 5), Allatoona (No. 6) and Glynn Academy (No. 8) suffered losses.
It was worse in Week 2, when seven top-10 teams lost. Those included Northside-Warner Robins (then No. 3), Valdosta (No. 4), Stephenson (No. 5), Mays (No. 6), Tucker (No. 8), Alpharetta (No. 9) and Lanier (No. 10). Stephenson, Mays, Tucker and Lanier all dropped out of the rankings. Their departure paved the way for Dalton, Creekview and Richmond Hill to move into the top 10 and for Glynn Academy to reclaim a spot. Creekview hasn’t been ranked since 2009. Richmond Hill was in the top 10 for two weeks last season but had not been ranked before then since 1996.
For comparison’s sake, only eight ranked teams in the other classifications combined lost last weekend. In all, Class AAAAAA teams ranked in the top 10 are 8-11 in the first two weeks.
The overall record
Class AAAAAA teams had an overall record of 18-33 last week and are 34-64 for the season. To be fair, 21 of the 64 total losses have come against the highest classification and eight more were against other Class AAAAAA schools. Five-team Region 1 is the only one with a winning record. Lee County (2-0), Coffee (2-0), Houston County (1-1), Northside (1-1) and Valdosta (1-1) are a combined 7-3. That’s actually an improvement from last year, when the region was 6-4 through two weeks.
Region 2, which includes Bradwell Institute, Brunswick, Glynn Academy, Effingham County and Richmond Hill, is the closest to .500 of the remaining region. Its five teams are 4-5. Region 3, which took two out of three against South Carolina teams last weekend, is 4-6 overall. Region 4 is 4-13, with two of the wins (and losses) coming when region play got under way with a limited schedule last week. Region 5 is 2-12, Region 6 is 6-9, Region 7 is 3-8, and Region 8 is 4-8.
Also worth noting is that, while every team hasn’t played two games yet, six Class AAAAAA teams are 2-0, while 17 are 0-2.
So, what does it all mean? Maybe not much. Colquitt County reached the state final in the highest classification in 2010 after going 5-5 in the regular season. Just last year, St. Pius went 5-5 during the regular season in Class AAAA but made it all the way to the semifinals.
Besides, the non-region portion of the schedule is the time to test yourself against the best out there, discover your weaknesses and improve for the games that matter. And by the time region play rolls around, it will mostly all be forgotten. The playoffs will be as exciting as ever, and a deserving champion will be crowned.
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