Two top-10 teams fall in high class; Hillgrove-Walton, Parkview-Archer on deck

Neither result was stunning, except the margin in the Tift-Roswell game. Tift actually was a four-point favorite, according the computer Maxwell Ratings.

Roswell was a hard team to figure. The Hornets, 3-8 a year ago, had a satisfying season of redemption with victories over its main rivals, Walton and Milton, both currently ranked, and won the Region 4 title. But Roswell also lost to Wheeler, which failed to make the playoffs. Tift, the fourth-place finisher was historically strong Region, proved better.

But ironically, Walton, the runner-up in Region 4 to Roswell, won 40-20 over Camden County, the team that beat Tift County last week.

As for Marietta, the Blue Devils all-state quarterback Harrison Bailey and AJC Super 11 wide receiver Ramel Keyton, who were injured. A year ago, Bailey was injured through the regular season but returned in time to get Marietta to the quarterfinals in a surprise. This season, the Devils’ hopes of repeating that playoff performance ended the moment he went down last month.

But take nothing away from East Coweta, a rebuilding program that entered the playoffs 3-7 but was playing pretty well down the stretch after an 0-6 start.

So it’s now it’s East Coweta vs. Tift County instead of Marietta vs. Roswell.

There still will be two games between top 10 teams. They are No. 5 Walton at No. 4 Hillgrove, and No. 9 Archer at No. 3 Parkview. Pretty tough draws for Hillgrove and Parkview, both undefeated. This happened because of Walton’s loss to Roswell, making Walton a No. 2 seed, and Archer’s loss to second-ranked Grayson, making the Tigers a No. 2.

Here’s the slate, ordered by each game’s place on the draw sheet.

Lowndes at Westlake

Norcross at Grayson

Walton at Hillgrove

Mill Creek at Milton 

East Coweta vs. Tift County

Archer at Parkview

McEachern at Colquitt County

West Forsyth at North Gwinnett