It’s shaping up to be a great race in Region 5-AAAAAA, which has five teams at 2-0 after Friday night’s games. That’s tied (along with 1-AAAAAA) for the most undefeated teams in any region outside of Class A, which has larger regions.
Hughes had the weekend off, and the Panthers were joined at 2-0 overall by four region rivals that posted impressive victories this week – Alexander beat Carver of Atlanta 31-26; eighth-ranked Creekside beat Southwest DeKalb 47-14; Douglas County beat Carver of Columbus 39-13; and seventh-ranked Northgate beat Starr’s Mill 34-17. Douglas County is the biggest surprise of the group after going 2-8 last year.
The region’s biggest win of the weekend, however, belonged to a 1-1 team that is sure to be factor in the title race. That would be Mays, which overcame a 31-14 third-quarter deficit to beat Class AAAAAAA Peachtree Ridge 36-31. B.J. Phillips passed for four touchdowns, including two in the second-half rally. The Raiders were close to being 2-0 as well, but they lost to Stockbridge 35-34 last week on a late missed extra-point attempt.
Region play begins next weekend, with the marquee matchups being Hughes at Mays (Lakewood Stadium) and Northgate at Douglas County.
Here’s a recap of some of the other big stories in Class AAAAAA from Week 3:
*Milestone for Fromm: Houston County quarterback Jake Fromm became just the second player in state history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards when he threw for 502 in a 50-27 victory over Eagle's Landing. For the season, the Georgia-bound Fromm is 79-for-110 passing for 1,368 yards and 11 touchdowns, and his career yardage total is 10,203. The state record of 13,077 belongs to Gainesville's Deshaun Watson. At his current unbelievable pace of 456 yards per game, Fromm would break the record in the regular-season finale against Valdosta.
*Weather takes toll: Hurricane Hermine had a big impact on the Class AAAAAA schedule. Three games (Hardaway at Lee County, Richmond Hill at Brantley County, and Bradwell Institute at Southeast Bulloch) were cancelled, and seven more were postponed until Saturday. Among those pushed back a day were No. 6 Coffee at AAAAA No. 7 Ware County and No. 10 Tucker at AAAAAAA No. 6 Colquitt County.
*Highs and lows for Cobb: Harrison improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2008 when it beat AAAAAAA North Cobb 25-13, the third impressive victory for the Hoyas, who moved down from the highest class. On the flip side, reigning state champion Allatoona fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2009 with a 21-17 loss to Sandy Creek. It should be noted, however, that Allatoona's three opponents (Cartersville, Alexander and Sandy Creek) are undefeated against Georgia teams, and two of them are ranked.
*Habersham off to good start: Habersham Central is 2-0 for the first time since 1990 after a 29-23 victory over White County. The Raiders spent the past four seasons in the highest class and had a rough go of it, compiling a 3-37 record (0-10 in 2013 and 1-9 each of the other three seasons). Habersham Central's 1990 team won its first 12 games before losing to Marist in the state quarterfinals.
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