Friday night football recap: No. 1 Worth County ends 11-game losing streak in series; River Ridge scores upset

Worth County authenticated its No. 1 ranking in Class A Division I with a victory over its nemesis Friday night, while River Ridge, Hebron Christian and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe won in upsets over top-10 teams on the sixth weekend of the high school football regular season.

Unranked teams Flowery Branch, Jenkins, West Laurens and Treutlen also beat ranked opponents.

In the highest class, pivotal region victories were had by North Cobb (24-17 over North Paulding), Peachtree Ridge (24-22 over Norcross) and Newton (42-35 over Archer), but most of the state’s surprising and significant outcomes took place outside of metro Atlanta.

In South Georgia, Worth County defeated No. 9 Fitzgerald 30-7 and ended an 11-game losing streak to the Purple Hurricane. Worth County lost twice to Fitzgerald last season, once in the playoff quarterfinals, despite winning its first region title since 1989.

River Ridge beat Class 5A’s No. 4 team, Sequoyah, 28-21 in a Region 6 game between Cherokee County rivals. River Ridge was ranked for a week earlier this month before losing to unranked Woodstock, but it salvaged its region chances with this upset. Sequoyah, rated a 21-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings, was coming off a 63-20 victory over then-No. 6 Sprayberry last week.

Hebron Christian, the Class 3A-A Private defending champion, beat Class 4A’s No. 4 team, Blessed Trinity, 22-17. Blessed Trinity, the bigger school, was a 13-point favorite.

Also in Class 4A, Flowery Branch beat No. 10 Eastside, a six-point favorite, 32-28, in a Region 8 game.

In Savannah, Jenkins beat Class 3A-A Private’s No. 4 team, Calvary Day 41-33.

These schools, one mile apart, play in different state-playoff brackets but are the top contenders from the same region, and the region title is critical for state-playoff seeding. Jenkins lost to Calvary Day 34-31 in overtime last season, and the revenge victory puts the Warriors in the driver’s seat.

In Class 3A, West Laurens defeated No. 10 Harlem 26-21. A year ago, this game ultimately gave Harlem the Region 4 championship. The win marked West Laurens’ first victory over a ranked team in the same class since the Raiders beat North Oconee in the 2019 Class 4A quarterfinals.

In northwest Georgia, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe beat Class 2A No. 10 Ringgold 35-17. Lakeview had lost 20 straight games against top-10 opponents since a 2002 victory over Rome.

In Class A Division II, Treutlen beat No. 6 Wilcox County 17-12. Treutlen had lost nine straight games to Wilcox. Under second-year coach Alan Shrling, Treutlen (3-2) is seeking its first winning season since 2016, first playoff berth since 2009, and first region title since 1990.