Friday football recap: No. 1 team survives in overtime after trailing 34-14
Worth County came from 20 points down to defend its No. 1 ranking, Colquitt County salvaged a chance to defend its region title and North Gwinnett, McEachern and Kell beat top-10 opponents Friday night in the eighth week of the football regular season.
Worth County, the No. 1 team in Class A Division I, beat No. 3 Thomasville 41-40 in overtime. Playing at home, Worth County trailed 34-14 late in the third quarter and scored three unanswered touchdowns to get even in regulation. Worth is ranked No. 1 this season for the first time since 1990.
Toombs County, the defending Class A Division champion and second-ranked team, beat No. 6 Swainsboro 47-20.
In Class 6A, No. 9 Colquitt beat No. 5 Valdosta 18-17 in Region 1. Colquitt is the defending region champion but lost to No. 4 Lowndes 31-14 last week.
The region leaders are now Lowndes (8-0, 3-0) and unranked Richmond Hill (7-1, 3-0). Lowndes beat Tift County 35-0 while Richmond Hill beat Camden County 24-20.
Also in Class 6A, North Gwinnett, ranked No. 8, beat Peachtree Ridge 45-14 to claim first place in Region 7. At 6-1, 4-0, North Gwinnett is the only region team without a loss and is also the defending champion.
McEachern, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, beat previously unbeaten Harrison 48-21. McEachern (6-0, 3-0) is now tied with No. 10 Hillgrove (6-0, 3-0) for first place in Region 3. McEachern will play Hillgrove in two weeks in a rivalry of Powder Springs teams.
Unranked Kell of Marietta beat No. 8 Blessed Trinity 3-0 in Class 4A. Their Region 6 also includes No. 9 Cambridge, a 46-14 winner over Westminster.
Kell was one of three unranked teams to beat top-10 opponents. The others were Thomson 24-14 over No. 7 Burke County in Class 2A and Bleckley County 14-13 over No. 4 Northeast in Class A Division I.
Hapeville Charter, ranked No. 9 despite entering with a 1-4 record, beat Holy Innocents’ 20-17 in overtime in a Class 2A game. Those two teams are in the same Region 5, although Holy Innocents’ is a 3A-A Private team ranked No. 8 in that class. All of Hapeville’s losses have been to top-10 or Class 6A opponents.
In a Class 5A game between unranked teams, Sprayberry beat Creekview 36-35 in overtime. Creekview had been the only Region 6 team without a loss. Now five teams are 3-1 in region play — Creekview, Sprayberry, River Ridge, Sequoyah and Woodstock.
In Class 4A, No. 3 Cartersville beat No. 10 Cass 56-28. Also in 4A, Marist beat North Springs 43-0 to get coach Alan Chadwick his 450th victory. He trails only Larry Campbell, with 477 wins, in the state of Georgia.
About the Author
Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
