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 on 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 over No. 7 Burke County 24-14 in Class 2A and Bleckley County over No. 4 Northeast 14-13 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 has been a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1985. He is currently co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
