High school football recap: McEachern, Hughes, Troup win top 10 battles

Undefeated McEachern, Hughes and Troup won impressively in challenges from top 10 opponents Friday night, while unranked Crisp County and Dublin upset top five teams in the 10th weekend of the high school football season.

Griffin, Douglass and Jasper County also scored pivotal victories that put them in position to win rare region championships.

McEachern, the No. 5 team in Class 6A, beat No. 10 Hillgrove 35-14 to take charge of Region 3-6A and moved to 8-0 for the first time since 2019. Henry Pullen rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Both Powder Springs teams entered 7-0 overall and 4-0 in region play.

No. 1 Hughes of Class 5A beat No. 10 Northgate 40-5 in another high-profile game between 7-0, 4-0 teams. Hughes, the defending Region 3 champion and 2024 state runner-up, finished the night in first place in region play after Newnan (6-2, 3-2) knocked off Lovejoy (7-1, 4-1) 38-8.

Troup, the No. 7 team in Class 3A, beat No. 6 LaGrange 38-24 in a Troup County rivalry game. Troup (8-0, 6-0) had lost three straight games in the series. Troup is scheduled to play No. 1 Sandy Creek (9-0, 7-0) on Halloween night to settle the region.

In Class 2A, Crisp County beat No. 2 Pierce County 28-16, dealing the Pirates (7-2, 1-1 in Region 3) their first loss. Crisp (3-6, 2-1) has lost to five teams currently or formerly ranked this season and won this game as a 21-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings. The region’s new first-place team is Appling County (5-3, 3-0), a 49-7 winner over Tattnall County.

In Class A Division I, Dublin beat No. 4 Bleckley County 42-19 in Region 2. Dublin (6-2, 6-1) was just a 2-point underdog and is now tied for first with No. 5 Northeast (6-2, 6-1) with No. 8 Dodge County (6-1, 5-1) in the most competitive first-place race in the state.

In other games of note, Brookwood beat Peachtree Ridge 45-27 in a Region 7-6A game between Gwinnett County teams that entered 5-2 overall. Brookwood (6-2, 4-1) is in contention for the No. 2 seed behind North Gwinnett.

Douglass (7-1, 4-0) moved into first place in Region 5-3A with a 42-0 victory over North Clayton (7-1, 4-0). Douglass can win its first region title since 2004. Stephenson (7-1, 3-1) remains a factor, however.

Jasper County (8-0, 4-0) beat Social Circle 42-7 in a Region 4-A Division I game that left Jasper County and Lamar County (8-0, 4-0) in first place. Jasper County has not won a region title since 1992, but is 8-0 for the first time since 1988.

Griffin, 1-9 the past two seasons, improved to 6-2 under first-year coach Bernard Goodrum with a 21-15 victory over Jonesboro. The victory as a 14-point underdog kept the Bears tied with Central of Carrollton (8-0, 4-0) for first place in Region 3-4A. Griffin has not won a region title since 2014.

Three state powers hit 70 points Friday. Buford beat Central Gwinnett 75-0 while Benedictine defeated Wayne County 75-7. Thomas County Central beat Northside-Warner Robins 70-0.