GHSA playoff races take interesting turns after these noteworthy Week 8 wins
Victories by Bleckley County, Sprayberry, Stockbridge and Southwest DeKalb helped create chaos in the playoff races in four of the state’s largest regions. The results of their games were among the most notable or surprising of Week 8.
1. Bleckley County 14, Northeast 13: Bleckley County, projected as an eight-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, took down the lone remaining unbeaten team in 10-team Region 2-A Division I and created a four-way tie for first place that includes Bleckley County, Northeast, Dodge County and Dublin, all 5-1 in region play. Bleckley can win its third region title if it wins out and Dodge loses to Northeast or Dublin.
2. Sprayberry 36, Creekview 35: Sprayberry, a 10-point favorite, set the stage for a five-way tie for first place in eight-team Region 6-5A when it went overtime to hand Creekview its first region loss. Sprayberry, Creekview, River Ridge, Sequoyah and Woodstock are all 3-1 in region play, 1-1 in head-to-head games, with two of their remaining three games coming against each other. Sprayberry is the defending champion.
3. Stockbridge 19, Ola 14: Stockbridge knocked Ola out of a share of first place in 10-team region 2-4A and into a four-way tie for second with a victory in a game that was considered a toss-up by Maxwell. Stockbridge, Ola, Hampton and Jones County are 4-2 in region play, one game behind 5-1 Locust Grove, which is seeking the first region title in its 17-season history. Stockbridge finished in first place last season, but Ola was the region champion after Stockbridge was forced to forfeit its nine region victories.
4. Southwest DeKalb 31, Lithonia 14: Southwest DeKalb handed five-point underdog Lithonia its first loss of the season and dropped the Bulldogs into a group of four teams with one region loss trailing unbeaten Marist in the nine-team race in Region 5-4A. Southwest DeKalb and St. Pius are 4-1 in region play, while Lithonia and Tucker are each 3-1. Lithonia’s 5-0 start was the school’s best since 1998.
5. Chattooga 27, Fannin County 10: Chattooga pulled off the biggest upset of the week, according to Maxwell, when it beat 28-point favorite Fannin County in a Region 7-A Division I game. The loss snapped Fannin County’s 11-game winning streak in region games that began with a victory over Haralson County in the 2023 regular-season finale. Fannin County beat Chattooga 35-7 last year on its way to a 12-1 season.
Other noteworthy outcomes
Benedictine, a 35-point favorite, handed Warner Robins its most-lopsided loss in school history when it beat the Demons 61-0. The 61 points were the most allowed by the Demons since Houston County won 63-28 in a 2016 game.
Colquitt County handed 12-point favorite Valdosta its first loss of the season, 18-17, in a Region 1-6A game. The victory was Colquitt County’s 24th all-time against the Wildcats, tied with Lowndes for most by any school against Valdosta, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Colquitt’s 24 don’t include 11 victories by Moultrie High, a predecessor school. Lowndes will get its shot at Valdosta on Oct. 31.
Franklin County ended a 22-game losing streak in region games when it beat four-point favorite East Jackson 34-7 in an 8-2A game. Franklin County’s most recent region victory, also against East Jackson, had come on Nov. 6, 2020. Franklin County is 6-1 after going 7-33 over the past four seasons.
Kell beat five-point favorite Blessed Trinity 3-0, ending the Titans’ streak of scoring in 188 consecutive games. That’s the seventh-longest streak of its kind in GHSA history. The last time Blessed Trinity had been shut out was a 42-0 loss to Buford in the 2011 season opener.
Marietta, which went 0-4 in non-region games against teams with a combined record of 23-2, improved to 3-0 in Region 5-6A and remained in first place with a 41-38 overtime victory against five-point favorite Walton. The winner of this week’s Marietta-North Cobb game will be in the driver’s seat for the region title.
About the Author
Chip Saye is a former writer and editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and remains a regular contributor to the AJC. In 2009 he helped start Georgia High School Football Daily. He previously worked for the Athens Banner-Herald, Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail and Gwinnett Daily News.
