25-point upset, chaos in Region 7-7A among top surprises of Week 8
AJC Varsity reporter and GHSF Daily editor Chip Saye ranks the most surprising and notable games of the weekend.
1. Chaos in Region 7-7A: Two major upsets created a logjam at the top of 7-7A, where five of the region’s seven teams are essentially tied for first place with one loss each in region play. Norcross, projected as a 24-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, upset Peachtree Ridge 20-6. Brookwood, a 17-point underdog, beat then-No. 3 North Gwinnett 50-24. Those four teams and Parkview, which beat Brookwood the previous week, are the one-loss teams. North Gwinnett had won 18 consecutive region games since 2023.
2. Starr’s Mill 27, Griffin 3: Starr’s Mill recorded the biggest GHSA upset of the week, according to the Maxwell Ratings, when it beat 25-point favorite Griffin in a Region 3-5A game. It was the first victory of the season for Starr’s Mill and the first region loss for Griffin, which fell into a tie for second place behind LaGrange. Starr’s Mill had lost seven consecutive games dating to last season, tied for the most in school history.
3. Newnan 20, Woodward Academy 14: Newnan handed 4-point favorite Woodward Academy its first Region 3-6A loss and knocked the War Eagles out of a first-place tie with No. 2 Creekside and No. 7 Hughes. Newnan ended a six-game losing streak against Woodward Academy, although the teams hadn’t met since 1969. Newnan’s last victory in the series had been a 7-6 win in 1918, when Woodward was known as Georgia Military Academy.
4. Duluth 22, Hebron Christian 19: Duluth picked up its first victory of the season when it beat 18-point favorite Hebron Christian, the two-time state champion in the Private classification. Duluth snapped a nine-game losing streak with the win. Hebron Christian of Dacula, playing a Gwinnett County public school for the first time since starting the varsity program in 2007, fell to 2-5 for the season.
5. B.E.S.T. Academy 36, Manchester 20: B.E.S.T. Academy reached the five-win mark for the first time since 2017 with a victory over 24-point favorite Manchester in the teams’ Region 7-A opener. The preseason Maxwell Ratings projected that B.E.S.T. Academy would go 4-6 this season and finish in last place in five-team Region 7-A. The Eagles went 1-9 last year playing in a Class A Division I region filled with private schools.
Worth noting: Marietta, a 7-point favorite, scored its most points in almost 100 years when it beat Etowah 70-42, handing the Eagles their first loss of the season and knocking them out of first place in Region 5-7A. The 70 points were the most in a game for the Blue Devils since a 77-0 victory over Nelson in 1928, according the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. … Mitchell County, a 15-point underdog, ended an eight-game losing streak against Clinch County and moved into a tie for first place in Region 2-A with a 12-10 victory over the Panthers. Mitchell County played in Region 1 of the lowest class for the past 16 years before changing regions during the most recent reclassification. The Eagles and Charlton County are the only remaining unbeaten teams in Region 2 play. … Schley County, a 23-point underdog, handed then-No. 3 Macon County its first loss of the season, 26-20, and knocked the Eagles out of a tie for first place in Region 6-A. Schley County, which won region titles three of the past four seasons, is now tied for first place with Marion County, one game ahead of Macon County and fourth-ranked Taylor County. … Social Circle created a four-way tie for first place in eight-team Region 4-2A with a 10-7 victory over 22-point favorite Jasper County. Social Circle and Jasper County are tied with Putnam County and Aquinas, all with 3-1 region records. Social Circle is seeking its second region championship in three years and third in school history. Jasper County hasn’t won a region title since 1992. … Woodstock, a playoff team the past two seasons, picked up its second win of the season and first in Region 6-6A play when it defeated Rome, an 11-point favorite. Rome dropped to 0-7 for the first time since the school was formed after the consolidation of West Rome and East Rome in 1992. Rome won the previous two games in the series, 59-7 in 2023 and 70-0 in 2022.