Class AAAAAA
Gainesville’s state championship in 2012 removed an unwelcome title for the Red Elephants. They had won more GHSA region titles (27) without a state title than any other program. Now that distinction belongs to McEachern, with 15. With a 2-0 start and a top-five state ranking, the Indians are bent on fixing that. They beat No. 8 Lassiter 42-28 on Friday, as Taj Griffin rushed for 154 yards and quarterback Ty Clemons rushed for 128. That was the second consecutive game in which each rushed for more than 100 yards. McEachern, which started 0-2 last season, is the only AAAAAA team that has won its past 10 regular-season games.
Here are other notables from Friday night:
- Coffee coach Robbie Pruitt got his 300th victory in a 38-13 victory against Ware County, the AAAAA runner-up in 2012. Georgia is 0-2 in interstate games matching nationally ranked teams. In Week 1, Norcross lost to Booker T. Washington 55-0. On Friday, Colquitt lost to Hoover (Ala.) 24-10, failing to hold a 10-3 halftime lead. Colquitt and Norcross were ranked No. 1 in Georgia's Class AAAAAA.
- The most improved team in AAAAAA appears to be Peachtree Ridge, 4-6 last season and 2-0 now. The Lions beat Parkview 28-14 on Friday and Walton the week before. Both opponents were 2012 playoff teams.
- Marietta beat Pope 63-13 on Friday after defeating Newnan 52-21 in the opener. It's the first time Marietta has scored 50-plus points in back-to-back games since 1990, when Eric Zeier was the quarterback.
- North Gwinnett's 35-0 victory against Grayson is Grayson's most lopsided loss in history. North Gwinnett's 35-14 victory against Camden County the week before was Camden's worst loss since 2005.
Class AAAAA
- Southwest DeKalb, playing its first game since Buck Godfrey resigned after 30 seasons as the Panthers' head coach, was upset by Pebblebrook in coach Michael Tanks' debut. Pebblebrook was 0-10 last season and lost to Southwest DeKalb 23-0. Godfrey is DeKalb County Schools' winningest coach with a 273-89-1 record.
- Gainesville quarterback Deshaun Watson, who last season became the state's career leader in passing yardage and touchdowns, got off to a hot start, leading the defending state champions to a 58-28 victory against West Forsyth. Watson passed for 362 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score, according to the Gainesville Times. The Red Elephants play at home next week against AAA No. 1 Buford.
- Thomas County Central led AAAAAA Valdosta 24-14, but allowed 14 points in the fourth quarter and lost 28-24. Valdosta used several big plays to escape the upset. Malcolm Joseph returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score, and Nelson Herring had two long touchdown runs — an 80-yarder in the first quarter and a 91-yarder that was the game-winner with 5:09 to play.
Class AAAA
- Cedartown running back Nick Chubb picked up where he left off last season, rushing for 331 yards and five touchdowns in only three quarters of a 40-14 victory against Rockmart. Chubb had five 330-yard-plus rushing performances last season. He has committed to Georgia.
- The Howard Huskies ended their 24-game losing streak with a 20-14 victory against East Laurens in coach Barney Hester's debut. With the victory, Hester moved into a tie with Luther Welsh for fifth on Georgia high school's all-time coaching wins list.
- No. 2 Carrollton got touchdowns from five players — Will Garrett, Malik Sheppard, Andrew Turner, Trey Chivers and Jarvis Terrell — in a 35-14 victory against Oxford (Ala.).
- Monroe Area quarterback Stanton Truitt had a hand in all seven of the Hurricanes' touchdowns in a 48-21 victory against Loganville. Truitt rushed for four touchdowns and passed for three more.
Class AAA
- White County coach Bill Ballard joined the 100-victory club when his team defeated Habersham Central 35-14. The Warriors (1-0) got two touchdowns each from Sam Turner and Maurice Sutton. Adam Johnson had two interceptions to spark the defense. Ballard is 11-11 in his third season at White County. He was at Tucker from 2002-06 and Peachtree Ridge from 2007-10.
- Joe Kegler won his head coaching debut for No. 4 Carver, which ripped rival Spencer 40-3 in the 51st annual Heritage Bowl. Carver has beaten Spencer 15 consecutive times. Noah Hickey was named the MVP of the game. He ran 14 times for 93 yards and scored two touchdowns. Jawon Pass, who was making his debut at quarterback, completed 11 of 19 for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
- Defending champion Buford was overwhelming in its opener, defeating Elbert County 46-7. Six different players scored touchdowns for the Wolves, who play at AAAAA No. 1 Gainesville next week.
- No. 7 Blessed Trinity (1-1) was defeated by AA No. 6 Lovett 14-3, denying coach Tim McFarlin his 100th career victory. The Titans had trouble moving the ball for the second week and were done in by a 95-yard punt return.
Class AA
- The Calhoun Yellow Jackets are once again a state title contender, confirmed by their convincing 37-0 season-opening victory against the Ridgeland Panthers, who are ranked No. 9 in AAAA. The No. 1-ranked Jackets are seeking a 13th consecutive region championship. In Friday's matchup of two 2012 state finalists, the Jackets pulled away in the second quarter with three touchdowns that helped build a 27-0 halftime lead.
- The Jefferson Dragons made their case for a No. 1 ranking with a 40-0 home victory against Commerce. The defending state champion Dragons, ranked No. 3, dashed to a 20-0 halftime lead and added another 20 points in the third quarter. The No. 2-ranked Lamar County Trojans handled visiting Spalding, 44-14. No other top 10 school lost Friday.
- Apparently ajc.com AA blog readers have their collective thumbs on the pulse of their classification and know a potential upset when they see one. Blog readers were polled Thursday on which unranked AA school they believed was most likely capable of upsetting a Top 10 team in Week 2. Sixty-five percent of readers selected the Thomasville Bulldogs, who promptly defeated AAAA No. 6 Cairo, 21-10 in front of the home crowd. All but 1 percent of the remaining votes went to the Macon County Bulldogs, who upset Class A No. 3 Dooly County 34-18 on the road.
Class A
- Defending Class A private school champion Eagle's Landing Christian Academy answered the call for Georgia with a 27-7 victory against traditional Alabama private-school power Briarwood Christian of Birmingham. The Chargers, ranked No. 1, were led by senior quarterback Dalton Etheridge, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.
- One team looking to challenge ELCA for Class A supremacy is George Walton Academy, which fell to the Chargers in the private-school semifinals last season. George Walton Academy made an early statement with a 36-10 thumping of First Presbyterian Day School, which advanced to the state quarterfinals last season. The Bulldogs were paced by Kentucky commitment Stanley Williams, who rushed for 232 yards and had touchdowns of 63 and 26 yards.
- The mark of a good program is when it continues to succeed in spite of change. Last season, coming off of a run to the 2011 state title game, Landmark Christian went 9-4 and advanced to the semifinals, although longtime coach Kenny Dallas left. This season, without all-state running back Jeremiah Kirkland (transferred to Lovejoy) the War Eagles are 2-0 after downing Athens Christian 26-7 behind the running of senior Darius Smith (122 yards rushing, two touchdowns) and passing of sophomore quarterback Stockton McGuire (5-of-7 passing, 71 yards, touchdown run).
- The 2012 Class A public school runners-up, ranked No. 3, were knocked off by AA Macon County 34-18. Dooly won last year's game 21-20.
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