Several Class 6A teams won high-profile games in the first week of the high school football season.
Defending 6A champion Hughes scored late and then held on for a 39-34 victory over Class 7A runner-up Carrollton. Gainesville broke open a close game late in the second quarter and defeated Marist 34-26 in a matchup of defending region champions. And Lee County rallied from a 16-7 halftime deficit for a 26-19 victory over Warner Robins, which has made six consecutive trips to the Class 5A finals.
However, no team in the classification picked up a more important win last week than Mundy’s Mill, which ended a 15-game losing streak against Clayton County rival Lovejoy with a 20-12 victory. More important was that this was a rare Week 1 region contest, putting the Tigers in a tie for first place in Region 3 with Morrow, which defeated Forest Park 22-0.
Quarterback Donovon Morton was 15-of-17 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns, and Kamron Ogletree scored on a short run.
“It means a lot for this program,” Mundy’s Mill second-year coach Earthwind Moreland told Anthony Rhoads of the Clayton News-Daily. “When I first got over here – hats off to them; they deserved it – all I heard about was that Mundy’s Mill hadn’t beat Lovejoy in 10-plus years, so for that game it wasn’t to me a rivalry because of the fact that they dominated that game so long. It’s a big boost to our kids to let them know that we can play in a tough region. It helps us out not only that it’s the Lovejoy game but a region game.”
Last year, Mundy’s Mill lost its opener to Lovejoy 25-0 in a game that ultimately decided second place in the region. The Tigers finished in third place behind Woodward Academy and Lovejoy and had to go on the road to St. Pius for a first-round playoff game, which they lost 27-21. Last week’s victory puts Mundy’s Mill in the driver’s seat to host a playoff game for the first time since 2013, when it reached the quarterfinals and finished 8-5, the best season in school history.
Mundy’s Mill travels to Class 4A Fayette County on Friday with a chance to reach 2-0 for the first time since 2005, the program’s third season. That 2005 team went on to finish 6-4 but failed to reach the playoffs. The computer Maxwell Ratings have Mundy’s Mill as a 17-point against Fayette County.
Here are four other top games involving Class 6A teams this week, with the best of the action coming in middle and south Georgia.
*Brunswick at Camden County: These are two of the best big-school programs in coastal Georgia. Brunswick won last year 16-10, part of the Pirates’ second consecutive 10-0 regular season. Camden County had a first-and-goal at the Brunswick 7-yard line in the final two minutes, but Brunswick kept the Wildcats out of the end zone. This is the Pirates’ season opener. Camden County of Class 7A is 1-0 after defeating Class 2A Columbia to avenge a stunning 2022 loss. The Wildcats overcame their 0-2 start and finished 8-4.
*Houston County at Perry: Fourth-ranked Houston County opened with a 56-12 victory over Sumter County in Week 1, but the task will be tougher this week against Perry, which is No. 5 in Class 4A and playing its first game. Houston County quarterback A.J. Hill was 16-of-16 passing for 287 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half last week. He threw for 414 yards against Perry last season as the Bears rallied from a 28-3 first-half deficit and won 57-56. Houston County has won three of the last four in the series.
*Peach County at Northside-Warner Robins: Ninth-ranked Northside, in its first season under head coach Ben Bailey, avenged a 2022 loss with a 33-21 victory over Jones County last week. Damien Dee passed for 157 yards and two touchdowns, both to Keron Milton, who finished with 108 receiving yards. Peach County of Class 3A lost to Baldwin 34-13 last week and enters this game unranked for just the sixth time in the series, which Northside leads 14-5. The Eagles have won three straight against Peach County.
*Thomasville at Thomas County Central: Thomasville, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, leads this city rivalry 28-27, but Thomas County Central dominated 31-0 last year to put the Yellow Jackets in position to tie things up. Thomas County Central, No. 8 in 6A, rolled past Cairo 38-0 in the season opener. Trey Benton, who ran for 101 yards against Thomasville in 2022, had 115 yards last week. Thomas County Central is 11-0 in regular-season games under second-year coach Justin Rogers after going 5-6 in Class 4A in 2021.
About the Author
