More than half of 2A’s ranked teams lost this week — Haralson County, Thomasville, Putnam County, Northeast, Bleckley County and Cook.
In a top five showdown that decided the Region 1 champion, The No. 2 Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane traveled to the No. 5 Thomasville Bulldogs and won 29-28 on Friday.
In the fourth quarter and leading 28-21, the Bulldogs intercepted Fitzgerald at the Thomasville 1, but their drive ended in a Purple Hurricane safety to make it 28-23. With 5:32 left, the Purple Hurricane took the lead for good on a touchdown.
Pat Donahue has a writeup for the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
With the win, the Purple Hurricane are 9-0, 4-0 in league play and have clinched their first region title since 2016, when they reached the 2A title game.
Elsewhere, in Region 5, the No. 4 Haralson County Rebels were stunned at home by the unranked Heard County Braves, 26-12, in a game played Thursday night.
The Heard Citizen has details.
The Rebels, who were 17-point favorites according to Maxwell’s projections, drop to 6-1, 1-1, while the Braves improve to 5-3, 1-1.
The Rebels play at top-ranked Callaway next week and the Braves host Bremen.
Here’s how the rest of the top 10 fared:
- In Region 8, the No. 3 Rabun County Wildcats beat Banks County 63-7 to move to 7-1, 2-0. Blitz has coverage. They’ll host Union County next week in their regular season finale.
- The No. 6 Lovett Lions beat Columbia 35-8 in Region 6 action and are now 6-2, 6-1. Their game at Columbia next week will serve as their regular season finale since McNair canceled its season, which included Lovett on Nov. 13. The Lions will play just eight games this season.
- In the de-facto Region 4 championship, the Jefferson County Warriors soundly defeated the No. 7 Putnam County War Eagles 50-12. The Warriors are 4-2A champions for a third consecutive season and improve to 5-2, 5-0. The War Eagles fall to (7-1, 4-1).
- In Region 3, the No. 8 Northeast Raiders missed a chance to clinch their first region title since 2009, losing 35-21 at Dodge County. WMGT has highlights. The Raiders are 5-2, 3-1 and host Monticello next week.
- The No. 9 Bleckley County Royals' late season struggles continue as they lost handily to Washington County, 42-20. Dave Whitaker has a writeup for The Bleckley Progress. The loss comes on the heels of last week’s defeat at the hands Northeast. The Royals are 6-3, 3-2 close their regular season next Thursday at Southwest.
- In Region 1, the No. 10 Cook Hornets lost 42-35 to the Early County Bobcats. The Macon Telegraph has photos. The Hornets are 5-4, 2-2 and will play Fitzgerald next week. The once-ranked Bobcats (5-2, 2-2) play Worth County.
- On bye: No. 1 Callaway
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