Class 2A blog: Week 5 Friday night recap

Half of Class 2A’s ranked teams were on bye this week. The most notable matchup involving a ranked team that did play was 3A’s No. 3 Oconee County at the No. 5 Thomasville Bulldogs (2-2). Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they were blown out, 44-14. Pat Donahue has the game writeup for the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-3 and the margin of defeat may drop them from the rankings.

It’s worth noting, however, that last season they started 0-3 and 2-4 but went on to reach the semifinals for their deepest postseason run since 1993. Bulldogs coach Zach Grage likes to challenge his team early in the season with tough non-region opponents and three of their five non-region games were against ranked teams.

The Bulldogs, who next week are on bye, head into Region 1 play still considered one of the contenders for what has now become a deep Region 1 along with No. 2 Fitzgerald, No. 7 Early County and an up-and-coming Worth County.

Here’s how the rest of the top 10 faired:

• In Region 6 action, the No. 4 Lovett Lions beat South Atlanta 37-12 to improve to 3-1, 3-0, while the Hornets dropped to 1-3, 1-1.
• The No. 6 Heard County Braves lost 48-14 to 4A’s unranked Cedartown to drop to 4-1. Kevin Myrick of Polk Today has video highlights. Like with Thomasville, it’s unclear if the Braves will stay in the rankings due to margin of defeat and, in their case, losing to an unranked team that came in with a losing record.
• The No. 7 Early County Bobcats returned to action after a two-week quarantine and beat Westover 21-20. The Dothan Eagle has details in its prep football roundup. They are now 3-0 — their best start since 2007.
• On Thursday, the No. 9 Pace Academy Knights beat McNair 55-0 in their Region 6 opener to improve to 2-1. For McNair, the game served as its season opener.
• On bye: No. 1 Callaway, No. 2 Fitzgerald, No. 3 Rabun County, No. 8 Bleckley County, No. 10 Haralson County