Nearing the season’s midpoint, Week 7′s slate of games will ease programs into region play while one ranked team – No. 6 Appling County – will face Class 4A’s No. 3 Benedictine (5-1).
Seven of the eight regions in 3A will have intra-region games taking place this weekend -- 2-3A, 3-3A (two region games), 4-3A, 5-3A (two region games), 6-3A, 7-3A, 8-3A – will face region foes.
The top game this week is between No. 6 Appling County and Class 4A No. 3 Benedictine. The Pirates are exceeding expectations and have beaten South Effingham (42-7), Westside-Macon (45-7), Statesboro (34-7) and Wayne County (23-20), but Benedictine is the first ranked team they will face.
The teams have met twice – 2008 and 2009 – and Appling County won 35-7 and 23-9, respectively. Appling County is listed as the ninth-highest scoring team in Class 3A and averages 36 points per game, 7.0 points better than projected and has climbed from No. 17 to No. 7 in the Maxwell rankings. Benedictine is the second-highest scoring program in Class 4A, averaging 39.8 points per game.
3A top-10 schedule for Week 7
1. Cedar Grove (2-0) will host Redan (2-0) in a 5-3A game.
Notes: Redan (45.0 points/game) is the highest scoring team in the class. The Raiders have beaten Druid Hills 62-0 and Lakeside-DeKalb 28-20.
2. Crisp County (4-0) will host Mary Persons (2-3) in a 2-3A game.
Notes: Crisp County, the state runner-up, could move to 2-0 in the region after beating Upson-Lee 32-0 last week. Mary Persons opened strong with a 29-6 victory against McDonough and a 50-0 victory against Greene County, but has lost its last three games.
3. Oconee County (5-0) will travel to East Jackson (1-3) for an 8-3A game.
Notes: Oconee opens region play on the road at East Jackson and looks to move to 6-0. East Jackson is looking to stop a three-game losing streak.
4. Peach County (3-1) will travel to Pike County (0-3)
Notes: The Trojans might have lost a 14-7 opener to Northside-Warner Robins , but since Peach has not struggled in victories against Griffin, Mary Persons and Americus-Sumter. Pike is searching for its first victory this season.
5. Greater Atlanta Christian (4-0) hosts Douglass (0-3) in a 5-3A game.
Notes: GAC is coming off a 28-6 victory against No. 8 Westminster in the 5-3A region opener last week. Douglass has struggled through its first three games, only scoring nine points. It lost 12-2 to No. 10 Sandy Creek last week in the region opener.
6. Appling County (4-0) will host Class 4A No. 3 Benedictine (5-1).
Notes: The Cadets reclassed from 3A to 4A this season and have beaten Burke County (58-26), Effingham County (49-7), Brunswick (21-16), North Oconee (49-35) and Wayne County (41-29), before losing to Ware County (43-21) last week.
7. Rockmart (3-1) travels to North Murray (2-1) for a 6-3A game.
Notes: Rockmart lost its opener to Rome 28-21, but rebounded with victories against Cedartown (21-10), Coahulla Creek (42-6) and Sonoraville (68-7). The Yellow Jackets are the fifth-highest scoring team in the class, averaging 38 points per game. North Murray is listed as the seventh-highest scoring program in the class at 37.3 points per game.
8. Pierce County (4-1) is off this week.
9. Westminster (2-1) will host Carver-Atlanta (0-4) in a 5-3A game.
Notes: Westminster opened with two big victories – 7-3 over Class 2A No. 4 Pace Academy and a 27-24 victory against Class 5A No. 7 St. Pius X on Oct. 2. The Wildcats lost to No. 5 Greater Atlanta Christian 28-6 last week. Westminster beat Carver in each of the program’s four meetings from 1996-99.
10. Sandy Creek (2-2) is off this week.
Unbeaten records threatened this week. : Eight programs -- Appling County (4-0), Crisp County (4-0), GAC (4-0), Cedar Grove (2-0), Oconee County (5-0), Redan (2-0), Cherokee Bluff (5-0) and Franklin County (5-0) – will put their flawless records on the line this week. Five of the teams – Cedar Grove, Crisp County, Oconee County, GAC and Appling County – are ranked. Redan, Cherokee Bluff and Franklin County are unranked.
Region Records
Region Reg Pct Tot Pct
1-3A 8-17 0.320 8-17 0.320
2-3A 10-8 0.556 10-8 0.556
3-3A 5-7 0.417 5-7 0.417
4-3A 10-14 0.417 10-14 0.417
5-3A 9-7 0.563 9-7 0.563
6-3A 7-10 0.412 7-10 0.412
7-3A 14-13 0.519 14-13 0.519
8-3A 20-8 0.714 20-8 0.714
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