There were several cancellations this week, but the games that were played produced plenty of interesting results. Among the biggest winners this week were the LaGrange Grangers who dominated Class 5A’s McIntosh 57-14. On Saturday, Riverdale stormed to a massive 42-15 win over Mays in their televised matchup in the Great Atlanta Bash. Defending state champion Marist also looked outstanding and scored a 28-13 win over Class 5A’s Blessed Trinity. The War Eagles held Blessed Trinity to just 64 total yards in the first half and head coach Alan Chadwick achieved his 400th career victory.
Troup was unable to get the win against defending Class 2A state champion Callaway and was defeated 28-7. Benedictine also dropped a 42-27 contest to Florida’s Christopher Columbus. In Region 4, Spalding scored a solid 35-28 win over Union Grove and Region 6′s Stephenson improved to 2-0 with a 22-13 win over Southwest DeKalb. In Region 7, Pickens looked great in its 37-8 win over Commerce and Region 8′s Jefferson also shined in a 42-7 win over Class 6A Central Gwinnett. All the results can be found below. Additionally, here’s a closer look at some of the top games.
Host North Oconee outscored Ola 21-0 in the second quarter of its 31-20 victory to take a 24-6 lead into the second half. The Titans took their first lead of the night on Holland Purser’s 68-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Louden Schnake. Mack Brice hauled in a 17-yard touchdown and Cole Davidson caught a 5-yard touchdown to build the 24-6 advantage. Ola cut into the lead with a 74-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and the Titans responded with a massive scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard Dominic Elder touchdown run in the opening minute of the final quarter to put North Oconee up 31-13. Ola found the end zone with less than three minutes to play and then North Oconee recovered the attempted onside kick and eventually sealed the victory with a Brett Biga interception.
Pickens opened its season with a convincing 37-8 victory and celebrated what was first-year head coach Grant Myers’ first career win. Kadyn Hampton rushed for three touchdowns and Sammy Streicher threw two touchdown passes to Devin Hand. The Dragons also scored on a 41-yard field goal by Jose Sanchez that put Pickens up 16-0 at the half.
Jefferson got an 80-yard touchdown run from Sammy Brown on its first offensive snap against Central Gwinnett, and Brown picked up where he left off following a brief lightning delay with another trip to the end zone on the second Dragons drive. The Jefferson lead grew to 28-0 at the start of the second with rushing scores from Malaki Starks (50 yards) and Kadin Bailey (35 yards) before Spencer Neese’s pick-six gave the Dragons the 35-0 advantage they took into the second half. Sophomore Zay Minish provided the final points of the night for Jefferson in the third quarter.
Fernando Mendoza (Columbus’ 6-foot-5, 208-pound Yale-commit quarterback) was 14-of-18 for 154 yards and four touchdowns in the first half while leading the Explorers to a 28-7 halftime lead in their 42-27 rout of Benedictine. Benedictine quarterback Holden Geriner was 25-of-38 passing for 221 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in the loss. Za’Quan Bryan had six catches for 56 yards and one touchdown and senior Justin Thomas made a 26-yard touchdown reception for the Cadets.
WEEK 2 RESULTS
REGION 1-AAAA
Coffee 35, Bainbridge 21
Cairo vs. Brooks County (CANCELLED)
Dougherty 41, Kendrick 6
Monroe 35, Shaw 0
Thomasville 23, Thomas County Central 14
Westover vs. American Collegiate Academy FL (Saturday)
REGION 2-AAAA
Carver-Columbus 34, Spencer 8
Smiths Station AL 50, Columbus 0
Hardaway 40, Sumter County 14
Randolph Clay 14, Jordan 0
Dougherty 41, Kendrick 6
LaGrange 57, McIntosh 14
Monroe 36, Shaw 0
Callaway 28, Troup 7
REGION 3-AAAA
Christopher Columbus FL 42, Benedictine 27
Islands vs. Windsor Forest 20, Islands 9
Jenkins at Beach (CANCELLED)
New Hampstead 50, Johnson, Savannah 6
REGION 4-AAAA
Baldwin (BYE)
Howard 35, Southwest Macon 0
Perry (BYE)
Rutland (BYE)
Spalding 35, Union Grove 28
West Laurens (BYE)
Westside, Macon (BYE)
REGION 5-AAAA
Whitewater 30, Fayette County 13
Hampton (BYE)
Woodland-Stockbridge 14, Luella 3
Mary Persons 42, McDonough 28
Starr’s Mill 53, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0
B.E.S.T. Academy 12, North Clayton 7
Riverdale 42, Mays 15
Region 6-AAAA
Arabia Mountain 21, ML King 0
Redan 40, Druid Hills 0
Woodward Academy 27, Hapeville Charter 0
Marist 28, Blessed Trinity 13
Riverdale 42, Mays 15
Miller Grove 47, Lakeside-DeKalb 0
Stephenson 22, Southwest DeKalb 13
Region 7-AAAA
Cedartown (BYE)
Central-Carroll 21, Chapel Hill 7
Heritage-Catoosa (BYE)
Northwest Whitfield 44, Gordon Central 7
Pickens 37, Commerce 8
Dalton 49, Ridgeland 0
Coahulla Creek 38, Southeast Whitfield 7
Region 8-AAAA
Oconee County 27, Cedar Shoals 19
Chestatee at Cherokee Bluff 60, Chestatee 21
East Hall vs. West Hall 48, East Hall 21
Flowery Branch 31, Dawson County 7
Jefferson 42, Central Gwinnett 7
Madison County (BYE)
North Oconee 31, Ola 20
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