Region play dominated the Week 7 and plenty of results have put the classification’s top tier in the driver’s seat to take region titles this year. The biggest winner was probably Carver-Columbus, who defeated previously undefeated LaGrange 42-27. With the victory, Carver-Columbus improves to 4-0 in Region 2. Troup still has to face both Carver-Columbus and LaGrange and was able to improve to 4-0 in Region 2 with its 38-0 win over Kendrick. Troup will play Shaw next Friday and then will clash with Carver-Columbus on Oct. 15 and LaGrange on Oct. 29. Hardaway remains in the battle for a high playoff seed and survived a 27-24 battle with Columbus to move to 2-1 in Region 2 play. Hardaway’s lone loss in region play was a 41-34 overtime loss to Troup on Sept. 10. In Troup’s latest victory, Troup exploded to a 38-0 halftime lead before cruising in the second half to victory. Quarterback Taeo Todd rushed for a touchdown and also completed a touchdown pass to Dwarney Wortham. Kullum Irvin also ran in a Troup touchdown, Cody Bray kicked a field goal and teammates Noah Dixon and CJ Sands both returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Region play opened up in Region 1 this week and Bainbridge, Dougherty and Thomas County Central each found the win column. Bainbridge picked up a 17-7 win over rival Cairo, Dougherty (6-0) kept its perfect season alive with a 53-34 win over Westover and Thomas County Central outpaced Monroe 35-9. Thomas County Central remains one of the hottest teams in Class 4A and picked up a victory over Class 2A defending state champion Callaway just two weeks ago.
In Region 3, Benedictine followed up its 49-42 win over Ware County with a 59-28 victory over Burke County on Thursday. No. 4 ranked Benedictine built a comfortable first-half lead with its potent offense and never let up, earning its fourth-straight victory and handing host Burke County its first loss of the season. UGA baseball-commit Justin Thomas needed only 1:15 to find the end zone for his 20th-straight game with a touchdown, and he finished the night with three scores—including one from 55 yards out in the third quarter. Auburn-commit Holden Geriner connected with Kam Edge for touchdown completions of 46 and 20 yards, Edge added an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown, and the Cadets got fourth-quarter rushing scores from Hunter Dunn and LaMont Mitchell.
In Region 4, the biggest result was Spalding topping No. 3 ranked Perry 31-26 to improve to 2-0 in region play. Baldwin also moved to 2-0 in region action with a 48-6 win over Rutland. Luella, Fayette County and Riverdale are all still unbeaten in Region 5. In Region 8, Jefferson, North Oconee and Cedar Shoals each picked up big victories.
No. 1 ranked Jefferson led East Hall 42-0 with 10:13 still left in the second quarter. By the time the 63-0 game ended, Kadin Bailey returned an interception for a touchdown and Tre Reese and Zay Minish both returned punts for touchdown. The Dragons also got two rushing touchdowns from Sammy Brown and Jordan Perry, Isaiah Copeland and Christopher Law also ran in scores.
North Oconee jumped out to a 41-7 halftime lead over host Chestatee and won 48-20. Junior Khalil Barnes rushed for a touchdown and also hauled in two touchdown passes in the first half—including a 39-yard screen that came on a key 4th down and 9 call. North Oconee also scored on a 33-yard touchdown run by Kent Moon in the first quarter. Chestatee’s Luke Bornhorst threw two touchdowns and also ran in a touchdown to lead the War Eagles. Also, Dominic Elder scored a 1-yard touchdown to open the second half that gave North Oconee a 48-7 lead.
Finally, Cedar Shoals defeated Madison County 27-20 in overtime. Cedar Shoals blocked a potential game-winning field goal attempt at the end of regulation to force overtime. The Jaguars scored in overtime with a 1-yard Anthony Hubbard touchdown to go up 27-20. On Madison County’s overtime possession Nyzier Mitchell came up with a huge sack on third down for an 11-yard loss and the following fourth down pass attempt sailed out of bounds to give Cedar Shoals the victory.
REGION 1-AAAA
*(2-3, 1-0) Bainbridge 17, (2-3, 0-1) Cairo 7
*(5-0, 1-0) Dougherty 53, (2-3, 0-1) Westover 34
*(4-2, 1-0) Thomas County Central 35, (2-4, 0-1) Monroe 9
REGION 2-AAAA
*(3-2, 2-1) Hardaway 27, (1-5, 1-3) Columbus 24
*(5-1, 4-0) Troup 38, (0-5, 0-3) Kendrick 0
*(5-1, 4-0) Carver-Columbus 42, (4-1, 2-1) LaGrange 27
*(0-3, 0-1) Shaw vs. Jordan {cancelled the rest of its season
(2-4, 1-3) Spencer (BYE)
REGION 3-AAAA
(4-2, 1-0) Benedictine 59, Burke County 28
(3-2, 0-0) Islands (BYE)
(2-2, 0-0) Jenkins at Munroe FL (Saturday)
(5-1, 0-0) New Hampstead 46, Windsor Forest 38
REGION 4-AAAA
*(3-2, 2-0) Baldwin 48, (1-5, 0-2) Rutland 6
*(5-1, 2-0) Spalding 31, (4-1, 1-2) Perry 26
*(3-3, 1-1) West Laurens 43, (2-3, 0-1) Howard 13
(2-3, 0-1) Westside-Macon 41, Heritage-Conyers 6
REGION 5-AAAA
*(5-1, 3-0) Luella 28, (0-4, 0-2) Hampton 14
(4-2, 1-1) McDonough 55, Rockdale County 21
*(4-2, 1-0) Fayette County 40, (0-6, 0-3) North Clayton 0
*(4-0-1, 2-0) Riverdale 56, (0-5, 0-2) Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0
REGION 6-AAAA
Northview 53, (0-7, 0-1) Druid Hills 21
*(3-1, 0-0) Marist at (1-4, 0-1) Hapeville Charter (Cancelled)
*3-3, 1-1) Arabia Mountain 20, (4-2, 1-1) Miller Grove 6
(1-4, 1-0) Mays (BYE)
(5-0, 1-0) Stephenson (BYE)
REGION 7-AAAA
*(4-1, 1-0) Cedartown 31, (3-2, 0-1) Pickens 0
*(3-2, 1-0) Northwest Whitfield 33, (2-4, 0-1) Central-Carroll 27
*(3-1, 1-0) Heritage-Catoosa 57, (1-5, 0-1) Ridgeland 28
Trion 49, (1-6, 0-1) Southeast Whitfield 0
REGION 8-AAAA
*(2-2, 2-0) Cedar Shoals 27, (3-3, 0-2) Madison County 20 OT
*(6-0, 2-0) Jefferson 63, (1-5, 0-2) East Hall 0
*(3-3, 2-0) North Oconee 48, (2-3, 0-1) Chestatee 20
Flowery Branch (BYE)
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