Brunswick and Glynn Academy will be the host schools this weekend when seven teams from south Georgia face seven Florida opponents in the first Border Classic, to be played at Glynn County Stadium in Brunswick.
The event begins Thursday night with McIntosh County Academy vs. West Nassau (4:30 p.m.) and Glynn Academy vs. Creekside (7:30 p.m.) The other games are Charlton County vs. University Christian (4:30 p.m.) and Brunswick vs. Bolles (7:30 p.m.) on Friday and Fitzgerald vs. Madison County (1 p.m.), Coffee vs. St. Augustine (4 p.m.) and Richmond Hill vs. Baker County (7:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
Glynn Academy (2-1) will try to bounce back from a 37-7 loss to Camden County last week. The Red Terrors’ opponent, Creekside of St. Johns, is 2-0 and averaging 55.5 points per game. Brunswick is 3-0 and taking on a Bolles team from Jacksonville that is 2-0 this season and reached the state semifinals in 2021.
“In the southeast part of the state, you have to travel one to two hours just to find a non-region game,” event organizer and Glynn County Schools athletic director Steve Waters told GHSF Daily’s Todd Holcomb. “This event will provide our teams in the southern part of the state a chance to compete without having to travel far. This event will also allow teams from Georgia to play a different opponent almost every year. Our coaches are very excited to be playing a team they have never played before. I hope this might create some border rivalry games. We hope this will be an event that every team in the states of Florida and Georgia will want to compete in every year.”
Waters said that there is a five-year contract for the Border Classic, with plans to expand the event in two years.
Here are some of the other notable games this weekend involving Class 6A schools. All games are Friday.
*Colquitt County at Lee County: Second-ranked Lee County is 0-10 all-time against Class 7A No. 4 Colquitt County, but they last met in 2015, just before Lee County emerged as a state power. Lee County sophomore running back Ousmane Kromah has rushed for 366 playing only two games, but he’ll be tested by a Colquitt defense that allows just 4.3 points per game, best in 7A.
*East Paulding at Paulding County: These county rivals will try to get a leg up in the Region 5 playoff race when they meet in the league’s first region game this season. East Paulding has won 14 of the past 16 meetings in the series, but Paulding County is projected as a five-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings. Both are 2-1, but they each went 1-6 in region play last season.
*Marist at Woodward Academy: No. 8 Marist and No. 5 Woodward Academy are two of four private schools, along with Blessed Trinity and St. Pius, that moved up to 6A this year. Marist leads the series 28-24-2 and has won 12 of the past 15 meetings, but the three Woodward victories in that span have come since 2015, including 14-9 last year. The Maxwell Ratings give Woodward a slight edge.
*River Ridge at North Atlanta: Both teams are 3-0, making them two of 13 remaining unbeaten teams in Class 6A, so one team will get bumped off that list this weekend. They’ve met twice, in 2014 and 2015, with each team winning once. River Ridge of Region 6 is averaging 38.3 points per game, eighth best in 6A, while North Atlanta of Region 5 is allowing just 11.0, which ranks No. 7.
*Roswell at Milton: These north Fulton County rivals were top-10 teams in the preseason. Milton of Class 7A has since dropped out after losing to Lipscomb Academy of Tennessee and Christian Brothers of Missouri. Roswell has held steady at No. 4 in 6A after wins over Denmark, Centennial and Marietta. Milton has won the past three games in a long-running series that Roswell leads 38-28-1.
About the Author
