Lee County fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and had a 31-game winning streak in regular-season home games broken when it lost to Colquitt County 48-27 Friday in Week 4 of the high school football season.
Lee County trailed 21-20 midway through the third quarter, but Colquitt County scored 27 consecutive points to blow the game open. Colquitt County finished with 569 yards of total offense.
The loss dropped Lee County from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Class 6A rankings. The Trojans last lost at home in the regular season on Oct. 21, 2016, against Valdosta 27-7.
“My hat is off to Colquitt County,” Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio told Joe Whitfield of the Albany Herald. “They have a really good football team. We had our chances but we just couldn’t capitalize. … We will learn from this game and it will make us better.”
Lee County was one of six Class 6A teams that suffered their first losses over the weekend. The others were Evans (50-14 vs. Burke County), Lakeside-DeKalb (55-0 vs. Osborne), River Ridge (27-13 vs. North Atlanta), Roswell (14-7 vs. Milton) and Veterans (37-6 vs. Perry).
That leaves just eight unbeaten teams in the classification – Blessed Trinity, Brunswick, Etowah, Gainesville, Houston County, Hughes, North Atlanta and Thomas County Central. For some of those, the hot starts are fairly significant milestones in the history of their programs.
The last Class 6A team to complete an undefeated season was Harrison, which went 15-0 in winning the 2019 championship. The Hoyas moved up to 7A the following year.
Here’s a look at Class 6A’s undefeated teams through Week 4:
*Blessed Trinity: The Titans are 3-0 for the sixth time in nine seasons, but this time they’re doing it in 6A, the highest classification in which they’ve been placed. After a decade of success in 3A, 4A and 5A, Blessed Trinity has begun its journey in the new class with impressive wins over Calhoun (36-25), Eagle’s Landing Christian (37-14) and St. Pius (14-7). The Titans travel to Marist this week.
*Brunswick: The Pirates are coming off an 11-1 season that included a region championship and first-round playoff victory, and they haven’t lost the momentum in 2022. Brunswick’s three victories this year have come against teams – Camden County and Jacksonville’s Andrew Jackson and Bolles – that have a combined record of 7-1 when playing teams other than the Pirates.
*Etowah: The Eagles went 1-9 of the past two seasons but are 4-0 for the first time since 2014 after a 28-21 victory over Centennial. The Eagles’ last team to start 4-0 went on to have the best season in school history, reaching the semifinals and finishing 11-3. Etowah also has wins this season against Lassiter, Cherokee and Forsyth Central and begins play in Region 6 against Sequoyah this week.
*Gainesville: The Red Elephants are 4-0 for the first time since 2009 (their 2012 state championship team lost its opener against West Forsyth). Gainesville spent the past two seasons in 7A, compiling an 11-10 record, before moving back to 6A under former Hoover, Ala., head coach Josh Niblett. The Red Elephants are now the favorites in Region 8 and begin region play Friday at Apalachee.
*Hughes: The top-ranked Panthers have had four seasons of at least 10 wins in their 14-year history, but this is just the second time they’ve started 3-0 (2020 was the other). Last year’s team, which went 13-2 and was the state runner-up, lost its opener to Newton before winning its next 13. Hughes has outscored its opponents 156-49 and opens Region 5 play this week against New Manchester.
*Houston County: The Bears had three consecutive 4-0 starts from 2014 to 2016 with Jake Fromm at quarterback but had only one since until starting this season with wins over Sumter County, Perry, West Laurens and Locust Grove. Houston County is averaging a Class 6A-best 56 points per game under first-year coach Jeremy Edwards, formerly the offensive coordinator at Warner Robins.
*North Atlanta: The Warriors are 4-0 for just the third time since the school opened in 1991. They beat River Ridge 27-13 in a battle of unbeatens last week and have wins this year against North Forsyth (31-27), Drew (50-6) and New Manchester (35-0). North Atlanta also started 4-0 in 1996 and 2021. North Atlanta plays at Wheeler this week before opening Region 4 play against St. Pius on Sept. 30.
*Thomas County Central: So far, so good for the Yellow Jackets, who made the two-class jump from 4A this season. Thomas County Central hasn’t played Class 6A team yet, but their four wins came against big names from lower classes – Cairo, Thomasville and Bainbridge – and Chiles, Fla., 42-13 last week. The Yellow Jackets play Godby, Fla., on Sept. 23 before beginning Region 1 play.
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