Carrollton and River Ridge will begin the official defense of their 2020 Class 6A region championships when Regions 5 and 7 begin league play in the fifth week of the high school football season.
Carrollton moved up from Class 5A last year and went 6-2 in a COVID-shortened regular season (6-1 in Region 5) and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it was knocked out by Valdosta 36-15. The Trojans’ only loss in region play was a 23-22 loss to third-place Alexander in the next-to-last week of the regular season. Carrollton is 3-0 this season and ranked No. 3 in Class 6A. The Trojans will begin region play at Dalton (1-1).
River Ridge was the surprise of Class 6A last year, winning a school-record 11 games, capturing its first region title and advancing to the quarterfinals. The Knights had posted just one winning record and made one playoff appearance in the program’s first 11 seasons.
The winning has spilled over into 2021, as the Knights are 3-0 after victories over Lassiter, Woodstock and Etowah by an average margin of 23 points. River Ridge is ranked No. 6 and opens Region 7 play at home against Chattahoochee.
Here are five more top games involving Class 6A teams. All games are Friday, and all are subject to change:
*Cambridge at Creekview: River Ridge might be the defending champion, but Creekview was the preseason pick of the computer Maxwell Ratings to win the Region 7 title. The Grizzlies opened with blowout victories against Etowah and Woodstock before surviving Cherokee 21-14 last week. Cambridge has beaten North Oconee 21-19 and Forsyth Central for its first 2-0 start since 2015.
*Chaminade-Madonna, Fla. at Buford: Chaminade-Madonna Prep of Hollywood, Fla., was denied a fourth consecutive state title when it lost in the final last season. The Lions will be the second straight out-of-state opponent for Buford, which easily handled Myers Park (N.C.) 44-17 last week. Buford, the defending Class 6A champion, is ranked No. 1 and begins Region 8 play next week.
*Evans at Washington County: Evans, 4-0 but unranked in 6A, travels to the House of Pain for a final tune-up before heading into region play. The Knights have won three of the past four titles in Region 3 and 15 of their last 17 regular-season games. One of the losses in that stretch came against Washington County, 17-7 last year. The Golden Hawks (1-0) are ranked No. 10 in Class 2A.
*Kennesaw Mountain at Kell: Kennesaw Mountain has established itself as the front-runner in Region 6 with victories over 2020 playoff teams Allatoona and Sprayberry, and another win against Kell on Friday would cement that status. The Mustangs (4-0, 2-0) still need to deal with Pope, which also is undefeated in the region, but the Greyhounds have yet to play any of the top contenders.
*Warner Robins at Houston County: Warner Robins, the 2020 Class 5A champion and current No. 1-ranked team, is seeking its third victory this season against teams from Region 1-6A. The Demons opened the season with a 48-20 win over Valdosta and beat Northside-Warner Robins 49-7 last week. Warner Robins leads the series 16-6-1 and has won four straight, including 44-10 last year.
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