It’s week four of the high school football season. Here are five of the best games in Class 7A.
*Milton at St. Joseph’s: Milton travels to Philadelphia to face a top-15 nationally ranked program that routinely faces elite interstate competition. St. Joesph’s also played at Marietta in 2019, losing 21-17 to the Arik Gilbert/Harrison Bailey crew that went on to win a state title. Milton actually has more major Division I recruits than St. Joseph’s this season, so it will be a fun test for the Eagles and for Georgia high school football. Milton beat Virginia’s No. 2 team, Life Christian Academy, last week.
*Collins Hill at Rome: Rome, the No. 4 team in Class 6A, visits the No. 1 team in 7A. Collins Hill was tested last week by the Mississippi team, Greenville Christian, and led only 9-6 at halftime before winning 37-22. It was a good Mississippi team, but it was still stunning to see QB Sam Horn with only 54 passing yards, yet encouraging to see Spenser Anderson rush for 116 yards. In its opener against Brookwood, Collins Hill made no pretensions of running the ball. This game will be televised on Peachtree TV.
*Lowndes at Lee County: Lowndes, No. 7 in 7A, goes to the No. 2 team in 6A intent on establishing that the Vikings are a legitimate contender this season. They haven’t necessarily shown it so far in an overtime loss to Walton and narrow victories over Griffin (44-34) and Lake Gibson (58-47). Lowndes has given up 34 points or more in every game, an average of 38 allowed per outing. Jacurri Brown, the quarterback, has lived up to his AJC Super 11 billing, but the defense is young and struggling.
*Colquitt County at Valdosta: Similar to Lowndes, Colquitt is hoping to establish that it’s got the goods to make a run this season. The Packers are young, starting a sophomore quarterback. They beat Marietta 28-25, lost to Westlake 31-24, then beat Cedar Grove 28-19. Valdosta has top-10 6A talent again, though isn’t eligible for the playoffs because of recruiting violations, but will give Colquitt a fair gauge of where it stands.
*Camden County at Marietta: First big test for Camden, an unranked 3-0 team with its old coach, Jeff Herron, in the saddle again. Back to running Herron’s famed wing-T offense, Camden has routed three inferior opponents. Marietta, ranked No. 9, has been impressive in its two games, one a 28-25 loss to Colquitt County, the other a 42-21 victory over McEachern. Marietta’s underrated quarterback, Tyler Hughes, has thrown for 652 yards and eight touchdowns.
Others: Archer travels to No. 10 Grayson in a game that AJC will cover. ... No. 7 Flowery Branch goes to Gainesville for what might be a Hall County championship. ... North Paulding plays at Roswell in a game between unbeaten teams. ... Hillgrove goes to McEachern for the battle of Powder Springs. ... West Forsyth, a quarterfinal team in 2020, plays at No. 4 Walton. ... No. 1 Jefferson of Class 4A plays at Mountain View.
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