Osborne, perhaps the long-suffering football program in Class 7A, is 2-0 for the first time since 2001.
The Cardinals followed their 46-7 victory over Woodstock with a 42-13 road win over Chattahoochee on Friday.
Osborne, a Marietta school, hasn’t won more than three games in a century this century, but that’s almost certain to change as Osborne will be favored the next three weeks facing Lakeside-DeKalb, Clarkston and Woodland-Cartersville before region play begins Oct. 7.
Osborne’s second-year coach is Luqman Salam. (Read an interview with Salam after his team’s opening-weak victory.)
Here are more Class 7A observations from the second weekend of Georgia high school football.
*In the lone game between top-10 teams in the class, No. 8 Walton beat No. 7 Brookwood 34-20. Walton quarterback Jeremy Hecklinksi had three touchdown passes. Walton had lost to No. 5 Mill Creek 47-41 in the opener but remained in the rankings. Mill Creek then beat a highly regarded if 0-2 Norcross team 49-17 on Friday.
*Carrollton, up from Class 6A, entered the rankings at No. 9 last week but hadn’t validated with a good win. This week, Carrollton beat the No. 9 team from 6A, South Paulding, 28-21. Freshman quarterback Ju Ju Lewis threw a 26-yard TD pass to Bryce Hicks with 6:31 left to break a 21-21 tie.
*Buford is Buford, again. The No. 1-ranked Wolves beat Mallard Creek 58-7. Mallard Creek, out of Charlotte, won three state titles under current Denmark coach Mike Palmieri. The team has declined since Palmieri’s departure two seasons ago but is still viewed as one of North Carolina’s better programs.
*Peachtree Ridge is 2-0 under first-year coach Matt Helmerich after a 23-3 victory over Lanier. Peachtree Ridge was a 12-point underdog, according to the Maxwell Ratings. Peachtree Ridge hasn’t had a winning season since 2016 and was 3-7 last season. Helmerich came from Johns Creek.
*There weren’t many upsets. Peachtree Ridge and Osborne were the only 7A teams that won as underdogs of more than five points, according to Maxwell. The most notable victories otherwise came from Denmark and Marietta. Denmark beat Cambridge, the No. 9 team in Class 5A, 17-15. The Danes lost to No. 4 Roswell of 6A 35-10 in the opener. Marietta bounced back from a 32-12 loss against No. 2 Grayson to beat West Forsyth 24-17. West Forsyth had beaten Archer 21-7 in the opener. Meanwhile, Central Gwinnett is 2-0 for the first time since 2017. The Knights have beaten Discovery and Apalachee, both by seven points. Camden County continued to struggle and is 0-2. Camden lost to Brunswick 16-10 after losing to Columbia 13-10 last week. Brunswick is a tough team. It finished 11-1 last season in 6A. Colquitt County and Lowndes each shut out out-of-state teams Friday. Valdosta also won and is 2-0 in Region 1.
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