Buford played the way the rest of Class 7A feared it might Friday night, beating Alabama three-time defending champion Thompson 38-7 and winning best in show through Friday in the first weekend of the Georgia high school football season. Seventeen more games will be played Saturday.
Buford has won state titles the past three seasons, but in 6A and 5A. This is the Wolves’ first venture into the highest class, but they’re ranked No. 1 in preseason and in the top 12 of three national polls. Playing in the Freedom Bowl at Milton High, Buford dominated the top team in Alabama’s highest class, with five sacks and two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Two other of Georgia’s 2021 champions lost their openers Friday, though neither was shocking.
Warner Robins, the two-time Class 5A champion, lost to Lee County, the No. 2 team in 6A, 26-10. Lee County, with two state titles of its own the past five seasons, also beat Warner Robins in 2020.
Trinity Christian, which won then-Class A Private last season, lost to Class 6A’s No. 5 team, Woodward Academy 37-19. Trinity Christian is playing up three classes in 4A this season.
Two other games Friday matched teams with top-five state rankings, each won by the team in the higher class. Class 6A No. 3 Rome beat 5A No. 2 Creekside 16-6, and Class 4A No. 2 North Oconee beat Class 3A No. 5 Oconee County 16-13.
Only four teams defeated a higher-ranked opponent from the same or higher class.
One was Gainesville in the debut of coach Josh Niblett. The Red Elephants beat No. 6 Marist 34-23 in 6A. Gainesville is unranked. Niblett came from Hoover, where he won six Alabama championships in the highest class.
Pace Academy beat No. 9 Holy Innocents’ 20-17 in Class 4A. Both are new to the classification and playing much higher than their enrollment numbers.
Mount Pisgah Christian, a Class A Division I team, beat Class 2A No. 5 Fellowship Christian 21-18. It was Mount Pisgah Christian’s first victory over a top-10 team since 2017 (Trion) and the first over a top-five team.
And in a mild upset, No. 6 Swainsboro beat No. 5 Metter 21-7 in Class A Division I.
Several other games were noteworthy, even if the higher-classed or higher-rated team won.
Unranked Alpharetta of 6A beat 5A No. 6 Jefferson 47-46.
Blessed Trinity, No. 10 in Class 6A, beat Class 5A No. 4 Calhoun 36-25.
Columbia, a Class 2A DeKalb County school that won its first playoff game last season in 24 years, defeated Class 7A Camden County 13-10. Columbia was pegged a 34-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings.
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