Carrollton, Parkview, Dalton, Cedar Grove and Spencer won critical games Friday night on the 10th weekend of the high school football regular season.
Carrollton, ranked No. 6 in Class 7A, routed No. 8 Westlake 31-7 in Class 7A. The 2022 state runner-up, Carrollton will be heavily favored to clinch Region 2 next week when the Trojans play Campbell (3-5, 1-1).
Also in 7A, unranked Parkview defeated No. 5 Newton 28-21. Parkview (6-2, 2-1) was ranked the week before but dropped out after losing to unranked Archer (5-3, 3-0).
Newton, which had been 7-0 for the first time in history, fell to 2-1 in Region 4-7A. Also in the region mix is No. 7 Grayson (6-2, 2-1).
Dalton, an unranked Class 5A team, defeated No. 6 Calhoun 28-21. Dalton can win Region 7 with a victory next week at No. 4 Cartersville. Dalton (7-2, 3-1) had lost 11 of the past 12 meetings with Calhoun.
No. 3 Cedar Grove beat No. 7 Sandy Creek 31-7 in a rematch of a controversial Class 3A championship game from a season ago.
The victory clinched Region 5 for Cedar Grove (4-5, 2-0) and avenged the title-game loss in which Sandy Creek’s winning touchdown spurred the GHSA to adopt video replay for championship games starting this year.
Spencer beat Northeast-Macon, the No. 2 team in Class 2A 35-34 in overtime after trailing 26-7 at halftime. It was the second season in a row that Spencer was an underdog against Northeast but won. It led to Spencer’s first region title since the 1960s last season and puts the Columbus team in the Region 2 lead again.
In other games between ranked teams, No. 1 Benedictine of Class 4A beat No. 10 Wayne County 38-21; No. 10 Kell of 5A beat No. 7 Greater Atlanta Christian 42-32; No. 7 Commerce beat No. 3 Elbert County 49-21 in Class A Division I; and No. 1 Schley County beat No. 3 Manchester 27-7 in Class A Division II.
In a surprisingly close game, No. 1 Mill Creek of 7A beat Collins Hill 24-18. Mill Creek was coming off a 31-24 victory over previous No. 1 Buford. The No. 3 team in 7A, Colquitt County, survived unranked Lowndes 52-34.
Another top-10 team that escaped danger was Class 3A No. 6 Lumpkin County, which beat unranked White County 61-55 in four overtimes.
Two other unranked teams beat top-10 opponents. In Class 3A, Oconee County (3-5, 2-1) beat No. 10 Monroe Area (4-4, 1-2) 14-7. Both Region 8 teams have been in and out of the rankings. In A Division II, Washington-Wilkes beat No. 6 Aquinas 31-27.
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