Rush Propst’s return was a winning one Friday night as the coach’s new team, Valdosta, defeated Warner Robins 28-25 in a game between No. 1-ranked teams on the first football Friday night of the Georgia high school season. Angel Martinez kicked a 41-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.
Valdosta of Class 6A opened a season No. 1 for the first time since 1999 in the first season under Propst, the former Colquitt County coach who was forced out in Moultrie last year despite two state titles there. Warner Robins, the runner-up the past three seasons in Class 5A, started No. 1 in its classification.
Opening Friday night was a rough evening for ranked teams – 19 of them lost – but many, like Warner Robins, were playing other top-10 opponents.
Four still stood out as upsets.
Richmond Hill, the No. 8 team in 6A, beat Camden County, the No. 6 team in 7A, 28-11. Richmond Hill made waves last season when it upset Valdosta in the 6A quarterfinals and reached a semifinal for the first time in the coastal school’s history.
Eagle’s Landing Christian, the five-time defending Class 1A-Private champion, beat No. 3 Woodward Academy of 5A 14-0. Woodward Academy is the largest top-10 Georgia opponent that ELCA has ever beaten.
Metter, an unranked Class 1A-Public team, defeated Class 2A No. 8 Swainsboro 28-0. Metter had lost 10 consecutive to Swainsboro, last beating the Tigers in 1955.
Macon County upset 1A-Public’s No. 3 team, beat Clinch County, 21-19. Macon County last beat a ranked opponent in 2017, and Clinch last lost to an unranked Class 1A opponent in 2015.
Several top-10 teams lost to larger schools or higher-ranked opponents.
One of those was No. 10 Dawson County of 3A. Cass beat the Tigers 23-7. Cass is a 5A school, so the result wasn’t shocking, but it was significant for the Colonels, who hadn’t beaten a top-10 opponent since 1983.
Others that lost to larger or higher-ranked opponents were No. 8 Jones County of 5A (to No. 1 Grayson of 7A), No. 9 Dutchtown of 5A (to Lanier of 6A), No. 5 Flowery Branch of 4A (to St. Pius of 5A), No. 6 Troup of 4A (to Harris County of 5A), No. 7 Hart County of 3A (to Wayne County of 5A), No. 9 Burke County of 3A (to Benedictine of 4A), No. 10 Jefferson County of 2A (to Thomson of 4A), No. 5 Holy Innocents’ of 1A-Private (to No. 5 Pace Academy of 2A), No. 8 Christian Heritage of 1A-Private (to No. 6 Fellowship Christian of 1A-Private) and No. 9 Lincoln County of 1A-Private (to Jeff Davis of 2A.
In three other cases, smaller but ranked schools beat larger ranked opponents. No. 2 Brooks County of 1A beat No. 3 Thomasville of 2A 20-14; No. 9 Bleckley County of 2A beat No. 4 West Laurens of 4A; and No. 5 Oconee County of 3A beat No. 10 North Oconee of 4A 27-7.
The most disappointing night was had by six teams that sat out when their openers were canceled late Thursday or later. COVID-19 positive tests shut down games between Blessed Trinity and Forsyth Central, South Cobb and Washington, and Washington-Wilkes and Marion County.
About the Author
