The biggest weekend of region play in Class 6A so far this season went largely as expected.
Of the 13 region games played Thursday and Friday night, only one was considered an upset by the computer Maxwell Ratings.
Paulding County, projected as a 14-point underdog, pulled off the only upset in region play when it beat Newnan 27-20 in a Region 5 game. The Patriots bounced back from a 44-7 loss to East Paulding last week in the only previous region game.
The victory left Paulding County (1-4, 1-1) in fourth place in the eight-team region. East Paulding (3-2, 2-0) is alone in first place after defeating South Paulding 21-6 last week. Douglas County and defending state champion Hughes are tied for second place and will face each other Friday night at Hughes. The winner of that game will emerge as the region favorite. Douglas County defeated Alexander 50-8 and Hughes beat New Manchester 47-0 last week.
In the Region 6 openers, Sequoyah defeated Etowah 21-12, handing the Eagles their first loss, to move into a tie for first place with Creekview and River Ridge. Creekview beat Allatoona 38-14, dropping Allatoona to 0-5 for the first time in the program’s 16-year history. River Ridge had no trouble in a 51-7 victory over Woodstock. Sixth-ranked Rome, the defending region champion and 2023 favorite, had the week off and will face Allatoona this week in the only game on the Region 6 schedule.
Mundy’s Mill of Region 3 picked up its second region victory, defeating Alcovy 21-6 to stay just ahead of Jonesboro and Woodward Academy in the early standings. Woodward Academy won its region opener 56-0 against Morrow, and Jonesboro is 1-0 after defeating Forest Park 53-0. Lovejoy bounced back from a 20-12 loss to Mundy’s Mill in its region opener and defeated Rockdale County 54-13. Defending region champion Woodward Academy, Mundy’s Mill, Jonesboro and Lovejoy appear likely to be the region’s four playoff teams.
Only four of the seven teams in Region 8 had a region game last week. Gainesville defeated Apalachee 70-6 and North Forsyth beat Jackson County 42-35, while Habersham Central, Lanier and Shiloh played their final non-region games. Top-ranked Gainesville, the defending region champion and 2022 state runner-up, is the overwhelming favorite to win the region again this year. North Forsyth and Lanier appear to be the best of the rest.
- Two more 6A regions will begin league play this week. Region 2 games will include rivals Brunswick and Glynn Academy meeting at Glynn County Stadium, Evans playing at Grovetown and Effingham County playing at South Effingham. Lakeside-Evans will have the week off. In Region 7, Blessed Trinity will play at Sprayberry, Roswell will visit Johns Creek and Pope will travel to Alpharetta, while Lassiter takes the week off. Region play in Regions 1 and 4 will begin on Sept. 29.
- Marist won the high-profile game of the week when it defeated Blessed Trinity 31-14 in a battle of top-10 teams. Jackson Hughes broke the game open with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after Blessed Trinity got within 17-14. The Maxwell Ratings had projected Blessed Trinity as a surprising nine-point favorite despite Marist holding the higher ranking (No. 7 vs. No. 10) and winning the teams’ meeting last season. The loss was the first of the season for Blessed Trinity and knocked the Titans out of the top 10, opening the door for Douglas County to make its way into the rankings.
- Blessed Trinity and Etowah were the two Class 6A teams that suffered their first losses last week, leaving eight unbeaten teams in the classification. The remaining unbeatens are Houston County (4-0, at Warner Robins this week) and Thomas County Central (4-0, vs. Godby, Fla.) of Region 1, South Effingham (3-0, vs. Effingham County) of Region 2, Mundy’s Mill (4-0, vs. Forest Park) of Region 3, North Atlanta (5-0, off) and Dunwoody (4-0, at Lakeside-DeKalb) of Region 4, Douglas County (5-0, at Hughes) of Region 5, and Gainesville (5-0, off) of Region 8.
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