1. State champions go 1-4: Defending Class A Public champion Eagle’s Landing Christian beat Heritage of Newnan 58-0, but Harrison (6A champ in 2019) lost to North Forsyth 10-9 to fall to 0-2; Buford (5A) lost to North Cobb 28-14; Dublin (2A) lost to Dodge County 33-20; and Irwin County (A Public) lost to Fitzgerald. All five champions were favored by at least five points by the computer Maxwell Ratings. Marietta (7A), Blessed Trinity (4A) and Cedar Grove (3A) did not play.
2. Turning the corner? Four teams with a combined record of 3-37 last season have already exceeded their win totals from 2019 with 2-0 starts. Lambert was 0-10 last season but is 2-0 now after beating Lassiter 34-19. Wheeler County, Woodland of Cartersville and Woodland of Stockbridge each went 1-9 last year. All four were favorites in Week 2.
3. Putnam County 5, Morgan County 2: Putnam County became the biggest underdog to win in Week 2 when it beat 19-point favorite Morgan County in overtime. It was just the 16th time since 1912, and second this season, that a GHSA team scored five points in a game and won (See List). Morgan County had won 11 of the previous 14 games in the series.
4. Worth County 34, Mitchell County 30: Worth County, a 17-point underdog, rallied from a 30-20 fourth-quarter deficit to give new head coach Phillip Ironside his first victory at the school. Ironside, who led Hillgrove to playoff appearances in the highest class each of the past 10 seasons, inherited a Worth County team was 3-27 over the previous three years.
5. White County 50, Hart County 47: J.Ben Haynes scored on a 10-yard run late in the fourth quarter to give White County its first victory on the road against a top-10 team since beating Oconee County in a 1983 region semifinal. The Warriors lost the next week to finish 8-4. They didn’t win that many games in a season again until the 2010 team went 9-3.
Worth noting: Douglas County beat nine-point favorite Stockbridge 37-13, dropping Stockbridge to 0-2 for the first time since 2009. That was the first year of coach Kevin Whitley’s successful 10-year run at the school. Douglas County is No. 10 in 6A. … Mount Pisgah Christian beat Mount Paran Christian 28-14, dropping the Eagles to 0-2 for the first time since 2012, which was the last time they had a losing record (3-7). Mount Pisgah, a 10-point underdog, lost to the Eagles 27-16 in 2019. … Northside of Warner Robins ended a six-game losing streak, the second-longest in school history, with a 14-7 win over Peach County, an 11-point favorite. Peach, which was ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, beat Northside 21-13 last season. … River Ridge beat 15-point favorite Woodstock 22-17 for its first-ever victory against a fellow Cherokee County school. River Ridge, which opened in 2009, had been 0-20 against Cherokee (0-0), Creekview (0-8), Etowah (0-2), Sequoyah (0-8) and Woodstock (0-2). … Towns County beat Bethlehem Christian 28-14 to end an 11-game losing streak and give second-year head coach Jason Roquemore his first victory at the school. Kyle Oakes rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries.
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