Ranking the most surprising and notable games of the weekend:
1. Calhoun 50, Cartersville 48: Calhoun’s three-overtime victory snapped Cartersville’s 62-game winning streak in region games that dated to 2011 and likely will end the Purple Hurricanes’ run of 10 consecutive first-place finishes in their region. Cartersville, projected as an 11-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings, leads the series 31-7-1.
2. Wesleyan 28, Lumpkin County 14: Wesleyan pulled off the biggest upset of the week, according to Maxwell, when it defeated 19-point favorite Lumpkin County, handing the Indians their first loss. Wesleyan, which came into the game 1-4 overall, and Lumpkin are both 1-1 in Region 7-3A, a game behind first-place Gilmer and Dawson County.
3. Worth County 47, Dodge County 38: Worth County defeated seven-point underdog Dodge County to reach 6-0 for the first time since 1989, when the Rams went 14-1 and lost in the 3A final. Worth also is 2-0 in region play, matching its victory total in region games in the previous five years combined (2-18). The Rams play top-ranked Fitzgerald this week.
4. Cedar Grove 35, St. John’s (D.C.) 13: Class 3A No. 1 Cedar Grove recorded another signature victory when it knocked off a St. John’s team that was ranked in the top 25 nationally. In fact, St. John’s was ranked higher in at least three polls than Mill Creek, which beat Cedar Grove 52-36 on Sept. 16. Cedar Grove has victories against Class 7A schools Westlake and Collins Hill this season.
5. Spalding 32, Griffin 0: Spalding beat its crosstown rival for just the second time in 15 all-time meetings and emerged as one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in Region 2-4A, tied for first place with No. 3-ranked Perry. Spalding (4-2, 2-0) was an 18-point favorite. Griffin is 1-5, and another loss would mark the Bears’ most in the regular season since 2000.
Worth noting: Cedar Shoals, thought to be going nowhere after opening the season with two blowouts losses followed by an upset loss to East Forsyth in the 8-4A opener, now finds itself in second place out of nine teams in the region after a 21-19 victory against eight-point favorite Cherokee Bluff. It was the Jaguars’ third consecutive win. … Clarke Central avoided its first 1-5 start since 1999 with a 17-7 victory over two-point favorite Flowery Branch. The two 8-5A schools played in the same region from 2010-2017 before Flowery Branch spent the past four seasons in Class 4A. … Lakeside (Evans) had lost seven of the past nine games against Evans but beat its crosstown rival 21-20. Evans, a nine-point favorite, had gone 24-4 with three region titles the past six seasons playing in 3-6A but fell to 1-1 in its new Region 2-6A. … Miller Grove got a touchdown run from quarterback Christian Jamison with 21 seconds remaining for a 26-21 victory against 10-point favorite Southwest DeKalb. It was the Wolverines’ third win in 15 all-time meetings with its county rival. … Trinity Christian, the 2021 Class A Private champion now playing in 4A, is tied for first place in the classification’s deepest region after defeating then-No. 7 Starr’s Mill 3-0. Starr’s Mill, a seven-point favorite, hadn’t been shut out in a game since a 42-0 loss to Whitewater in 2012.
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