Paulding County, Carver-Atlanta, Pace Academy, Central-Carroll and Houston County beat top-10 opponents as unranked teams Friday night in high school football.
Paulding County, pegged as a 28-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, defeated No. 9 Douglas County 22-20 in a Region 5-6A game. Douglas County entered unbeaten while Paulding County was 2-2, having just been routed by Alexander 42-6. It was Paulding County’s first win over a top-10 team since 2001 (Pebblebrook).
Carver entered its Region 5-3A game with No. 9 Westminster with an 0-4 record, but each loss came against currently ranked teams, three from higher classes. The Panthers won 20-10. It was their first victory over a ranked team since beating No. 5 Jones County in the 2017 Class 5A quarterfinals.
Pace Academy, knocked out of the rankings this week after losing to unranked South Atlanta, atoned with a 21-16 victory over No. 4 Lovett in a Region 6-2A game.
Central-Carroll beat No. 6 Northwest Whitfield 54-34 in a Region 7-4A game. It was Central’s second win in two weeks over a ranked team, as the Lions beat No. 10 Heard County of 2A on Oct. 9, but it was their first against a top-10 team from the same class since they downed Appling County in the 2013 playoffs.
Houston County beat No. 7 Veterans of 5A 7-0. Houston County, from 6A, is a bigger school, but had lost the previous two seasons to its county rival, each time in close decisions.
George Walton Academy was another unranked team that beat a ranked opponent. GWA defeated No. 8 Holy Innocents' 28-21 in a Class 1A Private game.
A few other top-10 teams lost, but to other ranked teams.
The most impressive of those winners was probably Appling County, the No. 6 team from 3A, which beat Class 4A’s No. 3, Benedictine, 28-21. Appling County is 5-0 for the first time since 2011.
Marist, the No. 1 team in 4A, beat No. 8 Hapeville Charter 30-0.
No. 8 Thomasville beat No. 5 Early County 31-14 in a 2A game.
Class 1A Private powers Athens Academy and Eagle’s Landing Christian were dominant against worthy challengers. Athens Academy, ranked No. 1, beat No. 5 Wesleyan 35-0 while No. 3 ELCA beat No. 6 Trinity Christian 34-0.
No. 6 Macon County beat No. 7 Taylor County 45-27 in a Class 1A Public game.
