Region 1 has already established itself as the toughest in Class 6A, again, through the first two weeks of the season.
The six teams in the region – Houston County, Lee County, Northside-Warner Robins, Thomas County Central, Veterans and Tift County – have a combined record of 10-2, with Tift County suffering the two losses against strong Class 5A programs. The other five teams are each 2-0, and all except Veterans are ranked in the top 10 and have played at least one game against a team in the top 10 in its classification.
Thomas County Central, Houston County and Northside recorded victories in rivalry games last week.
No. 8 Thomas County Central got 294 yards and two touchdowns passing from Jaylen Johnson, 142 yards and three touchdowns rushing from Trey Benton and 161 yards and two touchdowns receiving from Tre’von Pringle in a 45-7 victory over Thomasville. Thomas County Central pulled even in the series with its crosstown rival 28-28.
Fourth-ranked Houston County, trailing Perry 35-34 with less than a minute left, got a 19-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Hill to Ricky Johnson for a 42-35 victory. It was Houston County’s second consecutive high-scoring game won in the final minute against its county rival.
No. 9 Northside broke open a tight game against Peach County with two first-half touchdowns (Malik Spaulding’s 14-yard interception return and Damion Dee’s 76-yard pass to Keron Milton) in a three-minute span and went on to win 28-17. Milton had four catches for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Northside will face its biggest rival Friday when it takes on Warner Robins.
Lee County defeated Hapeville Charter 51-14 last week, and Veterans beat Griffin 35-0
Region play for the six teams will begin Sept. 29, with Thomas County Central looking to defend its championship.
North Atlanta on the rise
North Atlanta won a playoff game for the first time in its history last season, and the Warriors’ winning ways have continued this year. They are 2-0 after defeating Johns Creek and Drew by a combined score of 106-14 and appear ready to be a factor in challenging for at least second place in Region 4-6A, although the competition will get much tougher in the weeks ahead.
North Atlanta is off this week and has winnable games against New Manchester and River Ridge in early September before a four-game stretch that includes Wheeler in non-region play and region contests against St. Pius, Riverwood and Marist that will determine its fate. North Atlanta lost three of those four games last season.
The key game is likely to be the one at St. Pius on Sept. 29. That matchup ultimately decided second place in the region and a home first-round playoff game last year. St. Pius won 21-14, which sent North Atlanta to Lovejoy in the first round. The Warriors won 30-17 but lost to Houston County 41-31 the following week. North Atlanta has made four postseason appearances since opening in 1991 but has never hosted a playoff game.
New coaches update
Of the 14 new head coaches in Class 6A, only three have their teams at 2-0. Northside, under coach Ben Bailey, has victories against Jones County (33-21) and Peach County (28-17). Alexander, which hired Cody Neal after Olten Downs left for New Manchester, has wins over Riverwood (33-15) and Lithia Springs (12-0). Ed Dudley replaced Tom Hall at Blessed Trinity and has led the Titans past Calhoun (17-7) and Eagle’s Landing Christian (46-0).
South Effingham’s Loren Purvis can join that group this week, as the Mustangs are 1-0 after avenging a 2022 loss to Vidalia and looking at a winnable game Friday against Islands.
Here are the records of every Class 6A team through the first two weeks of the season. Teams with new head coaches are marked with an asterisk:
2-0: Houston County, Lee County, *Northside-Warner Robins, Thomas County Central, Veterans, Glynn Academy, Mundy’s Mill, North Atlanta, Lakeside-DeKalb, *Alexander, Douglas County, Hughes, Creekview, Etowah, River Ridge, Rome, *Blessed Trinity, Roswell, Sprayberry, Gainesville
1-0: Brunswick, Lakeside-Evans, *South Effingham, Dunwoody
1-1: Grovetown, Morrow, Alcovy, Jonesboro, *Rockdale County, Woodward Academy, Lovejoy, Marist, St. Pius, East Paulding, *New Manchester, *Jackson County, Lanier, North Forsyth
0-1: Evans, Forest Park, Alpharetta, *Johns Creek, *Pope
0-2: Tift County, Effingham County, Riverwood, South Cobb, Newnan, *Paulding County, *South Paulding, *Allatoona, Sequoyah, *Woodstock, Lassiter, *Apalachee, Habersham Central
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