Class 7A hasn’t gotten fully into region play, where playoffs and seeding are decided, but Friday night’s non-region play gave some indication of how things are lining up at mid-season. Here are the results that helped shaped the top 10.
*Mill Creek 30, Parkview 20: Mill Creek, the defending champion, won a game between ranked teams. Mill Creek was ranked No. 3, Parkview No. 6. Mill Creek is 5-0 and opens region play Friday at Central Gwinnett. Mill Creek’s game Oct. 13 with No. 1 Buford is expected to decide the Region 8 title, as it did last season, when Buford won, although it was Mill Creek that ultimately claimed the big prize. Parkview is in Region 4, where it will compete with fellow top-10o teams Grayson and Newton.
*North Cobb 42, Milton 27: Unranked North Cobb beat No. 8 Milton. The Warriors have lost to No. 1 Buford and then-No. 8 Westlake. They’re off Friday, then face No. 4 Walton in what most believe will decide Region 5. North Cobb won the region last season and beat Walton 33-6, but Walton is 4-0 this season with what it believes could be its best team in years.
*Grayson 40, Lowndes 0: No. 10 Grayson made a statement that this is not a rebuilding year under first-year coach Santavious Bryant but instead for Lowndes under Grayson’s former coach, Adam Carter. Carter was Grayson’s coach the past four seasons and led the Rams to a 2020 state title. Grayson lost its opener to No. 4 Walton 49-27 but has been perfect since with wins against a couple of South Carolina state contenders. Lowndes has lost two straight including one the previous week against unbeaten but unranked East Coweta 42-30. Grayson plays No. 7 Newton at home Friday to determine the front-runner in Region 4.
*McEachern 28, Valdosta 7: Valdosta entered the rankings this month and stood at No. 9 after a 4-1 start but suffered a humbling loss at McEachern, which came in 1-4. Suddenly McEachern looks like a contender in Region 3, which has no ranked teams in it, although Harrison and North Paulding are unbeaten and unranked.
*Colquitt County 50, Cedar Grove 42: No. 2 Colquitt County got off to a 36-7 first-half lead but led the No. 1 team from Class 3A make it a one score game in the fourth quarter. Colquitt might have to wait a little longer to see where it stands as the Packers don’t enter region play until Oct. 13.
*Westlake 42, Collins Hill 7: Westlake, bounced out of the rankings last week, bounced back on the field, winning easily against an average Class 7A team. But now Westlake’s opening victory over North Cobb looks even better now that North Cobb has beat Milton.
*Lambert 23, East Coweta 22: Lambert defeated seven-point favorite East Coweta in a matchup of undefeated but unranked teams in 7A. Lambert also beat the Indians last year, 31-24, as part of a 10-2 season that was the best in school history. Lambert remained unranked, however.
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