A pair of unranked teams, South Atlanta and South Paulding, defeated top-five opponents in their region opening games Friday night, both as heavy underdogs by nearly the same scores.
South Atlanta defeated No. 5 Lovett 34-33 in Region 6-2A while South Paulding beat No. 4 Rome 34-32 in Region 5-6A on a night when only 12 ranked teams lost. Two of those were ranked No. 1, however – Buford and Irwin County.
Buford lost 7-0 to Chaminade-Madonna, Florida’s No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A and winner of three state titles over the past four seasons. Buford was favored, ranked in some top-25 national rankings after its 3-0 start, and had not been shut out since 2015 when beaten by Cartersville 10-0 in the Class 4A championship game.
Irwin County, the No. 1 team in Class A Public, lost to a Class 7A school, Tift County, 16-14.
A couple of games between top-10 teams were surprising routs. No. 3 Mill Creek beat No. 10 West Forsyth in a 7A game while No. 5 Sandy Creek beat No. 7 Westminster 44-14 in 3A. No. 4 Prince Avenue Christian also won easily, 35-10, against No. 7 Wesleyan in Class A Private.
