Communities across Georgia continue to struggle in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and, while relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things, the high school football schedule was not immune to the frustrations.
Only 15 GHSA games were played anywhere in the state last Friday. A few were moved up to Wednesday to get ahead of the storm, many were moved back to Saturday, Monday or Tuesday, and many more were pushed weeks down the road.
No region in Class 5A was more impacted than Region 1, which is made up of teams from the Augusta area and along the Georgia coast.
Three of the region’s four games scheduled for last week were not played, and all four of this week’s contests have been postponed. The only game played was Brunswick’s 49-7 victory over rival Glynn Academy in a game that was moved back from Friday to Monday.
This is the Region 1 schedule for Week 7 and Week 8 along with the rescheduled dates, if they have been announced:
Week 7 (Sept. 27)
- Brunswick defeated Glynn Academy 49-7 on Monday
- Effingham County at Lakeside-Evans, postponed (date to be announced)
- Greenbrier at Bradwell Institute, postponed to Oct. 15
- Evans at South Effingham, postponed to Oct. 14
- Statesboro off
Week 8 (Oct. 4)
- Brunswick at Bradwell Institute, postponed to Nov. 8
- Lakeside-Evans at Statesboro, postponed to Nov. 8
- Evans at Glynn Academy, postponed to Nov. 8
- South Effingham at Greenbrier, postponed to Nov. 8
- Effingham County off
Here’s a recap of how the schedule has been affected in the other Class 5A regions.
Region 2
All three of last week’s games were played, but Coffee and Lee County pushed back their game that was supposed to be played this Friday night. It will be played next Friday in Leesburg. This week’s other games – Northside-Warner Robins at Houston County and Veterans at Thomas County Central – are expected to be played. Last week, Lee County beat Thomas County Central 35-23 and Houston County beat Veterans 56-0 on Saturday, and Coffee defeated Northside 41-0 on Monday.
Region 3
Only one of the region’s four games was played last week, when Northgate defeated McIntosh 23-12 on Saturday. Hughes’ game at Newnan and Banneker’s game at Dutchtown were moved to Oct. 11, which was originally scheduled as a week off for the region, and Hughes will play at Morrow on Nov. 8, which is the week that was added to the regular season by the GHSA to help ease schools’ scheduling issues. This week’s games – Northgate at Morrow, Dutchtown at Newnan, McIntosh at Hughes and Banneker at Lovejoy – are expected to be played.
Region 4
Three of the four games on last week’s schedule were played. The exception was Chamblee’s game at Shiloh, which was moved back to Oct. 9. Lakeside-Atlanta moved its game up to Wednesday and defeated Tri-Cities 14-6, while Decatur (beat Dunwoody 28-14) and Woodward Academy (beat Arabia Mountain 44-0) played on Saturday. This week’s games – Decatur at Shiloh, Lakeside at Chamblee (Saturday), Woodward Academy at Tri-Cities and Arabia Mountain at Dunwoody – are expected to be played.
Region 5
This has been the least affected region in the classification. There were only two games on the schedule, and both were pushed back just one day to Saturday. Villa Rica beat Lithia Springs 49-28 to move to 3-0 in the region, and New Manchester beat Alexander 29-16. The other four teams had a bye week. This week’s four games – Rome at Villa Rica, New Manchester at South Paulding, Kennesaw Mountain at Alexander and Lithia Springs at East Paulding – are expected to be played.
Region 6
Much like in Region 5, the schedule for Region 6 didn’t require too much shuffling. Only two games were on the schedule last week. Woodstock and Creekview pushed their game back a day to Saturday, with Woodstock winning 28-21. River Ridge at Sequoyah was postponed until Oct. 18, when the entire region had been scheduled for a bye week. This week’s games – Creekview at Sprayberry, Pope at Woodstock, Sequoyah at Lassiter and Riverwood at River Ridge – are expected to be played.
Region 7
All three of the region’s games were played last week. Gainesville moved its game up to Wednesday and defeated Johns Creek 48-0. Top-ranked Milton and Lanier had to wait until Monday to claim their victories. Milton defeated Seckinger 44-7 and Lanier beat Chattahoochee 55-26. This week’s games – Milton at Lanier, Seckinger at Gainesville and Johns Creek at Roswell – are expected to be played.
Region 8
All three of the region’s games were played last week, although all were pushed back to Saturday. Clarke Central (beat Apalachee 48-21) and Winder-Barrow (beat Habersham Central 57-43) won to remain the only unbeaten teams. Jackson County defeated Alcovy 48-10 and sits at 1-1. This week’s games – Clarke Central at Habersham Central, Winder-Barrow at Loganville and Jackson County at Apalachee – are expected to be played.
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