The final Friday night of the Georgia high school football regular season was one for championships.
Twenty-four teams – including Colquitt County, Stephenson, Cartersville, Rabun County and Mitchell County – clinched region titles. Many more clinched playoff berths that are awarded to 240 teams statewide.
Stephenson (9-1, 8-0) won its first region title since 2015, and only its second in 10 years, with a 30-24 victory over Tucker in Region 4-AAAAAA. Tucker (7-3, 7-1) had won 25 straight region games and entered this game ranked No. 3.
Cartersville and Rabun County extended long winning streaks in region games, each fending off challengers that entered with 9-0 records.
Cartersville, ranked No. 5 in Class AAAA, defeated No. 3 Troup 43-10 in Region 5. Cartersville (10-0, 6-0) has won seven straight region titles and 47 straight games that count in region standings.
Rabun County, ranked No. 6 in AA, beat Union County 56-28 in Region 8. Rabun (9-1, 7-0) has won five straight region titles and 34 straight games that count in region standings.
Calhoun extended the longest region dominance of all with a 49-0 win over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe in Region 6-AAA. Calhoun has won 18 straight region championships.
Pelham won its second region title in three seasons, though only its third in over 30 years, with a 34-13 win over Mitchell County in Region 1-A. Pelham (10-0, 9-0) fell five points shy of the state record for points in a regular season. The Hornets finished with 544. Dublin in 2005 and Camden in 2011 scored 549 points in their regular seasons.
Grovetown (3-AAAAAA) and Creekview (6-AAAAAA) won their first region titles in history. Grovetown, which opened in 2009, beat Evans 30-20 while Creekview, which opened in 2006, beat Harrison 36-35.
Creekside became the first team since Adairsville in 2000 to win a region title one season after going winless. Creekside (7-3, 7-1) beat South Paulding 44-7 to wrap up the No. 1 seed in 5-AAAAAA.
Greene County won its first region title since 2005 when the Tigers defeated Tattnall Square 35-20 in the 7-A championship game.
Other teams that won region titles on Friday were Colquitt County (1-AAAAAAA), Glynn Academy (2-AAAAAA), Warner Robins (1-AAAAA), Wayne County (2-AAAAA), Buford (8-AAAAA), Mary Persons (2-AAAA), Crisp County (1-AAA), Pierce County (2-AAA), Benedictine (2-AAA), Peach County (4-AAA), Heard County (3-AA), Heard County (5-AA), Marion County (4-A), Mount Zion of Carroll County (6-A) and Athens Academy (8-A).
There were a couple of upsets Friday, both by unranked teams that had been ranked earlier in the season.
In 6-AAAAAA, Sequoyah beat No. 4 Allatoona 17-0, while in 5-AAA, Lovett beat fifth-ranked Westminster 34-28.
Both games caused a three-way ties for second place in their regions. It’s Sequoyah, Harrison and Allatoona in 6-AAAAAA, and Lovett, Westminster and Pace Academy in 5-AAA. Region tiebreakers will be called upon to settle playoff seedings.
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