Ranking the most surprising and notable games of the weekend:
1. Bethlehem Christian 28, John Milledge 14: At one point last season, John Milledge was riding a state-record 62-game winning streak. Now the Trojans have lost two straight. The first was to Valwood in the 2023 GIAA Class 3A championship game. The latest came against a Bethlehem Christian team that was projected as a 33-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, making it the biggest upset of Week 1.
2. Gordon Central 62, Southeast Whitfield 0: Gordon Central ended a 31-game losing streak by defeating 11-point favorite Southeast Whitfield. The Warriors set school records for points scored and margin of victory. Gordon Central is in its second season under head coach Lenny Gregory, who led Collins Hill to the Class 7A championship in 2021.
3. Seminole County 32, Schley County 14: Seminole County, which won a playoff game last year for the first time in 10 years, broke into the top 10 (A Division II) for the first time since 2014 with a victory over Schley County, a 29-point favorite. Schley, a Division II finalist in 2022 and semifinalist last year, had been ranked No. 5 but fell out of the top 10.
4. Four No. 1s lose: Four of the eight top-ranked teams coming into the season lost their openers. They were Class 6A Buford (to Milton), Class 4A Benedictine (to Rabun Gap), Class 3A Jefferson (to Marist) and Class A Division II Bowdon (to Fellowship Christian). Buford and Bowdon held on to their No. 1 rankings despite the losses. Benedictine and Jefferson fell to No. 5.
5. North Murray 22, Dalton 9: North Murray head coach Preston Poag recorded his first victory in three tries against alma mater Dalton, which was an 18-point favorite. It was the first win for a Murray County school (North Murray, Murray County) against the Catamounts since 2000, not including forfeited games. Dalton beat North Murray 35-14 last year.
Worth noting: Cass earned its way into the Class 4A top 10 with a 42-7 victory over then-No. 4 Callaway of Class 2A. It was Callaway’s most-lopsided loss at home since a 42-0 loss to Jackson in 2005, Pete Higgins’ first year as the Cavaliers’ head coach. … Chestatee broke an 11-game losing streak that was the third-longest in school history with a 27-21 victory at Franklin County in a game projected as a toss-up by Maxwell. Chestatee had not won a game on the road since Sept. 13, 2019. … Douglass defeated 20-point favorite LaGrange 18-3 in its first appearance in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic and moved up to No. 2 in Class 3A, its highest ranking since 1999. LaGrange had been No. 3 but fell to No. 10. … Druid Hills rallied after a third-quarter lightning delay and went on to a 21-6 victory over 24-point favorite Miller Grove. The last time these teams met, in 2021, Miller Grove won 72-12. The Red Devils will be playing a region schedule this year for the first time since 2020. … Fourth-year program Lake Oconee Academy, playing a varsity schedule this season for the first time, beat 17-point favorite Mount Paran Christian 16-0. The Titans have won 14 games in their short history, but this was just the fourth against a GHSA opponent.
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