Last Tuesday, the Class AAAA blog took a look at each of the eight regions in the classification and listed the updated region assignments for each one. Thursday's blog marked the start of a region-by-region breakdown of Class AAAA's new landscape and highlighted the six teams that will be competing in Region 1-AAAA starting in the fall. Today, we will take a look at the new Region 2-AAAA field of nine teams. First, it is worth noting that none of the six schools that resided in Region 2 pre-realignment (Howard, Mary Persons, Perry, Spalding, Upson-Lee and West Laurens) are back in it. Carver-Columbus, Columbus, Hardaway, LaGrange, Troup and Shaw are arriving from within the classification. Jordan and Spencer are coming all the way from Region 5 in Class AA and Kendrick arrives from Region 4 in Class AAA.
Carver-Columbus: The Tigers dropped a 28-26 game to Harris County to open the 2019 season and then responded with a 10-game winning streak before suffering a 30-20 loss to Marist in the second round. The team put up a whopping 41.75 points per game over the course of the season with Khiari McCoy dominating out of the backfield. McCoy has since graduated and the Tigers will be without his massive contributions for the first time in several seasons. When Carver matched up with Cairo and Westover in consecutive weeks this past season, McCoy willed the Tigers to a pair of key victories with an incredible 58 carries, 614 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns coming in the two games.
Columbus: The Blue Jackets struggled in 2019 and finished 1-9 overall—the school's worst finish since 2013. Offensively, the production dropped from 25.83 ppg in 2018 to just 13.2 ppg and the team went 0-8 against region opponents.
Hardaway: The Golden Hawks reached consecutive playoffs for the first time since 1999 this past season and closed out the regular season with a four-game winning streak prior to falling 34-0 to Thomson in the first round. Defensive lineman Mykel Williams had a breakout sophomore season and the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Class of 2022 prospect earned a First-Team All-State Selection.
Jordan: The Red Jackets closed out a winless season in 2019 and added the program's fourth such season since 2013 in the process. That 0-10 record came in Class AA and making the two-classification jump will be a challenge for a program that is looking for its first playoff appearance since 1996.
Kendrick: The Cherokees arrive from Class AAA where they posted a 1-9 finish in 2019. The lone win came in a 28-27 win over Jordan in non-region play. Defensively, the team allowed 46.3 ppg in 2019 which is the most allowed in the school's 52-year history.
LaGrange: The Grangers will likely experience way more success in the upcoming years than they have in recent seasons. For starters, Sandy Creek, Cartersville, Cedartown and Chapel Hill are no longer region opponents and the program has been steadily improving following a winless 0-10 effort in 2017.
Shaw: The Raiders were highly-competitive in Region 1 this past season, but failed to make the playoffs with a 6-4 overall finish and 4-4 region record. The Raiders faced Kendrick in their season opener and posted a 48-14 victory.
Spencer: The Greenwave Owls are arriving from Class AA and are coming off a 3-7 season. A 1-5 record in region play snapped the school's four-year playoff streak and the offense averaged a 10-season low of just 12.2 ppg.
Troup: The Tigers are turning the page from First-Team All-State quarterback Kobe Hudson, who signed with Auburn following his stellar varsity career. The Tigers will be highly-competitive in Class AAAA for years to come and will likely stand as a top challenger to Carver-Columbus for the region crown.
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