The Rabun County Wildcats are seemingly isolated from the rest of the state, nestled in the Northeast Georgia mountains, minutes from both Carolina borders. On top of that, the region they play in, 8-2A, hasn’t offered much of a regular season challenge in years, as evidenced by the Wildcats’ dominant run of seven straight region titles and 43 consecutive league wins.
So, to be challenged, the Wildcats hunt across the state and ambitiously take on any top-tier opponent willing to play them — they opened the season with last year’s 4A finalists, Jefferson, and had scheduled perennial power ELCA but that game was cancelled.
On Friday, the Wildcats traveled 335 miles south to play 3A’s No. 3 Pierce County and came away with a 28-21 win to solidify their status as 2A’s top-ranked team and improve to 5-1 in their last game before region play.
Blitz and accessWDUN have details.
For Pierce County (4-2), it’s the second consecutive 2A opponent they’ve played — they shut out then-No. 3 Fitzgerald 17-0 last week, but Fitzgerald moved up a spot in the rankings nonetheless.
Here’s how the rest of the top 10 fared:
- The No. 2 Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane rebounded from their loss to Pierce County and beat Berrien 50-14 to open 1-2A play. The Hurricane are 5-1 and Berrien is 2-3.
- Also in 1-2A, the No. 3 Thomasville Bulldogs beat Early County 41-7 to move to 5-1 and drop Early County to 2-3. The Thomasville Times-Enterprise has details.
- The No. 4 Bleckley County Royals improve to 6-0 for the first time since 1991, beating Jasper County 27-0 in a 3-2A contest for their first shutout this season. Dave Whitaker has a game story for The Bleckley Progress. The Royals are 2-0 in league play. Jasper County falls to 0-6, 0-2.
- The No. 6 Jeff Davis Yellow Jackets beat Bacon County 52-0 in their 2-2A opener, moving to 6-0 for the second time in three years. Bacon County is 0-5.
- In a crucial 3-2A game, the No. 9 Northeast Raiders may have punted the No. 8 Washington County Golden Hawks from the rankings, beating them 27-23. AugBball’s Chad Cook has highlights. The Raiders are 4-1, 1-0 and the Golden Hawks are 3-1, 1-1.
- The No. 10 Putnam County War Eagles beat Oglethorpe County 54-13 in their 4-2A opener to improve to 6-0 for a second year in a row. Oglethorpe County is 1-4.
- On bye: No. 5 Callaway, No. 7 Dodge County
Follow the AJC’s Class 2A coverage and The Class 2A Blogcast on Twitter.
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