Region 1 had three of its teams – Lee County, Northside-Warner Robins and Valdosta – playing high-profile games against teams from other classifications in Week 4 of the high school football season, but only Lee County came away with a victory.
The No. 2-ranked Trojans held off Class 7A No. 7 Lowndes 24-21, avenging a 38-13 loss in 2020. That was Lee County’s only loss until falling to Buford 34-31 in overtime in the state championship game, Lee County faces Lithia Springs next week before playing another big showdown against Warner Robins on Sept. 24.
No. 9 Northside lost 49-0 to crosstown rival Warner Robins, the defending Class 5A champion and current No. 1-ranked team. The Eagles narrowly avoided being shut out in the series for the third straight time, scoring their only points when Warner Robins blocked a field-goal attempt but Elijah Robinson picked up the loose ball and ran it into the end zone.
No. 10 Valdosta got in another high-scoring shootout with nemesis Colquitt County (Class 7A No. 6) but ultimately fell 48-42, its eighth loss in the last nine meetings in the series. This game marked the sixth time in the last eight meetings that the winning team scored at least 45 points, and it was the second-highest-scoring game all-time between the teams, trailing only Valdosta’s 50-49 victory in 2019.
Region 1′s other team, Houston County, beat Statesboro 24-20 in a Class 6A game, giving Region 1 a 2-2 record for the week.
Elsewhere, Kennesaw Mountain has established itself as the team to beat in Region 6. The Mustangs routed Sprayberry 47-3 Friday night, avenging a 51-20 loss in 2020 and moving to 4-0 for the first time in school history. Kennesaw Mountain reached the playoffs for the first time last season, and it is in the midst of a three-game stretch in which it plays the three other playoff teams from 2020 – region championship Allatoona (which the Mustangs beat 22-21 last week), Sprayberry, and next week’s opponent, region runner-up Kell.
Cayman Prangley, who threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Savion Riley late in the fourth quarter to beat Allatoona last week, threw five touchdown passes against Sprayberry, including three to Riley. Jah Welch had two touchdown runs.
“Like I just told the guys, we’ve got to bring our A game every week because you’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Mustangs coach Caleb Carmean said. “There’s a lot of talent here, but at the end of the day, if we don’t play together for all four quarters and in all three phases of the game, we’re not going to have that success. So we’re going to keep the hammer down and get ready to roll on Monday.”
The Mustangs are tied for first place with Pope, which shook off a lopsided non-region loss to Class 7A Walton in Week 2 and has won two straight in region play. The Greyhounds handed Lassiter its first region loss, 28-7 on Friday.
And don’t count out Allatoona just yet. The Buccaneers rebounded from their loss to Kennesaw Mountain with a 51-9 victory over South Cobb. Allatoona’s fate will be decided in the final four weeks of the regular season, when it faces Sprayberry, Kell, Lassiter and Pope.
Regions 5 and 7 will begin region play next week. Carrollton of Region 5 and River Ridge of Region 7 are the defending champions, and both are undefeated this season.
Defending Class 6A champion Buford picked up a nice victory for Georgia when it defeated Myers Park of North Carolina 44-17. Myers Park was a semifinalist last season and came in as the No. 8-ranked team overall in North Carolina, according to MaxPreps.
Buford, ranked No. 1 in 6A, controlled the game with a rushing attack that accounted for 289 yards and five touchdowns. Victor Venn ran for 97 yards and C.J. Clinkscales had 59. Myers Park led 7-0 less than two minutes into the game, but Buford scored 37 of the game’s next 40 points to pull away.
About the Author
