Norcross and Grayson put themselves in prime positions in their Class 7A regions Friday night, while Cook, a 2A team from South Georgia, effectively won six games in one wild day in court and on the football field.
Twenty-five teams won region titles, two No. 2-ranked teams lost, and Calhoun’s 23-season streak of making the playoffs came to an end in the 11th weekend of the regular season. One week remains.
Norcross, ranked No. 6, defeated unranked but unbeaten Peachtree Ridge 35-17 to take the lead in Region 7-7A. Norcross (8-1, 5-0) can clinch the title next week against North Gwinnett (6-3, 4-1).
Grayson, ranked No. 10, beat first-place Archer 41-14 in Region 4-7A. Grayson (7-2, 3-1) can clinch first place with a victory next week at No. 9 Parkview (7-2, 3-1). Archer is 5-4, 3-1.
Also in 7A, No. 3 Colquitt County clinched Region 1 with a 44-28 victory over Valdosta.
Cook, a Class 2A school just north of Valdosta, beat No. 7 Fitzgerald 14-7 to move into first place in Region 1. Cook had lost six consecutive games to Fitzgerald, dating to 2010.
Cook started the day 1-7 overall and 1-4 in region play, with five forfeits on the ledger, but a Superior Court judge placed a restraining order on the GHSA’s forfeits, which had been assessed last week.
Depending on how that plays out, Cook could win the region and finish 8-2, 5-0 with a victory next week against Worth County (6-3, 4-1).
Cook hasn’t missed the playoffs since 1999. Neither has Calhoun, but it’s Calhoun’s streak that suddenly is over with its 52-29 loss to Cass in a game that decided fourth place in Region 7-5A.
It also was a rough day for teams ranked No. 2 in their classifications. Bleckley, ranked No. 7 in Class A Division I, defeated No. 2 Swainsboro 21-20 while Aquinas, No. 10 in Class A Division II, beat No. 2 Greene County 14-10. Swainsboro and Greene County had been undefeated.
Bleckley won Region 2 with its victory while Aquinas is in a three-way tie in its Region 8 with Greene County and Washington-Wilkes.
There were three other games between top-10 teams.
In Class 6A, No. 2 Thomas County Central beat No. 3 Lee County 31-24 to win Region 1.
In 4A, No. 5 Spalding beat No. 4 Perry 31-22 to win Region 2.
In A Division I, No. 4 Commerce beat No. 6 Rabun County 23-17 in overtime to win Region 8.
Several unranked teams beat top-10 teams.
Among those were Crisp County over No. 10 Thomasville in 3A, Union County over No. 10 Athens Academy in 2A, Whitefield Academy over No. 9 Mount Vernon in Class A Division I and Dooly County over No. 8 Telfair County in Class A Division II.
In addition to Thomas Central, Spalding, Commerce and Bleckley County, teams clinching region titles Friday were Callaway, Calvary Day, Carrollton, Cartersville, Clinch County, Colquitt County, Creekside, Dooly County, Douglas County, Gainesville, Harris County, Lumpkin County, Marist, Mary Persons, Rome, Schley County, Stephens County, Stockbridge, Thomson, Warner Robins and Woodward Academy.
