No. 1-ranked Georgia high school football teams had close calls Friday night, but only one, Class A Schley County, failed to win. Buford, Cartersville and Fitzgerald called on late heroics to survive.
Buford, of Class 7A, defeated No. 4 North Cobb 21-14, scoring the winning touchdown on Justice Haynes’ 5-yard run with 42 seconds remaining. North Cobb had rallied from a 14-0 third-quarter deficit. Buford (3-0) has beaten North Cobb in two of the past three seasons, each time in a tight battle.
In 5A, Cartersville won 28-20 after trailing 20-0 late in the third quarter. The Purple Hurricanes (2-0) took a 21-20 lead midway in the fourth quarter and scored again with 3:04 left.
Fitzgerald, the defending Class 2A champion, beat Northeast-Macon 28-27. Northeast led 21-7 in the first half and 21-20 entering the fourth quarter. Fitzgerald scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion for a 28-21 lead, and Northeast missed an extra point after its final touchdown.
The only No. 1-team team to lose was Schley County, beaten by Early County 19-17. Early County entered ranked No. 10 in Class A’s Division II, a new category for schools generally smaller than 400 students.
Other No. 1 teams had an easier time of it, especially Cedar Grove, the defending Class 3A champion. The Saints (2-0) beat Class 7A’s No. 9 team, Westlake, 30-20. Cedar Grove lost twice against 7A teams last season.
Hughes, No. 1 in 6A, beat Mays 62-12 to start the season 3-0. Benedictine, No. 1 in 4A, beat Westminster 28-0, bouncing back from a defeat the previous week by Florida power Christopher Columbus. Prince Avenue Christian, No. 1 in A Division I, beat Athens Academy 48-14 to take a 10-9 lead in that Athens-area rivalry called the Backyard Brawl.
Only a few Friday results involving top-10 teams would be considered upsets.
One involved Perry, the No. 6 team in 4A, which blew out No. 3 Jones County of 5A 42-14. Perry’s defense arrived after a 57-56 loss the previous week to another bigger school, Houston County.
Cook, unranked in Class 2A, beat 2021 Class A champion Brooks County 32-28. Brooks County won Class A Public last season and was ranked No. 2 in Class A Division II this week.
Stephens County, a Class 3A school, beat Class 4A No. 7 Flowery Branch 27-11, and Emanuel County Institute beat No. 7 Lincoln County 34-20 in a Class A Division II game. ECI had been 0-5 all-time against Lincoln County, though the last meeting was in 1991.
Other South Georgia schools had victories against top-10 teams, albeit against those from lower classifications.
Calvary Day, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, beat Eagle’s Landing Christian 28-21. ELCA is the No. 2 team in 2A behind Fitzgerald. Both were Class A schools last season.
Wayne County of 4A beat No. 3 Appling County of 2A 7-0. Wayne County, 0-9 last season, is 2-1 under first-year coach Jaybo Shaw.
Thomas County Central, a 6A school, beat No. 5 Bainbridge of 4A 35-14. Thomas County Central, under first-year coach Justin Rogers, is 3-0 after going 5-6 last season.
In the highest class, Carrollton and Collins Hill defended their top-10 rankings against quality opponents.
Carrollton, ranked No. 8, beat Rome, the No. 3 team in 6A, 23-6. Rome had beaten Carrollton easily in 2021.
Collins Hill, the defending champion and ranked No. 6, beat Brookwood 16-13. Collins Hill is 2-0. Brookwood, a preseason top-10 team, fell to 1-2.
And in one of the night’s more exciting games, Warner Robins defeated crosstown rival Northside 17-10 in overtime. Warner Robins is the defending Class 5A champion.
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