Collins Hill won the first No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown in the highest class since 2003, North Oconee stifled the No. 1 team in Class 4A, Gunner Stockton broke Trevor Lawrence’s passing touchdowns record, Georgia Military won a historic region title, and unranked Southwest DeKalb and Commerce upset top-10 opponents Friday night in Georgia high school football.
Collins Hill, the No. 1 team in Class 7A, beat No. 2 Mill Creek 40-10 and finished its regular season with a 10-0 record. The last time that the top two teams in the highest class had met in the regular season had been 2003, when No. 2 Brookwood ended No. 1 Parkview’s 46-game winning streak. Collins Hill also claimed the Region 8 championship.
Class 4A’s No. 1 team, Jefferson, was upset by No. 9 North Oconee 11-6. The surprise outcome gave North Oconee (7-3, 6-0) the Region 8-4A title, the Titans’ first league championship since 2012. Jefferson (8-1, 4-1) had won 15 consecutive region games and 16 consecutive home games.
Gunner Stockton, the state’s highest-rated senior quarterback prospect, broke Lawrence’s state record for career TD passes in Rabun County’s 56-14 victory over Union County. They entered with 161 apiece, and Stockton threw a 1-yard TD pass to Tate Ramey for the first score of the game. Rabun is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A. Stockton is committed to Georgia.
Also making history was Georgia Military, which defeated ACE Charter 41-6 to clinch Region 7-1A Public, the Milledgeville prep school’s first region championship since 1960. Georgia Military also improved to 10-0, achieving its first 10-win season since 1934, when Wally Butts was the program’s coach.
Southwest DeKalb and Commerce were unranked teams that scored top-10 victories.
Southwest DeKalb (5-4, 4-1) beat No. 9 Decatur 33-19 in a Class 4A game. That put Southwest DeKalb back in the race for the region title and made it harder for Decatur (8-1, 4-0), which will be back at home next week against No. 8 St. Pius (7-2, 5-0) in the season finale. Decatur hasn’t won a region title since 2004.
Commerce (6-3, 3-1) beat No. 8 Washington-Wilkes 31-20 in Class A Public. Washington-Wilkes (7-2, 3-1) could’ve clinched Region 8, but now Commerce can take the title by beating Lincoln County (6-3, 3-1) next week. If Lincoln wins, Washington-Wilkes can salvage the title with a victory over Towns County.
A handful of games were between top-10 teams. In those, No. 1 Cartersville beat No. 6 Calhoun 21-14 and No. 5 Warner Robins beat No. 7 Coffee 22-7 in Class 5A; No. 9 Dodge County beat No. 10 Washington County 26-19 in Class 2A; No. 8 Holy Innocents’ beat No. 6 Wesleyan 21-0 in Class A Private; and No. 5 Schley County beat No. 10 Manchester 24-6 in Class A Public.
Cartersville won a region title with its victory. Others winning region championships Friday were North Cobb (3-7A), Brookwood (3-7A), Villa Rica (6-5A), Crisp County (2-3A), Swainsboro (2-2A), Putnam County (4-2A) and Bowdon (6-A Public).
One week of the regular season remains. The playoffs begin Nov. 12.
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