Creekside and Woodward Academy, a pair of Class 5A schools in south Fulton County, brought humility Friday night to two highly ranked opponents coming off great victories of their own last week.
Creekside, of Fairburn, beat No. 3 Westlake, a Class 6A school, 27-20 while Woodward Academy, of College Park, beat No. 2 Marist, a 4A school, 14-9.
Creekside already had the look of a rising star for its opening-game victory last month against defending Class 7A champion Grayson, but beating Westlake, a county rival, was just as sweet. Creekside had lost three consecutive to Westlake, which was the talk of south Fulton after defeating Class 7A state-power Colquitt County last week.
Creekside, ranked No. 6 in 5A, is now 2-0 after starting the previous five seasons 0-2.
Woodward Academy dealt similar perspective to Marist, the defending Class 4A champion that had just beaten Blessed Trinity in a victory that was No. 400 in the career of coach Alan Chadwick. Woodward Academy, ranked No. 10 in 5A, improved to 3-0 after an 0-3 start to 2020.
Sixteen top-10 teams statewide lost Friday, although only six (including Westlake) fell to unranked, lower-ranked or smaller schools.
One of those fitting that definition of an upset was No. 4 Blessed Trinity of 5A, again. St. Pius, unranked but perennially good in the same class, beat the Titans 24-17. Blessed Trinity is 1-2 for the first time since 2013.
Rome, the No. 6 team in 6A, beat 7A No. 10 Cherokee 27-7, avenging a 2020 loss. Union Grove, unranked in 5A, also avenged a loss from last season when it defeated seventh-ranked Starr’s Mill of 5A 21-14.
Two unranked Class A Public teams, Emmanuel County Institute and Schley County, had nice wins. ECI beat 2A No. 9 Vidalia 17-14 while Schley County defeated A Public No. 9 Wilcox County 35-0.
Benedictine, the No. 3 team in Georgia’s 4A, lost 33-23 to Beaufort, the No. 7 team in South Carolina’s 4A.
Ranked teams losing to larger or higher-ranked opponents were Cedar Grove to Colquitt County, Bowdon to Haralson County, Manchester to Heard County, Eastside to Newton, North Cobb Christian to Whitefield Academy, Pelham to Cook, Fellowship Christian to Trinity Christian and Baldwin to Ware County.
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