West Forsyth earned respect with a rare victory over a top-10 team Friday night while Cartersville justified the respect it’s always been given.
West Forsyth defeated No. 4 Walton 51-35 in a Class 7A game, and No. 5 Cartersville beat No. 2 Creekside 17-14 in a 5A game.
Lee County, the No. 2 team in 6A, also stood above others on the fourth week of the high school football season as the Trojans defeated Class 7A’s No. 7 team, Lowndes, 24-21.
West Forsyth, unranked since 2012 despite its 2020 region title and Class 7A quarterfinal berth, won a road shootout to earn only its second victory over a top-10 opponent in the same classification, and its first since 2011. West Forsyth running back Peyton Streko scored six touchdowns in the victory.
West Forsyth is 2-1, its only loss to Cartersville, a 38-31 defeat that aged nicely this week.
Cartersville graduated every first-team all-region player from its 2020 roster but managed to defend its home turf and edge Creekside, which had risen nearly to the top of 6A on the strength of victories over highly ranked Grayson of 7A and Westlake of 6A.
Elsewhere around the state, 13 other top-10 teams lost, though only four of them against lower-ranked or smaller schools, and none of those would count as a major upset.
Thomasville, the No. 4 team in 2A, beat 4A No. 8 Bainbridge 28-10.
Unranked but tradition-rich Clinch County beat No. 6 Pelham 40-14 in a Class A Public game.
No. 2 Eagle’s Landing Christian of Class A Private beat 3A No. 10 Crisp County 21-18.
Darlington, an unranked Class A Private team, defeated Class 2A No. 10 Heard County 20-7.
Other ranked teams that lost, all against larger or higher-ranked teams in the same class, were Rome to Collins Hill, Valdosta to Colquitt County, Flowery Branch to Gainesville, St. Pius to Johns Creek, Northeast to Dougherty, Dodge County to Fitzgerald, North Cobb Christian to Calvary Day, Lincoln County to Laney, and Holy Innocents’ to Prince Avenue Christian.
Colquitt County’s 48-42 victory over Valdosta prevented a sweep of Region 1-7A teams. In addition to Lowndes’ loss to Lee County, Tift County lost to Appling County 24-7, and Camden County lost to Marietta 40-17.
Georgia teams did well against out-of-state opponents Friday, specifically those from North Carolina, two that were reigning Tar Heel State champions.
Buford beat Myers Park, a Class 4A semifinal team last season, 44-17. Blessed Trinity beat four-time Class 3A champ Charlotte Catholic 28-10. Rabun County beat reigning Class A champion Murphy 59-14.
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