A pair of unranked teams, South Atlanta and South Paulding, defeated top-10 opponents in their region-opening games Friday night, both as heavy underdogs by nearly the same scores.
South Atlanta defeated No. 5 Lovett 34-33 in Region 6-2A while South Paulding beat No. 8 Rome 34-32 in Region 5-6A on a night when only 12 ranked teams lost. Two of those were ranked No. 1, however – Buford and Irwin County.
South Atlanta is Region 6-2A’s defending champion but lost to Lovett 37-14 last season in a game that didn’t count in the standings because Region 6 chose to delay the region schedule because of COVID-19.
South Atlanta won the rematch Friday as a 19-point underdog, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, and polished away any stain that last year’s Lovett loss might’ve left. Keyjuan Brown rushed for 267 yards, and South Atlanta stopped Lovett’s two-point attempt on the final play of the game.
South Paulding, a 28-point underdog, beat a ranked opponent for the second time in history, the first since a 2013 victory over Allatoona. South Paulding is operating under a new coach, Eric Robinson, who took over last week when Jason Nash unexpectedly stepped down. The Spartans now are in good position to reach the playoffs after falling short in 2020.
In Buford, the top-ranked Wolves lost 7-0 to Chaminade-Madonna, Florida’s No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A and winner of three state titles over the past four seasons. Buford still was favored, ranked in some top-25 national rankings after its 3-0 start, and had not been shut out since 2015 when beaten by Cartersville 10-0 in the Class 4A championship game. It was Buford’s first home shutout loss since 1998, when Greater Atlanta Christian beat the Wolves 14-0.
Irwin County, the No. 1 team in Class A Public, lost to a Class 7A school, Tift County, 16-14.
Also Friday, No. 2 Oconee County of Class 3A beat No. 4 Thomasville, a 2A team, 20-6. Thomasville could’ve become the 26th team in history to beat four consecutive top-10 opponents in the regular season but was an underdog to the higher-classification team and 2020 state finalist.
Of the other seven ranked teams that lost, only one fell to a lower-ranked team or smaller school. That was No. 9 Manchester of Class A Public, beaten by unranked Chattahoochee County 20-10.
A couple of games between top-10 teams were surprising routs. No. 3 Mill Creek beat No. 10 West Forsyth in a 7A game while No. 5 Sandy Creek beat No. 7 Westminster 44-14 in 3A. No. 4 Prince Avenue Christian also won easily, 35-10, against No. 7 Wesleyan in Class A Private.
In a tight game between state powers, No. 9 Blessed Trinity of Class 5A beat No. 2 Eagle’s Landing Christian of Class A Private 24-21. Those two programs have won eight state titles between themselves over the past six seasons.
Other top-10 teams that lost, both to larger schools, were Clinch County to Pierce County and Dublin to Swainsboro.
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