Buford validated its No. 1 ranking in Class 7A and high national esteem Friday night with a 39-27 victory over No. 3 Mill Creek while Sandy Creek, Cambridge, Rabun County, Lincoln County, Walton and Jones County boosted their own standing with signature or redeeming wins.
The Buford-Mill Creek game between neighboring Gwinnett County schools brought together undefeated teams, each with at least seven top-25 national rankings. A crowd of some 10,000 piled into Buford’s Tom Riden Stadium to witness it.
Buford, ranked as high as No. 2 by High School Football America, went up 24-6 in the first half on Jordan Allen’s 82-yard punt return and never trailed. Buford (7-0, 2-0) and Mill Creek (6-1, 1-1) are located only about 10 miles apart, but had never played each other, mainly because this season Buford also is in the highest classification, for the first time.
Several other teams won showdown-type games on the ninth Friday night of the football season.
Sandy Creek, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, beat No. 2 Carver-Atlanta 22-12 in Region 5. That makes Sandy Creek (7-1, 1-0) the prime contender to challenge No. 1-ranked and defending champion Cedar Grove in region play.
Cambridge, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, beat No. 5 Kell 48-24 in Region 6. Cambridge (6-2, 4-0) is alone in first place and well-positioned for its first region title since starting the program in 2012.
In Class A Division I, No. 3 Rabun County defeated No. 6 Elbert County 41-21 in a game between unbeaten Region 8 teams. Rabun (8-0, 1-0) has won 48 consecutive region games and eight consecutive region titles.
Lincoln County took a big step toward its first region title in 10 years with a 28-24 victory over No. 8 Aquinas in Region 8-A Division II. Lincoln County (5-2, 2-0) had beaten No. 5 Washington-Wilkes last week and stands tied with unranked Greene County for the region lead. The region title drought is the longest in for a school that’s won 33 region titles since 1970.
Walton and Jones County, teams recently ousted from the top 10, argued they should be let back in.
Walton beat 10th-ranked and previously unbeaten Kennesaw Mountain 42-14 in a Region 5-7A game between Cobb County teams. Walton’s losses had been to top-10 teams North Cobb and Mill Creek. Walton is 5-2, 1-1 while Kennesaw Mountain fell to 6-1, 1-1.
Jones County defeated No. 3 Dutchtown 24-7 in a Region 2-5A game. Jones County (4-3, 2-1) began the season No. 5 but dropped out after losing last week to unranked Ola. Now those three teams, plus defending 5A champion Warner Robins, have one loss apiece in region play.
In a Class A game, No. 4 Brooks County of Division I beat No. 1 Early County of Division II 34-7. It was not considered an upset as Brooks County, the bigger school, won Class A Public last season.
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