Class 6A blog: North Atlanta, Harrison put themselves in position for region titles

Let's go, Hoyas! The home crowd is fired up for Friday night's region clash between host Harrison and the East Paulding Raiders.

Credit: Mikki K. Harris / mkharris@ajc.com

Credit: Mikki K. Harris / mkharris@ajc.com

Let's go, Hoyas! The home crowd is fired up for Friday night's region clash between host Harrison and the East Paulding Raiders.

Buford and Valdosta got headlines for victories over top-10 opponents last week, but Harrison and North Atlanta won games that were just as big but under the radar in Class 6A.

No. 2 Buford beat No. 6 Collins Hill 34-7. That makes Buford and No. 8 Mill Creek the only teams with losses in region play from Region 6. They’re scheduled to meet No. 1 at Mill Creek.

Valdosta beat Camden County 56-37 in Region 1 and moved up to No. 4 in the rankings. Valdosta (6-0), Richmond Hill (6-0) and Colquitt County (4-2) have 1-0 records in region play.

Meanwhile, North Atlanta and Harrison put themselves in position for region championships, especially North Atlanta.

The Warriors defeated Lambert 24-21 to take sole possession of first place in Region 6. They were nine-point underdogs, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings.

North Atlanta is 5-1 overall, 3-0 in region play, while three other teams are one game behind at 2-1.

North Atlanta has never won a region title. The school opened in 1991. Further, no Atlanta team has won a region in the highest classification since Douglass in 2004.

Harrison beat McEachern 28-12 in Region 3. Harrison was a 14-point underdog, according to Maxwell.

Now, the Hoyas (5-1, 3-0), under first-year coach Luqman Salam, are tied for first with Hillgrove (6-0, 3-0) in the region. They play each other Oct. 25 at Harrison.