No. 7 North Gwinnett at No. 4 Colquitt County is the top Class 6A game this week.
Colquitt County is strong as usual but facing questions with a freshman quarterback and the graduation of some key figures, including 2023 Super 11 picks Landen Thomas and Ny Carr, so this might be the opening that North Gwinnett needs.
North Gwinnett opened with a 39-17 victory over McEachern on Aug. 17. Ryan Hall, a Georgia Power 100 quarterback and future Georgia Tech baseball pitcher, was 8-of-15 passing for 127 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 70 yards.
North Gwinnett has a handful of major Division I recruits on defense. They are DL Braxton Kyle (Rutgers), LB/DE Cole Funderburk (Wake Forest), CB Chauncey “C.J.” Davis (junior with recent Michigan, Florida State offers), DB Chandler Jordan and LB Jake Godfree.
Colquitt County leads this series 5-2, all games played since 2011, but North Gwinnett won the most memorable one, a 19-17 victory with a last-play field goal in the 2017 Class 7A final.
Here are other games to watch this week in the high class.
-No. 1 Carrollton is facing No. 7 Rome of Class 5A in Carrollton. Rome is opening its season after an Aug. 8 rollover bus crash led to the cancellation of the original Aug. 16 opener against Creekside. Carrollton won this game 33-13 last year and is a solid favorite to repeat that victory.
-No. 5 Walton will be tested in a road game at No. 8 Roswell of Class 5A. Walton graduated four Power 4 Conference signees from its 14-1 Class 7A runner-up team and hopes to prove in this game that the Raiders are reloaded. Walton has beaten Brookwood 30-21 and Lambert 41-10 this season.
-Westlake, a preseason top-10 team that lost to Hughes 52-21 in its opener, can reassert itself with a home victory against No. 2 Gainesville of Class 5A. Westlake’s marquee players are WR Travis Smith (Tennessee) and OL Juan Gaston (Georgia). Smith has 12 receptions for 261 yards.
-No. 10 Collins Hill plays at home vs. reigning Class 3A champion Cedar Grove. Collins Hill should avenge a 37-31 loss from 2023 against a rebuilding Cedar Grove team. Collins Hill has opened with victories over top-10 teams Grayson and Woodward Academy. No defensive player has been more outstanding to begin this season than Collins Hill DL Deuce Geralds, the GHSF Daily state player of the week.
Here are this week’s games involving Class 6A teams with the computer Maxwell Ratings projected margins of victory.
Brookwood vs South Gwinnett -5
Campbell vs Etowah -15
Carrollton vs Rome -7
Chattahoochee at Discovery -15
Cherokee vs Pope -14
Collins Hill vs Cedar Grove -7
Colquitt County vs North Gwinnett -14
Dacula at Jackson County -1
Douglas County at Newton -17
Drew at South Cobb -8
East Paulding vs Paulding County -16
Evans vs Grovetown -28
Flowery Branch at Forsyth Central -20
Gainesville at Westlake -6
Hillgrove vs McIntosh -18
Lanier at North Forsyth -1
Lee County at Tift County -35
Lowndes vs Central Gwinnett -28
McEachern vs Marietta -7
Mill Creek vs Archer -35
Miller Grove vs Rockdale County -20
Milton vs Alpharetta -36
Mountain View at Seckinger -18
North Atlanta vs Wheeler -7
North Cobb vs East Coweta -16
North Paulding vs Harrison -2
Parkview at West Forsyth -2
Peach County vs Berkmar -36
Pebblebrook vs Lithia Springs -14
Shiloh at Duluth 0
South Forsyth at Riverwood -17
Valdosta vs Dougherty -35
Walton at Roswell -10
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