Last week’s blogs covered the first week of games in Class A Division I and highlighted which of its non-public teams will be within the Class A-3A private schools classification this season. Today, this blog will go region by region and also highlight the biggest matchups to watch this week. In total, there about 50 games to watch involving Class A Division I’s 76 teams this week, including a total of five region openers for the 10-team Region 2. These region matchups will carry a greater significance when it comes to the playoff picture and Post Season Ranking ‘PSR’ Formula.
Starting in Region 1, six of its seven teams will back in action after opening their season last week. No. 4 ranked Fitzgerald will be on its bye week after a 19-13 road loss to Class A Division II No. 4 ranked Irwin County and will return to action on Aug. 30 at home against Crisp County. It will be Worth County’s turn to visit Irwin County this week and the Rams will travel to the Indians with an opportunity to improve to 2-0 after scoring a 44-6 road win over Turner County last week. Bacon County fell 36-21 to Class A Div. II No. 6 ranked Clinch County last week and will take on No. 10 Telfair County at home on Friday in the Red Radiers’ second-straight top 10 showdown with Class A Division II. Berrien County will face off with Lanier County on the road after opening the season with a 45-13 loss to Class 2A No. 9 ranked Cook and will look to avenge last year’s 24-7 loss to the Lanier County. Thomasville was among my biggest winners from Week 1 in all of Class A Division I and the Bulldogs took a 35-12 road win over Brooks County, which was ranked No. 2 in Class A Division II at the time to earn the praise. The Bulldogs’ road win was the first time Thomasville earned a win at Brooks County since 2014. Now, Thomasville will host Pelham in its home opener this Friday night and it owns a 20-1 all-time series lead over the Class A Division II-based Hornets. The final matchup to watch in Region 1 will feature Jeff Davis, which scored a 22-6 road win over Washington County last week and will take on Class 2A Rutland Friday night. Rutland is coming off a 31-0 loss to Region 2′s Bleckley County, so this will be a good measuring stick for how Jeff Davis fares against the Hurricanes.
Speaking of Bleckley County, the Royals join Dublin, East Laurens, ACE Charter, Dodge County, Central-Macon, Jefferson County, Northeast, Southwest and Washington County as the 10 Region 2 teams that will be kickoff off their region schedules this week. Those matchups can be seen below and ACE Charter and Dodge County are the two teams that did not already play this past week. ACE Charter will play Central-Macon, Jefferson County and Dodge County before its lone non-region game on the schedule against Wilkinson County and Dodge County will play Bleckley County, Central-Macon and ACE Charter before its non-region contest with Region 3′s Vidalia.
Region 3 is just five teams and contains two non-public schools in Savannah Christian and Savannah Country Day and then three public schools with Toombs County, Swainsboro and Vidalia. Toombs County opens its season at home against Dougherty and is No. 1 in the poll, Swainsboro is No. 3 this week and is playing ECI. Savannah Country Day takes on Region 8-based Athens Academy after the Spartans stunned Aquinas 45-22 in Week 1. Savannah Christian takes on Class 4A’s New Hampstead and Vidalia looks to bounce back from a 20-10 loss to Long County at home against Screven County.
Lamar County and Towers are off on byes this week—making Social Circle the lone team in Region 4 with an opportunity to improve to 2-0. In Region 5, it will be another busy Friday night with Fellowship Christian taking on Hebron Christian in a top 10 battle. Hebron is in Class 2A, but the two programs are both represented in the Class A-3A Private poll and this is one of the top matchups in the state this Friday night.
Major matchups continue in Region 6 with Darlington taking on an ultra-talented North Cobb Christian team. This battle is also one that impacts the Class A-3A Private field. Model will have its hands full on the road against Class 4A powerhouse Cass and Bremen will open its season at home against Jordan.
In Region 7, Coosa will kickoff its season at Southeast Whitfield and Armuchee will visit Ridgeland. Finally, in Region 8, only two teams in this stacked seven-team region earned wins Week 1. Rabun County will follow its 40-27 victory over White County with a trip to Fannin County and Athens Academy is hosting Savannah Country Day. No. 9 ranked Elbert County fell 17-7 to Hart County last week and will now have to visit Class 2A No. 5 ranked Stephens County. Class A Division I No. 2 ranked Commerce fell 42-21 to Wesleyan and will look to reach the win column this Friday at East Jackson. The other two matchups in Region 8 will be Providence Christian at home against Bethlehem Christian Academy and Oglethorpe County visiting East Hall.
REGION STANDINGS AND WEEK 2 SCHEDULE
REGION 1
Jeff Davis 0-0, 1-0
Thomasville 0-0, 1-0
Worth County 0-0, 1-0
Bacon County 0-0, 0-1
Berrien 0-0, 0-1
Brantley County 0-0, 0-1
Fitzgerald 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Bacon County vs. Telfair County
Berrien at Lanier County
Brantley County vs. Windsor Forest
Jeff Davis vs. Rutland
Thomasville vs. Pelham
Worth County at Irwin County
REGION 2
Bleckley County 0-0, 1-0
Dublin 0-0, 1-0
East Laurens 0-0, 1-0
ACE Charter 0-0, 0-0
Dodge County 0-0, 0-0
Central-Macon 0-0, 0-1
Jefferson County 0-0, 0-1
Northeast 0-0, 0-1
Southwest 0-0, 0-1
Washington County 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23 (ALL REGION GAMES)
*ACE Charter vs. Central-Macon
*Bleckley County vs. Dodge County
*Dublin vs. East Laurens
*Jefferson County vs. Washington County
*Northeast vs. Southwest
REGION 3
Savannah Christian 0-0, 1-0
Toombs County 0-0, 0-0
Sav. Country Day 0-0, 0-1
Swainsboro 0-0, 0-1
Vidalia 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Savannah Christian vs. New Hampstead
Savannah Country Day at Athens Academy
Swainsboro at Emanuel County Institute
Toombs County vs. Dougherty
Vidalia vs. Screven County
REGION 4
Lamar County 0-0, 1-0
Social Circle 0-0, 1-0
Towers 0-0, 1-0
Jasper County 0-0, 0-1
McNair 0-0, 0-1
Putnam County 0-0, 0-1
Utopian Academy 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Jasper County vs. Hancock Central
McNair vs. KIPP Atlanta
Putnam County vs. Morgan County
Social Circle vs. Warren County
Utopian Academy vs. Walker
REGION 5
Sub Region A
Fellowship Christian 0-0, 1-0
King’s Ridge 0-0, 1-0
Mount Vernon 0-0, 1-0
Wesleyan 0-0, 1-0
Mt. Pisgah 0-0, 0-1
St. Francis 0-0, 0-1
Mount Bethel 0-0, 0-0 ++
Sub Region B
B.E.S.T. Academy 0-0, 1-0
Landmark Christian 0-0, 0-1
Mount Paran 0-0, 0-1
Walker 0-0 ,0-1
Whitefield Academy 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
B.E.S.T. Academy vs. Kendrick
Fellowship Christian vs. Hebron Christian
King’s Ridge at Lanier Christian
Landmark Christian vs. Cross Keys
Mount Bethel at Providence Academy++
Mt. Pisgah at Mt. Paran
St. Francis vs. King’s Academy
Walker at Utopian Academy
Wesleyan vs. North Hall
Whitefield Academy vs. Mount Vernon
REGION 6
Haralson County 0-0, 1-0
Heard County 0-0, 1-0
Model 0-0, 1-0
Temple 0-0, 1-0
Bremen 0-0, 0-0
Darlington 0-0, 0-1
Pepperell 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Bremen vs. Jordan
Darlington vs. North Cobb Christian
Haralson County at Pike County
Heard County vs. South Atlanta
Model at Cass
Pepperell vs. Adairsville
Temple vs. Clarkston
REGION 7
Chattooga 0-0, 1-0
Fannin County 0-0, 1-0
Gordon Central 0-0, 1-0
Armuchee 0-0, 0-0
Coosa 0-0, 0-0
Christian Heritage 0-0, 0-1
Dade County 0-0, 0-1
Gordon Lee 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Armuchee at Ridgeland
Chattooga vs. Coahulla Creek
Christian Heritage vs. Cherokee Christian
Coosa at Southeast Whitfield
Dade County vs. Trion
Fannin County vs. Rabun County
Gordon Central vs. Butler
Gordon Lee at LaFayette
REGION 8
Athens Academy 0-0, 1-0
Rabun County 0-0, 1-0
Banks County 0-0, 0-1
Commerce 0-0, 0-1
Elbert County 0-0, 0-1
Oglethorpe County 0-0, 0-1
Providence Christian 0-0, 0-1
Friday, Aug. 23
Athens Academy vs. Savannah Country Day
Commerce at East Jackson
Elbert County at Stephens County
Oglethorpe County at East Hall
Providence Christian vs. Bethlehem Christian
Rabun County at Fannin County
About the Author
