Carrollton crossed the border and won a game for Georgia pride, North Cobb defeated its chief county rival, and Duluth scored 90 points in the most lopsided Georgia game in nearly 50 years Friday night in the sixth weekend of the high school football season.
Norcross, Creekside and Douglass also had big wins in region play while Hart County copped the night’s biggest upset.
Carrollton, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, defeated unbeaten Parker of Birmingham 48-26 on ESPN2. Parker entered 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, Alabama’s second-highest class. Carrollton is 6-0 in Georgia’s highest class.
North Cobb, the No. 10 team in 6A, beat Walton 35-10 to become the frontrunner in Region 5-6A. Walton had beaten North Cobb for a region title last season and went on to reach the Class 7A championship game. North Cobb is 6-0.
Duluth defeated Meadowcreek 90-0 in Gwinnett County. That’s the largest margin of victory in a GHSA game since 1976 national champion Warner Robins beat Jordan 90-0.
Creekside and Douglass won games with shutouts that perhaps made them the teams to beat in their regions while Norcross won a tight region battle in Gwinnett.
Creekside beat Mays 31-0 in Region 4-4A. Creekside was the Class 5A runner-up last season but started this season 0-2 against out-of-state teams. Creekside defeated Mays by one point last season in a game that determined a region title.
Douglass beat defending Class 3A champion Cedar Grove 28-0 in Region 5-3A. That marked the first time Cedar Grove (0-4) has been shut out since 2014, a streak of 138 games. Douglass (3-2) is ranked seventh and positioned to win its first region title in 20 years.
Norcross beat Peachtree Ridge 27-26 in a game between Region 7-6A contenders. Norcross (4-1, 2-0) and fourth-ranked North Gwinnett (5-0, 2-0) are now the only region teams without a region loss.
There were only two pure upsets involving top-10 teams.
Hart County, unranked in 2A, beat Class 3A’s No. 3 team, Monroe Area, 28-21. Hart County had lost eight straight in this northeast Georgia rivalry that it formerly dominated, winning 16 straight from 1991 to 2007.
Brantley County defeated No. 8 Jeff Davis 28-21 in Class A Division I. It was Brantley’s first victory over a ranked team since 2019 (Charlton County).
A few other ranked teams lost against larger schools or out-of-state opponents.
Blessed Trinity, the No. 4 team in Class 4A, beat No. 2 Hebron Christian of Class 3A-A private 24-10.
Class 4A champion Perry went down to East Coweta, an unranked 6A school, 31-15. Perry (3-2) is ranked No. 8 in 4A.
Other ranked teams losing were Class 3A-A private No. 3 Prince Avenue Christian (to Westside, S.C.), Class 3A-A private No. 10 Aquinas (to Westside-Augusta), Class A Division I No. 4 Lamar County (to Westside-Macon), Class A Division II No. 4 Brooks County (to No. 1 Pierce County of 2A) and Class 4A No. 9 Ware County (to Lincoln, Fla.).
One game was canceled Friday because of safety concerns. Bacon County notified Thomasville hours before kickoff that Bacon wouldn’t be traveling for the game because of unspecified social media threats.
It is the second game not played this month because of online threats. Hart County and Flowery Branch canceled a Friday, Sept. 6 game, then played it the next Monday after the arrests of three Hart County students. The Hart County decision came two days after the Sept. 4 school shooting killed four at Apalachee High.
About the Author
