Buford, Douglas County and North Gwinnett – teams ranked Nos. 2-4 in Georgia’s highest classification – proved worthy of their high acclaim Friday night with victories over other ranked opponents.
Buford beat Class 5A’s No. 7 team, Roswell 52-17. With 10 seniors committed to Power 4 Conferences, Buford (2-1) was Class 6A’s preseason No. 1 team. The Wolves held that ranking after a 13-10 opening loss to nationally ranked Milton but dropped a spot below Carrollton after struggling to beat Class 4A Benedictine 29-28 in their second game.
Douglas County – Buford’s next opponent – beat Class 5A’s No. 5 team, Hughes 21-14. Douglas County was a semifinalist in the second-highest class last year and is 4-0 in 6A, the new highest class.
The Douglas County-Buford game will be in Douglasville.
North Gwinnett beat No. 5 Mill Creek 37-34 in a non-region Class 6A game. North Gwinnett (3-0) defeated then-No. 4 Colquitt County the previous week and now has wins over two top-five teams for the first time since winning a state title in 2017.
Also scoring big wins Friday were Warner Robins, Jefferson, Toombs County and Thomas County Central.
Warner Robins beat Houston County 55-44 in a game between what are probably the best two teams in one of the state’s stronger football counties. Warner Robins is No. 10 in 4A. Houston County is No. 8 in 5A.
Jefferson, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, beat Class 2A’s No. 2 team, Stephens County, 45-28.
No. 1 Toombs County of Class A Division I beat No. 9 Rome of 5A 33-29. Rome, a much bigger school, was a 28-point favorite, and the upset win shows Toombs County is a strong contender to win its first state title.
No. 4 Thomas County Central of 5A beat No. 2 Thomasville of 2A 48-10 in the Rose City rivalry.
Several Georgia teams showed support during their games Friday for Apalachee High and the victims of Wednesday’s shooting at the Barrow County school that killed two students and two teachers, one a football coach.
Buford, Newton, Walton, Peachtree Ridge and North Oconee were among schools that wore helmet stickers with Apalachee’s “A” logo. Mountain View wore stickers with the initials “RA” for Ricky Aspinwall, the Apalachee coach who died. Aspinwall coached for many years at Mountain View.
Jefferson painted the Apalachee “A” inside its logo at midfield. Mill Creek and many others had a moment of silence before its home game, and Mill Creek students put up a banner that read, “#Apalachee Strong.”
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