Only 40 high school football games were played Friday night, but it was enough for one No. 1-ranked team to fall and five region champions to rise.
Appling County, the top-ranked Class 2A team, lost a non-region game to Class A Division I’s No. 10 team, Fitzgerald, 21-16. The result won’t matter much to the state-playoff draw, which will be finalized Saturday, but it’s another chapter in puzzling Class 2A, which doesn’t have an undefeated team.
Appling County had gone from No. 9 to No. 1 last week after beating previous No. 1 Pierce County.
Two other Class 2A contenders – Hapeville Charter and Burke County – came out on top of winner-take-all games for their region championships Friday.
Also winning regions were Worth County, Brooks County and Telfair County.
Hapeville beat Carver-Atlanta 15-12 to win Region 5-2A. It’s seventh-ranked Hapeville’s first region title since 2019. Carver came in ranked No. 9.
The Hapeville-Carver game was the top metro Atlanta matchup as most action took place around Augusta and South Georgia, the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene. The GHSA added this weekend to the schedule to accommodate makeup games. Playoffs are next Friday.
Burke County, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, defeated No. 10 Thomson to win Region 4.
Worth County clinched its first region championship since 1989 with a 49-0 victory over Brantley County. Worth County plays in Region 1-A Division I and is ranked No. 6 in the class.
Telfair County beat Wilcox County 30-28 to win Region 4-A Division II. This is Telfair’s first region championship since 1993.
Also in Class A Division II, No. 4 Brooks County clinched Region 2 while idle when No. 5 Clinch County beat Charlton County 51-37. No. 4 Irwin County is also in that region and would have won the title if Charlton County had prevailed in the game called the Swamp War.
Seven games will be played Saturday. One is Grayson versus Newton for the Region 4-6A championship. That’s the only region title left unsettled.
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