Pounded at Lowndes: Can we write off Peachtree Ridge?
If they play again in November, will it be the same story?
I didn’t see the Lowndes-Peachtree Ridge game, but hearing from a few who did, and reading newspaper reports, it sounds like Lowndes played a great game, while Peachtree Ridge got knocked down hard early and couldn’t get up. Result: 51-17.
Tyler Hunter, the son of former Georgia receiver Brice Hunter, returned the kickoff for a touchdown, then ran a fumble in for a touchdown. Lowndes also scored on an interception return.
Don’t misunderstand: If I didn’t think Lowndes were the better team, I wouldn’t have put the Vikings at No. 1 in preseason. A few people grumbled at my sticking by Lowndes after its QF exit last year and the loss of Greg Reid. If Lowndes played Peachtree Ridge tomorrow, I’d expect Lowndes to handle the Lions again.
But it’s a long ways until November. Just ask Tucker and Marist. Or just ask Lowndes, for that matter. Just curious of how others view the significance of this game.
Can we write Peachtree Ridge off? I don’t see how a team that reached the final in 2008, played Camden County to the wire and returned two-thirds of those starters can’t still win a state title this year.
But Lowndes is the favorite. 51-17 settled that.
In other news, Holy Innocents’ and Chattahoochee County in Class A are ranked for the first time in their histories, and Treutlen is there for the first time in 10 years. HI plays No. 1 Wesleyan this week.
Etowah got pounded, leaving a hole in the rankings. I picked Woodstock. Who was your choice? McEachern? Roswell? South Gwinnett is looking good, fwiw.
Big game this week: Carver-Columbus vs. Northside-Warner Robins. I think I’m taking Carver.
Also watch Buford vs. Lovett.
CLASS AAAAA
1. Lowndes (2-0)
2. Grayson (2-0)
3. North Gwinnett (2-0)
4. Camden County (1-1)
5. Stephenson (2-0)
6. Northside, Warner Robins (1-0)
7. M.L. King (2-0)
8. Newnan (2-0)
9. Peachtree Ridge (1-1)
10. Woodstock (1-0)
CLASS AAAA
1. Tucker (2-0)
2. Griffin (2-0)
3. Southwest DeKalb (1-1)
4. Westside, Macon (2-0)
5. Statesboro (2-0)
6. North Clayton (2-0)
7. Hillgrove (2-0)
8. Sandy Creek (1-1)
9. Clarke Central (2-0)
10. Bainbridge (2-0)
CLASS AAA
1. Carver, Columbus (2-0)
2. Gainesville (2-0)
3. Flowery Branch (2-0)
4. Baldwin (2-0)
5. Peach County (2-0)
6. St. Pius (2-0)
7. Carrollton (2-0)
8. LaGrange (1-1)
9. Washington County (2-0)
10. Burke County (2-0)
CLASS AA
1. Buford (2-0)
2. Calhoun (2-0)
3. Fitzgerald (2-0)
4. Thomasville (1-1)
5. Jefferson County (2-0)
6. Pepperell (2-0)
7. Lovett (2-0)
8. Brooks County (2-0)
9. Jefferson (2-0)
10. Charlton County (1-0-1)
CLASS A
1. Wesleyan (2-0)
2. Wilcox County (2-0)
3. Lincoln County (2-0)
4. Wilkinson County (2-0)
5. Savannah Christian (2-0)
6. Johnson County (2-0)
7. Bowdon (2-0)
8. Chattahoochee County (2-0)
9. Holy Innocents’ (2-0)
10. Treutlen (2-0)
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236 comments Add your comment
plowboy
September 8th, 2009
1:41 pm
see buford i can`t keep up with those small aa schools because i can`t see them , buford would get waxed by lowndes ,grayson ,pridge ,those little boys would not have a chance
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 8th, 2009
1:59 pm
Class A is weak this year as shown by Irwin County and Hawkinsville getting crushed by a good but not great Fitzgerald team.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 8th, 2009
2:02 pm
Greg Reid was impressive – looked he was on a snatch and grab maneuver when he intercepted that pass. He was always good at snatching gold chains and pocket books from grandmas.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 8th, 2009
2:03 pm
Greg Reid would be an All-American 1st teamer by his junior year if he could stay out of trouble. Reminds me of Pulpwood Smith in more ways than one.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 8th, 2009
2:04 pm
Gators really looked playing that midlle school team didn’t they?
Reeze
September 8th, 2009
2:19 pm
Give it up for former middle Ga standouts Northside WR QB Marques Ivory and Westside mcn LB Julian Burnett for the performances they put on Saturday in the Tech game.It was great to see both on opposite sides of the field again.Both players I felt both were grossly under rated coming out of High school . Also Congrats to , Greg Reid now with Fla State who put on a good show against the Hurricanes. Greg Reid is on my list of the best High school football players that I have seen come out of the State of GA….James Brooks , Takeo Spikes and Ron Simmons is on the list just to name a few…I think when this kid wraps it up in Tallahassee he’ll be one of the best athletes out of Fla State since Deon Sanders.
SERIOUS GRAYSON HATER
September 8th, 2009
2:24 pm
I am so looking forward to the Grayson-South Gwinnett game. I am hoping South will really tear in to Grayson!!
EagleNationRising
September 8th, 2009
2:26 pm
AVikingFan, Northside is in total rebuilding mode. Now, that does not mean that the program will fall flat. We expect to have double digit wins and a team that represents our program well. Conrad Nix has a very good system in place. However, the jury is still out on how good Northside will be. We may make a run. However, when you have new guys at skill positions (QB, RB, WR, CB, etc.) like Northside, you have question marks.
The new guys at skill positions is why I wonder why Grayson has not fallen in the polls after beating a totally rebuilt Camden County team and looking mediocre against Warner Robins, who has new players everywhere. Warner Robins did not go into this season expecting 9 or 10 wins. Grayson obviously has big issues on offense. 10 points against Warner Robins is not representative of a 2nd ranked Georgia program.
What I find interesting is Peachtree Ridge has gone to trial and the verdict was handed down mercilessly by Lowndes County. Still, guys from the AJC, like Mr. Atlanta Homer Himself (Todd Holcomb) attempt to inject this program into the conversation.
Buford U
September 8th, 2009
2:27 pm
plowboy now that is funny “little boys”. The O Line at Buford avg. 285lbs. As they say if you r scared then say you r scared!
SportsFan31313
September 8th, 2009
2:39 pm
Don’t write off Peachtree Ridge as of yet. They were no match for Lowndes County. In Fact, no team is this year.
EagleNationRising
September 8th, 2009
2:42 pm
Decatur 4 Life. I encourage you to go on the website posted below which highlights all of the former state champions in Georgia. In the past 35 years of GHSA football, only 7 metro Atlanta programs have won the state championship in the largest classification. In one of those years, two of the seven programs tied for the state championship (Roswell & Peachtree Ridge in 2006). You guys in DeKalb County like to pretend that there are only one or two good programs outside of metro Atlanta. Region 1-AAAAA has 6 state championship programs in one region. Valdosta has more the 20 state titles, Lowndes County has 5, Warner Robins has 4, and Northside-Warner Robins has 2, along with Tift County and Colquitt County.
You can take away Valdosta and Warner Robins. The other teams from Region 1-AAAAA still have more state championships than all DeKalb County public schools combined. Comparing programs from Middle GA and South GA to programs from DeKalb County is comedy hour. Either you are joking or you are totally clueless.
Perhaps this information will help you. Enjoy: http://www.ghsfha.org/statechamps.php?aOrgNum=1
HeadEast
September 8th, 2009
2:51 pm
AVikingFan – I’m eating crow. I saw the Ridge destroy Harrison and never dreamed they could lost to anyone by 34! Lowndes Rules. BTW – Quinn and Hoya Chuck – Quit drinking the koolaid. Maybe getting massacred at home by P’Ridge wasn’t that bad but barely beating Cherokee??? Losses to McEachern, Etowah, Woodstock and East are on the way and they better worry about N Cobb or Harrison will be sub 500.
HeadEast
September 8th, 2009
2:58 pm
I went to the McEachern game. Anyone wearing a number between 5 and 9 is a threat to go the distance at any time and several of them did Friday. Woodstock may be a tad better than Etowah and they’ll be at home, but it says here McEachern will be undefeated when East rolls into their place in two weeks. After East they will go undefeated too so 9-1 will be a big improvement from last year.
EagleNationRising
September 8th, 2009
3:17 pm
SportsFan31313…I am a big Northside-Warner Robins guy. I have seen many state championship contenders at Northside and at our cross-town rival, Warner Robins, over the past two or three decades. In the past five years, Northside has either won the state championship or lost in the playoffs to the team that reached the state championship. In the past ten years, Northside has either won the state championship or lost in the playoffs to the team in the state championship 8 out of 10 years. I would say that we Northside fans have a pretty good idea of what a Georgia state champion looks like. None of them ever looked like a team that would lose 51-17 to any opponent. With that in mind, I just wrote P-Ridge off with a permanent marker.
carlos
September 8th, 2009
3:21 pm
HeadEast calls it- MAC will only lose to EP in the regular season. MAC is quite obviously MUCH better than last season- dominated an O line for Etowah that returned every single starter. EP lost all but a couple of starters on defense. What makes you feel so confident about the Raiders beating the Indians? And BTW- might want to add #3 in there as a threat after he smoked the Eagles secondary on that 50 yard bomb. Saw it on the MDJ website. Personally, I think the Raiders have to play almost perfect to win.
The Ridge
September 8th, 2009
3:24 pm
P ridge will go undefeated all through region play.
plowboy
September 8th, 2009
3:42 pm
buford i think u guys have a great team but you can not beat lowndes get for real man !!!!
Reeze
September 8th, 2009
3:47 pm
ENR………change that to 7.5 years , Lowndes didn’t look like a state champion in the first half of our 1999 semi against them ,but they did in the 2nd ……..What do you think about Tebow (Van Brunt) and the new recievers ? They looked a lot better against Perry than Peach ,but that was Perry. I hope they’ll open up the passing game and throw a little more ,…..What do you think about Jones and Jackson at the LB spots? Do you think the corners will come around?
Yo
September 8th, 2009
3:50 pm
Decatur for Life thinks S. Georgia is S. Decatur….you will have to excuse him/her as they don’t know any better.
HeadEast
September 8th, 2009
4:00 pm
carlos – East travels really well, team and fans. Road wins against good teams are our specialty, just ask Sequoyah, Rome, Milton, etc. No mention of rating East, just like the last three years, but East wound up rated all three of those years. At the end when it counts! Also we are much more dynamic than Etowah or Woodstock. They play stout defense and run the ball. We run the spread and we may not be as fast in total team speed as MAC but we have more speed than Etowah. Lastly, isn’t MAC playing those same kids the EP JV crushed last year?
Yo
September 8th, 2009
4:03 pm
Buford U know you are the best team in the nation, so we won’t waste our time trying to tell you what the real truth is.
ps-only 285? Lowndes would run over and around that like you were
Interstate 285.
carlos
September 8th, 2009
4:23 pm
HeadEast- yes, your fans are reknown for traveling well and have won some good games on the road, if I ask those teams you listed. I could also ask Grayson, Harrison and Thomas County what they think about your specialty of winning on the road. I’m sure MAC will quickly see the Raiders have more speed than us or Brookwood. I just wonder if your speed will be enough to make it a shootout, because that MAC offense can score so many ways. You seem to know the game of football so I am surprised you think that last years JV game means anything the following season. You never really said why you think EP will win- and surely you arent basing your prediction on last years JV game. How big did East win that JV game last year? You can find it on your website I bet.
?????
September 8th, 2009
4:23 pm
Funny How when you beat Tucker its only a scrimmage and missing one man on defense was most of them. Wow. But last year that same scrimmage game Tucker called the ajc and they printed Tucker tops Stephenson. And believe 10 points was enough to play our 3rd and 4th guys on yall it could have been more. We use it as a scrimmage the same way we did last year, for some guys to win some playing time not play our starters the whole game just to say we beat Tucker. Get Real .
leechampion
September 8th, 2009
4:25 pm
looks like FSU has two stud footballers in Greg Reid and Jarmon Fortson. Two more that got away from the expert talent scouts in Athens.
Etowah Fan
September 8th, 2009
4:38 pm
Believe in McEachern… very strong. No disrespect intended to EP (Head East in particular), but I think the winner of the Woodstock/McEachern goes on to win the Region. Etowah is now at a crossroads and will need to move on and remain focused on the rest of the schedule. My fear is that this defeat is not too easily forgotten.
McEachern is red hot and as long as they don’t get overconfident, both Woodstock and EP better be prepared… or we have a new sheriff in town. My bet is that we will have a new sheriff in Region 5-AAAAA and their name is McEachern.
Todd said it before… he only gave Woodstock the nod in the rankings based on last years rankings and we saw how far that got Etowah.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
4:43 pm
I am just proud of the fact that Lowndes overcame the “enrollment” advantage of P’Ridge. (About 300 kids, I believe.) That is almost like giving P’Ridge the entire roster of 1A Wesleyan. WOW. How did Lowndes overcome this disadvantage?
I am amazed. Kudos to “little Lowndes” for tearing up the big guys.UH…Didn’t I say something about this game being a “blood bath”?
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
4:50 pm
REEZE, When mentioning some of Middle Ga’s greats, do not forget Lionel “Little Train” James and Walt Harris. Chauncy Stucky should also be in the mix. Greg Reid (although not mid Ga, was truely amazing.) I agree that he is bound for greatness.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
5:01 pm
Just one other thing and I will shut up. It is worth the trip to LaGrange just to see Joe Mansour kick-off. Never mind his field goals of 56, 44 and 37 yds. The kid is amazing.All of his kick-offs are 10-20 yds into the end zone. I actually wonder how the officials can call a Joe Mansour field goal. The ball is generally so high above the uprights, who can tell? I actually saw one official simply line up behind the goal post and just wait to see where the ball came down. If given the chance Mansour will hit a field goal from outside of 60 yds in 2009. Maybe more than one. Think about this, with Mansour’s leg the red zone for LaGrange is the opponent’s 45 yd line. That is what a great kicker can do for a team. Did I mention his punting skills? I will save that for another day.
AVikingFan
September 8th, 2009
5:20 pm
Headeast, when does East meet McEachern? McEachern reminds me a little of Harrison last year. Maybe the experience East got from that game will help motivate them to dig a little deeper this year and come out on top. Either way it should be a really good game. I still believe the PeaRidge and No. Gwinnett game will be good also, as will NG and Grayson. Down here Lowndes and Valdosta, Lowndes and NSWR, and Valdosta & NSWR may be our best games, with Colquitt and WR possibly having a few things to say about that. WR and NSWR will be a war this year, as it has been in the past. Maybe lowndes and East will finally get to play this year.
BTW, how good is Roswell anybody? I think in 2007 they were one of the best teams we played.
SouthGARules
September 8th, 2009
5:39 pm
slalom1: Lionel “Little Train” James played at Dougherty High in Albany. Albany is in southwest GA. At least according to WALB-TV, Newscenter 10, The Pulse of Southwest Ga. As far as Middle Ga greats, how about Eddie Anderson & Ben Smith. Both played at WRHS & the NFL.
Reeze: Agree with you about Julian Burnett. When Robert Davis says that Julian is the best defensive player he has had since Ron Simmons & considering that was over 30 years ago & Davis has had other defensive players go to the NFL, that is high praise indeed.
Yo
September 8th, 2009
6:39 pm
Slalom where have you been, I thought maybe somebody went and hurt your feelings or maybe your wife read your Top 10 the other day. Starting to get a little worried about maybe the Swine having visited Lagrange.
Gwinnett Fan
September 8th, 2009
6:40 pm
Norcross over Mill Creek by 14 points.
You can phone it in. Norcross is very good after a bye week.
It has been a very long time since Norcross lost three in a row.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
7:14 pm
SouthGaRules, I agree. South Ga DOES rule. As for “little Train”, we agree. He was a fabulous RB. Always kind of wondered about Albany being classified as middle or south. Either way is okay with me. Being from the Savannah area originally, I have always thought that unless you swatted pnats, you were not from south Georgia. (I cannot recall swatting pnats while in Albany). Southwest Middle Ga maybe? lol.
Quinn
September 8th, 2009
7:19 pm
Anyone who writes off a team because of one game is foolish. Peachtree Ridge lost its first two games last year (Harrison and Lowndes) and went on to win like 12 in a row up until the state championship, when they lost to Camden County. Coming from someone who actually has seen PRHS at their best, and saw them play Lowndes, I can say this, that was NOWHERE near PRHS’s best effort. So don’t try to talk that down with a few statistics. If history repeats itself, PRHS is always a team that comes alive in the second half of the season and in the playoffs, so I wouldn’t use one game as an example to cancel out a whole season. As for the 4th seed in 7-AAAAA, I just don’t see Norcross getting it if they allow 40+ points a game… Mill Creek isn’t overly impressive, but a lot of times the 4th seed isn’t. If you want a longshot other than Norcross or Mill Creek for the 4th seed, my first guess would be North Forsyth, or maybe even Chattahoochee.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
7:27 pm
Hey YO. Guess I missed my prediction of Lowndes 31 P’Ridge 7 by quite some margin. Maybe if we doubled my prediction it would have been much more accurate. lol. Still, knew it would be a blood bath. Remember 2007? The Lowndes roster listed 8 sophs, 7 juniors and 7 seniors. Those 8 sophs in 2007 are now seniors. I will always remember the state title game played in the rain: Lowndes 34-6. I dogged you out during the regular season about the small size of the Lowndes roster. Honestly, 2007 Lowndes did not have the size to play with most AAAAA teams. At least that is what an outsider would think. But great coaching, great blocking, great tackling and most importantly great speed will win most of the time. I will bet the ranch on 2009 Lowndes.Great to hear from you, my friend. Oh….Are you guys still running that outdated Wing-T? lol.
Footballer
September 8th, 2009
7:27 pm
What are everyones picks for this weeks games?
Wolverine Fan
September 8th, 2009
7:28 pm
Head East…..I remember all the posts from you last year before Woodstock came to EP….Everyone was saying that Woodstock had no chance in beating you,What was that score again?
drock09
September 8th, 2009
7:29 pm
I agree with the mansour kid. Also two sleepers that are going to be steals are Newnan cornerback and punt returner lamal Ransby. Ransby 5′10 175 who runs a 4.38 forty had 8 int last year and has ran 3 punts back already. He has an offer from Ga southern. Tay Willis 5′8 170 running back who benches 335 and run a 4.3 forty rushed for over 1500 yards as a junior.
K-MAN
September 8th, 2009
9:18 pm
Quinn,& Wolerine2blazer,I do believe Peachtree Ridge is a solid team and they will be back on top of things at the end of the season. For the last 4 seasons…they have been the top dog in Gwinnett. But last week they got killed by Lowndes. They had eleven people on offense, defense, and special teams and the game started out at 0-0.At the end of the game it was 51-17 Lowndes. Yes, last year Grayson beat Lowndes in the playoffs but it was Camdon County who won the championship (Another SOUTH Team). Let’s face it,.. the south still rules. I said, “SMELL THE COFFEE!”
Todd Holcomb
September 8th, 2009
9:35 pm
re: Jackson. “I don’t quite follow your strange way of ranking teams. Jackson began the season ranked # 10 in AAA. They’ve won their first two games convincingly and have fallen out of the top ten. How can that be?”
Here’s the logic: Let’s say you’re making $75,000 and you’re rated the 10th-highest paid employee in your company. Then, you get a $5,000 raise for good performance. Meanwhile, two other employees get a $20,000 raises and now make $85,000. Then you ask, ”How did I go from $75,000 to $80,000 and yet fall to No. 12?” Answer: Because St. Pius beat Marist and Burke County beat Ware County. It made me like SPX and Burke more. Doesn’t mean I like Jackson any less than I did.
Micheal 18
September 8th, 2009
9:56 pm
how does eveyone feel about South Gwinnett vs Grayson in week 4, do u think South can beat them
Micheal 18
September 8th, 2009
9:58 pm
It dosent matter K-MAN Buford is the best team in GA period
Micheal 18
September 8th, 2009
10:10 pm
yea Grayson Student it will be a great game, reality wise Grayson will win, South has to find a way to keep that monster grayson d line off wimberly and rollins, the edge goes to Grayson but I think South will give them the biggest fight of the season Im looking at Grayson winning the region and South coming in second place
Fred
September 8th, 2009
10:31 pm
89viking, your comment “what about the grayson players that ran on the field?” doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation. At the time this happened, Lowndes turned over the ball on downs. If you look at the video, the only Grayson players that ran onto the field were the offense going out to start the next series of downs. It was interesting as well that the Lowndes deputies did nothing to try to stop the events. Look at the viedo, the only people trying to stop things had on green and gold or were Gwinnett deputies.
Now, having said that, it is past time to put last year to rest. The South Georgia teams are great teams that are strong. The top North Georgia teams are also great teams that are strong. It truely amazes me that adults are putting so much into a high school game. Without seeming trite and such, let’s all go out and root for our teams without trying to drag down our opponents. Can we move this to positives and move away from all of the negative and trash talk going on? I think on any given night, the top teams can beat any of the other top teams and as such, they all deserve our respect.
Just my $.02 worth and of course, your mileage will vary. Go Georgia Hish School football! It is a great show and a joy to watch!
GaFb
September 8th, 2009
10:36 pm
Buford has it easy. When buford starts playing some of the AAAAA powerhouses then you can put up an argument about them being the best in state. you have to beat the best ( lowndes) to be called the best.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
10:51 pm
drock09, Where were you the night of the game? Stayed at home because of the rain?
Probably not a bad idea. The weather was a beast. As were the 2009 Cougars. This Newnan team has the potential to be even better than the 2008 team. When I walked into the stadium and watched warm up, there was no doubt in my mind as to who would win the game. The question was, “How bad is this butt kicking gonna be?” Mansour kept the game interesting. But the 2009 Newnan Cougars are good. Very good. My prediction is that NO team will put double digits on the 2009 Newnan defense until the play-offs. Maybe not even then.
slalom1
September 8th, 2009
11:05 pm
TODD, Have you lost your mind? NOBODY makes 75,000.00 anymore. lol.
Hoya Chuck
September 8th, 2009
11:13 pm
Hey HeadEast; Harrison did lose some key players. However, the current players are beginning to gel, and with a very good coaching staff providing the motivation needed for success (i.e. tail-chewing at halftime of Cherokee game), by the time Harrison plays EP, I think you are going to be as disappointed as last years meeting! Go Hoyas! BTW, I like Kool-Aid!!
Yo
September 8th, 2009
11:15 pm
Slalom of course there are people that make 75,000.00. The problem is that it is all borrowed and now owed to the government…..with interest!
vikingsrule
September 9th, 2009
4:15 am
OK Todd, I will see you on here in a few weeks. I’m telling you that Valdosta is a good football team. Say what you will about 5-5 and all that but I know talent when I see it and good coaching when I see it. Valdosta will have a good year and will be in the playoffs and will beat some of the teams that you have ranked ahead of them. Mark it down. WE will talk again and you will say I was right!!!!