Collins Hill and M.L. King suffer first losses of season
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Peachtree Ridge knocked Collins Hill from the ranks of Gwinnett’s undefeated Class AAAAA teams with a 21-7 win on Friday, but the Lions were not really in the mood to celebrate afterwards.
As the final buzzer sounded, there were no Peachtree Ridge players jumping up and down in jubilation, and coach Bill Ballard barely cracked a post-game smile.
When asked why he wasn’t happier, Ballard shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know what to say. We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Peachtree Ridge’s Brandon Stanley scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns as the No. 9-ranked Lions improved to 6-1. Unranked Collins Hill dropped it first game after kicking off the year with six wins in a row.
“There’s some learning moments we need to look at,” Collins Hill coach Billy Wells said. “In big games, you can’t make crucial mistakes … like turning it the ball over, and taking sacks when you don’t need to. We’ve got a lot of learning to do.”
It was a devastating loss for Collins Hill. All the Eagles had to do was find a way to get past Peachtree Ridge and they had inside track on the Region 7-AAAAA championship and an undefeated regular season. Due to a wacky conference schedule, Collins Hill does not play against still-undefeated North Gwinnett this season. North Gwinnett is ranked No. 3.
No. 1 Grayson, which is in a different region, improved to 8-0 on Friday.
So which Class AAAAA team do you think is the state’s best after the Friday games? Is it Grayson or North Gwinnett? Stephenson — which shut out MLK on ESPNU? Newnan or Northside-Warner Robins?
YOU make the call.
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204 comments Add your comment
GRams
October 22nd, 2009
10:23 am
I think ajc’s list is accurate.. The way I see it.. All the top ten’s can lose to each other..
Look at the past in the state playoffs
Grayson would lose to Peachtree Ridge
Peachtree Ridge would lose to North Gwinnett
North Gwinnett would lose to Camden
Camden would lose to Lowndes
Lowndes would lose to Grayson.. Like last year!
And all the others NRW Stephenson, etc. could and would lose to all of these teams, they’d put up a fight but there all in a different class
Lowndes may have the most talent but not the best team.
Top 10
1. Grayson
2. Lowndes
3. North Gwinnett
4. Peachtree Ridge
5. Camden
6. Northside WR
7. Newnan
8. Stephenson
9.MLK
10. McEachern
The Rest no contest!
Decatur 4 Life
October 22nd, 2009
11:53 am
Northside Observer
If you were really paying attention to my posts all season you would see I’ve talked about where and who I represent. Columbia HS in Decatur is where I work and graduated from. We’re a basketball powerhouse so I didn’t think that applies to this blog. What does that have to do with my disagreement with Northside fans about the dome being your second home. Even though my school’s 1-6, they’ve been dealing with things here you would not ever have to worry about in WR. Houston county would not tear up the school’s practice fields the summer before the season starts and don’t have it completed by the time schools starts. Northside would never have to go from place to place trying to find somewhere to practice prior to and during the season. I’ll always give my opinion on this bolg because I’ve been watching high school football since the late 80’s. It might not seem like that long but I’m just in my early 30’s so you do the math. I’ll say it again the Georgia Dome isn’t your second home and the move back down to AAAA should make you happy because you won’t win the state in AAAAA.
Decatur 4 Life
October 22nd, 2009
12:02 pm
And another thing- support your team no matter what, the week prior to the Lowdnes game there were hardly any post from Northside. A week later everyone wanted to say they told us so. That’s funny you middle Georgians are becoming more and more like the nomads that are settling here in Atlanta. BANDWAGON FANS!!! As an Atlanta native that’s what I hate about our fanbase.
Ridge not hitting hard enough...
October 22nd, 2009
2:40 pm
Ridge needs to start hitting harder all around… on the O and the D! O-line has some big guys, but I keep wanting to ask them what they’re so afraid of? Wouldn’t want to meet them in a dark alley or nothing after saying so, but they gotta stop hesitating. D needs to step it up too. Saw some of the game Fri but when I saw the final score I was shocked. Should’ve been a shut out the way CH was playing. I know one of the officials from Fri – he thinks Ridge’s very overrated. He just may be right.