Time to step up: SWD, Lassiter, Union Grove, Grady
A week ago, I called it a week of reckoning for Stephenson, M.L. King and Collins Hill.
This week, it’s Southwest DeKalb, Lassiter, Union Grove and Grady.
Lassiter might get extra motivation at not being ranked again in Class AAAAA this week despite M.L. King’s loss making room in the Top 10.
The spot went to Woodstock, a team with one loss. I’m wearing armor this week in anticipation of the criticism, although come to think of it, Lassiter doesn’t complain here as much as Walton and Roswell. Nothing wrong with complaining. Just an observation. : )
Other thoughts …
Stephenson looked great last week. Top-flight defense, a top back in Raymond Sanders. I wondered as I walked out of Hallford Stadium how many times the best back in the state (if it’s Mack Brown) has played on a team that got shut out. Then I remembered Herschel Walker’s Johnson County team in 1979 was shut out by ECI but won a state title that year. Stephenson re-jumped McEachern in the rankings this week.
Some big games this week:
SWD vs. Marist
Stephenson vs. Union Grove
Lassiter vs. Walton
St. Pius vs. Grady
Fitzgerald vs. Brooks County
Johnson County vs. Treutlen
CLASS AAAAA
1. Grayson (8-0)
2. Northside, Warner Robins (7-0)
3. North Gwinnett (7-0)
4. Newnan (7-0)
5. Lowndes (6-1)
6. Stephenson (7-0)
7. McEachern (7-0)
8. Peachtree Ridge (6-1)
9. Camden County (5-2)
10. Woodstock (6-1)
CLASS AAAA
1. Griffin (7-0)
2. Westside, Macon (7-0)
3. Southwest DeKalb (6-1)
4. Sandy Creek (6-1)
5. Marist (6-1)
6. North Clayton (6-1)
7. Tucker (6-1)
8. Apalachee (7-0)
9. Hiram (7-0)
10. Hillgrove (6-1)
CLASS AAA
1. Gainesville (7-0)
2. Peach County (7-0)
3. St. Pius (7-0)
4. Carver, Columbus (6-1)
5. Washington County (7-0)
6. Carrollton (7-0)
7. LaGrange (6-1)
8. Jackson (8-0)
9. Baldwin (5-2)
10. North Hall (5-2)
CLASS AA
1. Calhoun (7-0)
2. Fitzgerald (7-0)
3. Buford (6-1)
4. Jefferson County (7-0)
5. Charlton County (6-0-1)
6. Lovett (6-1)
7. Thomasville (5-2)
8. Westminster (5-2)
9. Jefferson (7-0)
10. Brooks County (6-1)
CLASS A
1. Wesleyan (8-0)
2. Savannah Christian (7-0)
3. Lincoln County (6-1)
4. ECI (6-1)
5. Twiggs County (7-1)
6. Wilkinson County (6-1)
7. Greenville (7-0)
8. Miller County (6-1)
9. Johnson County (7-1)
10. Wilcox County (5-2)
Todd Holcomb is co-producer of Georgia High School Football Daily, a free email newsletter. To subscribe, click here.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
227 comments Add your comment
Quick as a Flash
October 19th, 2009
10:42 am
Todd, I would LOVE to see LAssiter ranked, but their schedule proved to be more back-loaded than it looked pre-seasn. Thoguh that close win against Sprayverry and that D looks better than i thought it did early in the year. But, if Lassiter keep winning they will eventually break into the poll.
And do not bring the marching bands into this…Lowndes is far too afraid of being embarassed to ever travel north or be at a competiton Lassiter is at.
ATLshirt.com
October 19th, 2009
10:46 am
Have you ever been to Lagrange ?? They got like 4 redlights in the entire city.. If you blink while driving down 27, you might miss Lagrange..
Nice reference to Woodstock, you must know which area I am blogging from LOL…
I am a city boy, born and raised in ATLANTA.. Grady High should be in the top 10.. Why dont you check to see which team has allowed the most points scored against them, and which team has the most points scored for… that should make the game seem more interesting for this Saturday
..
AJC Sports
October 19th, 2009
10:53 am
These commenters are now banned. If you contact us to complain, we have the posts that got you banned on file and will be happy to send them to the editors so they, too, can read them. Decatur, you were warned and given chances to stop. Punisher, there’s no excuse for what you wrote to another commenter on this forum.
decatur where it is greater
PUNISHER
Gone for a week with a warning:
mark newnan 1
Mark, you may be back for Week 10 but only if you stop personally attacking other commenters. You’re gone for Week 9. If you try to return under another name, trust us — it won’t work. We’ll be watching. Our advice: Cool down and return to football talk. Thanks. We know you can do it.
Today we’re going through this blog, Poll Talk and the Free For All Forum and deleting posts that are personal in tone because things are ridiculous at the moment. If we see that you go behind us and continue posting these sorts of messages, like decatur tried to do or if you post something as disgusting as Punisher did, we’ll just shut down commenting. We’d hate to do that because we think this is the most fun part of what we do here online but it’s up to you, folks.
We do appreciate it and those of you who have helped us keep the trolls off the boards and keep the football talk on track. You know who you are. Many thanks.
ALCOVY#1
October 19th, 2009
10:57 am
come on Mr. Holcomb, where is Alcovy?????
Ed
October 19th, 2009
11:01 am
The teams to beat in AAAA are Griffin, SWD & Marist. Westside-Macon’s record is based on playing a bunch of losing teams and weak competition in 1-AAAA. Sandy Creek has played only 1 team this year with an overall winning record, and that was a loss. SWD also has played a weak schedule so far, but that team is for real. North Clayton is a sleeper that could cause trouble in the playoffs; same for Sequoyah (if Snope is allowed to play) and Sprayberry. Tucker is a good team, but only 3d best in mighty Region 6.
Ed
October 19th, 2009
11:04 am
And St. Pius is going to crush Grady
alcovy tigers
October 19th, 2009
11:04 am
come on now, who do we have to beat the mighty griffin bears to be in the top 10. we’re 6-1 and on a roll only loosing to north clayton 13-10 and hillgrove lost a game that was , well u know the score. true we havent been to the playoffs before but we’re just 4 years old with it’s first true senior class. i guess we will have to be 8-1 when we meet #1 ranked Griffin our last game. i understand the politics and loyalty u give to defending winning teams but we’re a lot better than teams you have ahead of us with the #2 ranked defense in 4aaaa..
just stats
October 19th, 2009
11:06 am
UG 7-0
ola-3-5
stockbidge 1-7
henry 4-3 only winning record
redan 1-6
douglas 1-6
luella 2-5
combined 14-37 keep the talking quiet till after the game sat.
ATLshirt.com
October 19th, 2009
11:12 am
Ed, you care to place a wager ?? Grady will go undefeated!!
allcrimson
October 19th, 2009
11:14 am
The cray says peachtree ridge is over rated.
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
11:17 am
Head East and CannonRules, at least you won’t have to face Greyson in the 1st playoff game. And I see Roswell playing Collins Hill in the 1st round, then they’ll have to go to Greyson the 2nd week. Lassiter may have their hands full with Norcross in the 1st round, as will Westlake with Colquitt. Etowah will have a chance to prove its metal against South Gwinnett in the 1st round. It’s looking moere and more like Lowndes will host East Coweta in the 1st round. Also, looks like a tossup for 4th place in region 4AAAAA, therefore I suggest picking an allstar team from Pebblebrook, Chapel Hill, Creekside, and Lovejoy to face Northside in teh 1st round. Won’t help, Northside by 28!
Back to reality. Brooks County and Fitzgerald will be a good game this week, as will Warner Robins and Colquitt!
GO UG!
October 19th, 2009
11:25 am
just stats, you are correct, the truth of the matter is “IF” can play a solid mistake free game we are in the game. IF we play sloppy like we did Friday night and get penalized like we did against Redan we are in huge trouble. Stephenson is big and fast and that will overcome some of their mistakes. We cannot afford to have a sloppy game. Furthermore, it does not get any better after Saturday. We have a huge mountain to climb starting Saturday and all the way to and through the playoffs. As I have said before our guys have a lot of heart!
ketaboon
October 19th, 2009
11:32 am
Enter your comments here
ketaboon
October 19th, 2009
11:35 am
hey aatlshirtcom. i bet you neither one of those teams will beat peach county. yall are lucky yall are on the other side of the brackets come playoff time. we play better competition than either one of those teams all year. so what do you say about peach we are hillbilly schools to i guess.
AlphaDog
October 19th, 2009
11:52 am
TODD, Nice comment about the Lassister Marching Band, recent National Champs, btw… Too bad the band parents don’t read the sports blogs, otherwise they would crash the site.
Rod
October 19th, 2009
12:20 pm
How can two 2 loss teams be in the top ten in AA?
SportsFan31313
October 19th, 2009
12:32 pm
Todd Holcomb,
“Lassiter’s marching band couldn’t carry Lowndes’ tuba!!”
LOL
ATLshirt.com
October 19th, 2009
12:38 pm
Yeah, Peach is a hillbilly town as well.. When / If you guys get to face GRADY in the playoffs, you will see that GRADY deserves to be ranked and that Peach has fallen off the Tree !!!!
Regular Joe
October 19th, 2009
12:38 pm
It will take a very good team to beat Stephenson this year. Their defense is very physical. They can really beat a QB up in the pocket.
Quarterbacks have been running for their life all year. Union Grove has a good team this year and they have a chance but if they can’t run the ball it will be a long night.
SportsFan31313
October 19th, 2009
12:38 pm
Enter your comments here
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
12:41 pm
HeadEast and Cannon Rules: One good thing for EP about last Friday, Harrison will now have to take that trip to Greyson in the 1st roundand not ya’ll! ENR says you are on our bandwagon. That’s ok. Stay on it. We need all the help we can get.
I see Roswell and Collins Hill in the 1st round also. Westlake will have their hands full with Colquitt in the 1st round. If Creekside, Lovejoy, Pebblebrook and Chapel Hill could get together and come up with an 4 team allstar team to face Northside in the 1st round, they might could, no scratch that, Northside still wins by 28.
Lowndes probably will face old nemesis East Coweta in the 1st round.
This week we will have some very good games: Fitzgerald vs Brooks, Colquitt vs Warner Robins, Walton and Lassiter, Roswell vs Milton, Beach at Bradwell, Brookwood vs Dakula, and Stephenson vs Union Grove. BTW, where is Campbell H.S.? It is getting to be fun!
Lassiter Band Parent
October 19th, 2009
1:21 pm
Re: “Lassiter’s marching band couldn’t carry Lowndes’ tuba!! “
Alright Todd, I’ll take the bait. You are about to find an interesting place for a clarinet…..
In all seriousness, I have not seen better high school football then Lassiter is playing this year. This may be truly hard for people to imagine especially looking back at Lassiter’s lack of football prowess since the school’s opening in 1981.
Coach Chip Lindsey, not only has refined each player’s skills, but somehow he has brought out the teams’s pure football instinct. My mouth is agape watching this team.
Thank you to Principal Chris Shaw for bringing (and keeping) top coaching and educational talent to our school.
Good Luck Lassiter Band in BOA!
RHS
October 19th, 2009
1:26 pm
Need to look at your rankings when you give credit for quality losses. How about quality wins? Lassiter and Roswell schedule difficulty have been low but they both continue to beat these teams by wide margins. At least one team from Region 6-AAAAA should be in the top 10.
pmuckle
October 19th, 2009
1:32 pm
i see upset friday night against ug and stephenson a very close game down to the wire it won’t be a blow out like it was agaisnt mlk. Congrats to stephenson on the win.
Pops
October 19th, 2009
1:41 pm
Etowah Fan – How you doing?
I believe the implications in the final games you mentioned will only be for the fourth seed, between Harrison and EP. Both will lose, giving Harrison the fourth spot.
I am curious as to who will be the number two seed in region 8? South Gwinnett or Brookwood. How is that playing out?
John
October 19th, 2009
1:43 pm
Hey Todd…I’ll take a piece of the action on Wilcox making it to the Semi-Finals…as far as Treutlen goes, I too wondered why they would drop completely out of the Top 10 after a loss to a team who was ranked just under them, but then again polls are just polls and don’t mean a hill of beans in the end. I will give Wilcox some credit, their two losses came to Top Ten Teams…but then again as the poster above stated so did Treutlen’s. The story will be told this week when the Vikings face Johnson County another Top Ten team from the same Region. So what about it T.H. a little friendly wager on where Wilcox finishes this year?
cane fan
October 19th, 2009
1:46 pm
Fitzgerald will dismantle brooks co. this week, Fitz will show them what a butt whooping is all about.
John
October 19th, 2009
1:47 pm
Better look at your brackets before you accept!
WOW
October 19th, 2009
1:50 pm
pmuckle- Who? What? When? and last but not least How? Union Grove do your best and keep your mouth shut because We will send you home with an egg.
WOW
October 19th, 2009
2:08 pm
Thats just how we like them prepared and hiped. That sounds just like MLK prepared and hiped whatever that is! BRING IT!!!!!!
Wolverine2Blazer
October 19th, 2009
2:13 pm
Todd, if your going to say that about us you should say it about Etowah too. They’re on the hill next to us.
BulldawgBite
October 19th, 2009
2:13 pm
pops, if south gwinnett comes in 2nd in region 8 which i think they are right now and are the 2nd best team. they will beat lassiter who i have winning region 6. that bottom right corner of the bracket with the region 6 and region 2 one seeds are by far the easiest in the playoffs this year.
BulldawgBite
October 19th, 2009
2:19 pm
Pridge, you act like you consistantly beat us. last year was a fluke. this year we have the 2 best olinemen in the state. 1 has commited to alabama and the other has gotten offers from every major SEC school. so im not just makin this up. i think we are 5-1 against pridge. and this year were at home and our only recent loss there was against the #2 team in the nation Byrnes last year
hornets01
October 19th, 2009
2:35 pm
Ok Todd lets think of this like a college ranking lets take a two loss team who has lost to two good teams like Notre Dame and then look at a team like Boise State who really has not played anybody but is undefeated whose ranked higher? yeah Boise State losing two games is still losing two games no matter who you play just some food for thought and also who has the most recent state title oh yea Roswell does!!!!!!!! Go hornets
Wolverine Fan
October 19th, 2009
2:35 pm
Wolverine2Blazer…….We are the only ones on Towne Lake HILLS South Drive…….That makes us the only HILLbillies…Time to get the critters in the barn.
ketaboon
October 19th, 2009
2:36 pm
yeah we fell off the tree beating the defending state champion. man put the weed out, grady would have no chance at beating peach county. all i want to say is dont be one and done.have you ever seen peach play probably not, but you will see us in the dome. come whatch what a state championship team looks like. ask todd holcombe he knows. our subs would be in against yall in the third quarter. lets be real about this now
Grayson Student
October 19th, 2009
2:43 pm
who is it looking like for region 5… number 4 seed that is. ive heard harrison or etowah
Wolverine2Blazer
October 19th, 2009
2:52 pm
gotta go get the possum out of tha woodshed then…..hahahaha.
And Grayson Student, its going to be either Harrison or EP
pridge
October 19th, 2009
2:57 pm
BulldawgBite: You call 31 to 19 a fluke?? Ok. We will see come nov 6th. Not saying anymore that game.
ATLshirt.com
October 19th, 2009
2:57 pm
Ummm, Grady has experience in the Final 4, not too long ago if I recall, not to mention, in the playoffs year after year.. and I did mention that they are HUNGRY !!! Teams who are coasting will not have a chance against a team that is HUNGRY!!
See ya Saturday!!
pridge
October 19th, 2009
2:58 pm
about
HS Football Fan
October 19th, 2009
3:11 pm
Todd I would like to get your thoughts on Banneker High School and yours thoughts on Region 5 AAAA as a whole and how they may fare against Region 8 AAAA in the first round
cane fan
October 19th, 2009
3:13 pm
brooks will lose
ketaboon
October 19th, 2009
3:25 pm
i dont know if atlshirtco is talking to me or not, but peach is always hungry. we are always preparing to be a champion at something. football is what we believe in down here in fort valley, so if you want to pick a fight and get a team hungry, we are the ones. i just looked at the brac kets again, your number 2 seed will have to get by gainesville or carrolton and then we will be waiting so you better beat st. pius, or you will be on the right side of the bracket.
goober
October 19th, 2009
3:28 pm
OK, you are henceforth “BAND”. Or perhaps you meant “BRAND”? Or maybe … “banned”.
ETA: We banned that commenter. — AJC Sports
grady grad
October 19th, 2009
3:48 pm
Grady has a very talented team made up of young players. They played many 9th graders last year.
St. Pius has more experience and probably one of the best teams in the state regardless of classification.They have an execellent coach and staff and they are in the middle of a special season.
That being said,they better bring their A game because Grady is capable of an upset.Watch out for the Grey Knights next year.Ask mighty Buford if upsets are possible.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
3:49 pm
SouthGARules: I don’t want another embarrassment this week like last week. I still don’t know what got into my boys! The Gwinnett Daily Post has already written us off): They have the four playoff spots going to 1{ Grayson (of course) 2} South Gwinnett (No surprise there) 3} Dacula (I’m scratching my head on that one) and 4} Parkview (I can see that one). I’m sure we will have a better week this week.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
3:59 pm
SouthGARules: Central Gwinnett and Berkmar play this week at Berkmar. Yea, I hear you, we better get our act together if we want to make the playoffs! Gwinnett Daily Post has already written us off!
Todd Holcomb
October 19th, 2009
4:00 pm
hornets01: Boise State has beaten Oregon 19-8. Oregon is ranked No. 11.
Todd Holcomb
October 19th, 2009
4:05 pm
Not sure if it’s fair to say Grady makes the playoffs year after year when Grady has missed the playoffs each of the past two season. Grady is a well-coached team. Ronnie Millen has made that program a winner after years of wanderering. All I’m saying is that Grady is not a Top 10 team in AAA and doesn’t figure to challenge St. Pius this week.