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
Todd Holcomb
October 19th, 2009
4:12 pm
I haven’t seen Banneker play. I’m aware they have some top prospects in McNeal and Kitchens. But Region 5 is not one of the better regions, and losing to Villa Rica is a sign that Banneker won’t be expected to get out of the first round of the playoffs. They’ll be seeded #3 or #4. I wouldn’t be surprised if only Sandy Creek from that region advanced a round.
Todd Holcomb
October 19th, 2009
4:13 pm
Banneker II: I’m looking at some computer ratings that have Banneker #15 in AAAAA, between Tucker and SWD and ahead of unbeaten Apalachee.
Raiderbeater
October 19th, 2009
4:18 pm
Hmmmm……EP may not be the best team in Paulding County this year (no…I’m not talking about my Patriots either). Looks like Hiram has been flying well under the radar and has got some recognition in the top ten….go Hornets!!
wally
October 19th, 2009
4:40 pm
Having been to every Roswell game this year and for the previous four years, I can honestly say that I have no idea if Roswell is actually any good this year. They play well every week and they are a lot of fun to watch, but they have not really had any tough or close games. Even the Pope game (their closest) never seemed like it was in any doubt.
Roswell has a very good offense with an incredible amount of depth. They are routinely scoring 30+ points while playing the starters for only a fraction of the game. I wonder what they would do if they actually played the starting 11 the whole way (sort of like Lassiter does every week).
hornets01
October 19th, 2009
5:08 pm
yea todd Boise is undefeated you proved my point thanks for trying though
Mark
October 19th, 2009
5:10 pm
When Lassiter buries Walton do we crack the top 10? How about after destroying Walton & Roswell, maybe?
ALCOVY IS ON THEY J.O.B
October 19th, 2009
5:12 pm
MR. HOLCOLM WHAT CAN U SAY ABOUT ALCOVY NOT BEING IN THE TOP 10 BUT HILLGROVE????
Say it Aint So
October 19th, 2009
5:29 pm
Congradulations to the Douglass Astros on your 1st win. Keep your heads up fellows and try to have some fun these last few games. Seniors, I feel terrible that you have to go thru this. Underclassmen get ready for yet another coaching change. You can play spoiler against the remaining teams on your schedule. Good luck Astros.
Footballspx
October 19th, 2009
5:33 pm
ATLshirt, I do thing Grady has a good team this year with great speed. Their Defense is strong. But to call out LaGrange, Peach, and St Pius is not what I call smart. If Grady wins Saturday, that is great, but to compete into the playoffs deep will give the Gray Knights more respect. Also, I don’t know if I would be betting to many people from Peach, LaGrange, Columbus(Carver), Washington County, Gainesville, or any other so called Hillbilly team. Good luck to Grady this weekend and take your success with class and act like you have been there before.
slalom1
October 19th, 2009
5:39 pm
TODD HOLCOMB, Do you EVER sleep? You should try it sometime. It works. lol. ) But on to GHS football, the Grangers are beginning to look like a team who is capable of playing with the best. Gunsby’s ankle is still giving him problems, but even with that he played an amazing game on Saturday which included 2 of what might be the greatest “pancake blocks” by a QB in GHS football history. Seems like everybody knows about Ean Pemberton. But Ocie Salter (5′5 162) is at least Pemberton’s equal, if not better. He is simply amazing. His numbers for the year are down somewhat from the devastating hit delivered from Alec Ogletree in Game 1. But he is back now. Should the Grangers have a decent officiating crew for the Carver game(which will be played in Columbus), I like their chances. For whatever it is worth, when I left the LaGrange vs. Northside game on Saturday in the 4th quarter under the “Mercy Rule”, the Grangers led 43-7. I counted the flags thrown. 9 against LaGrange. 0 against Northside in spite of obvious “holding, clipping and facemask” infractions that were simply ignored by the home grown officials. Hopefully the Grangers will get a more professional crew of “zebras” against Carver when the 2AAA championship game is played in Columbus. This upcoming game is one that that you might wanna consider making. The talent on the Carver side is obvious. But the Grangers have plenty of talent as well. Gunsby(6′5 229) is the state’s best athlete and great QB. Throw in a handful of other great D-1 prospects(DB Josh Manning, DT Jarrell Williams, LB-RB Xavier Heard) and it should be an entertaining game for anyone who is into GHS football. Whoops….Forgot to mention Joe Mansour. Watching Joe Mansour kick-off is worth the price of admission.
Etowah Fan
October 19th, 2009
5:46 pm
Wolverine crew – you’re absolutely right about the hillbilly comment! And Etowah’s hill is higher than your hill. Hrmm, what does that say about Etowah?
SouthGARules
October 19th, 2009
5:58 pm
BROOKWOOD MOM: The GDP has written you off? You have got to be kidding!! The sports ed is a Brookwood alumnus. Todd has not given up on you. He projects Brookwood as the #2 seed.
BTW: Your stadium looks much better since the porta-potties are gone. Wish P’Tree Ridge would follow suit.
Pops: Re Region 8. Brookwood & South are tied for 2nd in the region. They play October 30th. The simple answer would be the winner of that game would be the #2 seed. However, Brookwood has a tougher schedule left than South. Brookwood still has to play Dacula & Parkview in addition. South has Shiloh & (I think) Berkmar in addition to Brookwood.. The region is still up for grabs with the #2, #3 & #4 seeds.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
6:06 pm
SouthGARules: The article was in The Blitz by Brandon Brigman. He usually shows us some love! I am glad Todd is showing us some love. We are the team left with the tough schedules. I am seriously not banking on us winning against South Gwinnett. I’m pretty sure we can handle Dacula and Parkview. I just want us to go as far as we can go since this is the last year.
Etowah Fan
October 19th, 2009
6:11 pm
Pops (& Grayson Student, Wolverine crew) – we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about the #4 seed for Region 5-AAAAA. There is a not-so-remote chance Etowah ends up with the #4 seed IF we lose to Harrison the last week of the season even if we win the next two weeks.
Here is the scenario: If Harrison loses to McEachern and wins against Marietta (which is not far fetched) AND Etowah wins against South Cobb & North Cobb, then the winner of the Etowah/Harrison gets the #3 seed and the loser the #4 seed… and I don’t really think anyone wants to play Grayson first round.
Woodstock would have to lose twice more (including against EP) to really make a mess of things… no need to go there. OR Harrison can lose to Marietta to give Etowah some breathing room. Go Devils!
Please correct me if I am not seeing this correctly.
Beautiful Monte
October 19th, 2009
6:19 pm
I’ve seen more than enough high school football to know that “hillbilly” teams usually mop the floor with teams from the ‘hood.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
6:40 pm
Beautiful Monte: I don’t know why I think your comment is funny, but it has me giggling.
Grayson Student
October 19th, 2009
6:49 pm
thanks etowah fan… not really familiar with any teams from region 5 other than mceachern
DHD
October 19th, 2009
7:24 pm
Do they give a trophy for being in the top 10 during the season? It doesn’t matter. Roswell is undefeated and will stay that way. Trophies will be handed out at the end of the season.
vikingproud
October 19th, 2009
7:35 pm
Have been a Viking fan and dad for years. have missed two games in five years. Our Vikings were off this past week and the family and Itraveled north to woodstock! Our niece cheers for woodstock. I do believe they have a decent team, but there is absolutely no way they could or would stay on the field with Lowndes, Colquit Co., NSWR !! They have a great fan base and some good players but not near enough for the teams mentioned above.
SouthGARules
October 19th, 2009
7:56 pm
BROOKWOOD MOM: Saw the article. The only reason I can think of as to why people are writing off Brookwood is the schedule they have left. However, the Broncos control their own destiny. Win out and you host a first round playoff game. Win 2 of 3 and you are in the playoffs. Beat Parkview & you are in.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
8:28 pm
SouthGARules: Well said my friend! I just hope they want to win as bad as I do. I need a helmet and some pads so I go out there and play some ball. LOL
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
9:32 pm
Sportsfan31313, it was good seeing your team have a breakout game. Maybe that will catapult Bradwell back into the playoff race. Hope so. Good luck this week.
Where’s YO” it was good seeing Goober sneak back in today. And where is Jaybo. With TCC winning you’d think he’d be back on here with us crowing and jawing.
yo
October 19th, 2009
9:41 pm
Here is “YO”.
Time for a ENR…….”UPSET ALERT”…..since the game is at the MAC it will be HOCO 52 – Lowndes 0.
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
9:47 pm
Vikingproud wouldn’t it be something if Woodstcok could play Valdosta in the playoffs? Woodstock’s coach Mike Obrien has proven that it takes 6 or 7 years to build or fix a program. With Valdosta firing their coaches at the rate of three every 7 years, they’ll never be back on top of things. I bet Mike Obrien has had a good laugh the last few days, not because Tomberlin was fired, but because the powers behind the scenes at Valdosta has made that once mighty and proud program into a mockery and aplace no good coach will ever want to hang up his shingle again. The Valdosta Daily Times editorial last week said Valdosta’s future coaches should rent and not buy a house, because they won’t be here long. The editorial also said it doesn’t matter if the Valdosta coach has a good weight program, is a good role model, helps his players get scholarships, emphasizes good grades and sportsmanship. All he has to day is win every game including the state title every year. I bet more than a few Valdosta fans wish coach Obrien was still here. I’m just glad we have Randy McPherson and Randy Hill running the defense..
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
9:57 pm
Yo: I doubt that Houston County could beat Lowndes County’s junior varsity team. However, I fully expect you South Georgia guys to have your feelings hurt again this weekend. Warner Robins is going to VIOLATE Colquitt County in Moultrie. It is very funny that you guys simply jump on any bandwagon crossing your line of view.
Warner Robins has played top tier competition (Grayson, who is better than Lowndes County and should be better than Northside’s starting 15 and 16 year old players). The belief that Warner Robins can not play with their remaining competition is insane. The Demons finish against Colquitt County, Northside, and Lowndes County. You South Georgian doubt Warner Robins at your own peril.
Warner Robins 28, Colquitt County 7
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
9:57 pm
Good post YO. Yeah! Upset Alert! Lowndes can not win at the Mac. Lowndes will not Peachtree Ridge Valdosta. Lowndes can not win on the road. Houston County will take Lowndes to the woodshed. Upset Alert. Houston county 52, Lowndes 0, prognosticated by YO himself. Maybe we should do like the man at Locos said about Peachtree Ridge, and don’t get off the bus. Reckon? H-mmmmm! Wrong!
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:07 pm
Does anyone know what happens in means of a 3 way tiebreaker for two positions in region play? Who reaches the state playoffs if the Region 1-AAAAA standings look like the following WHEN Warner Robins VIOLATES Colquitt County in Moultrie, GA on Friday night:
1. Northside (7-0)
2. Lowndes County (6-1)
3. Warner Robins (4-3, with a loss to Valdosta and a win against Colquitt County)
3. Valdosta (4-3, with a loss to Colquitt County and a win against Warner Robins)
3. Colquitt County (4-3, with a loss to Warner Robins and a win against Valdosta)
How does a 3 way tiebreaker work in the aforementioned three way tie? I am just curious. Something tells me that Warner Robins is going to win their way in and it will not matter with a win at Colquitt County and a win against Northside and/or Lowndes County.
FootballFan
October 19th, 2009
10:08 pm
I may be wrong but if I had to make a guess at 8-AAAAA number 2 I would say South Gwinnett. They have already beaten Dacula and Parkview, so how is Brookwoods schedule any harder?
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
10:12 pm
ENR, Valdosta beat Warner Robins at the MAC. Colquitt beat Valdosta at Valdosta. What do you know that we don’t know about why Warner Robins is a 21 point favorite over Colquitt? Tell you what my friend, when all of us bloggers meet in the lobby of the Omni Hotel the day of the state championship game, if Warner robins doesn’t beat Colquitt by 21 you buy us all a round of our favorite. If Warner Robins covers the spread, I’ll buy. Deal?
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:14 pm
AVikingFan: I stand by my aforementioned statement. Lowndes County will not beat Northside at McConnell-Talbert Stadium. If you are perfectly honest, you know that Lowndes County has brought two straight superior teams to the MAC to face the Eagles. Nonethless, both Lowndes County teams and two different Viking coaches have “Southwest DeKalbed” away what should have been easy wins.
Lowndes County are quickly becoming the Kings of Underachievement. With losses to an inferior Grayson team last season and to a team of sophomores and juniors at Northside, Randy McPherson is about to become the first back-to-back winner of the Buck Godfrey Award. Losing at Grayson and at the MAC against Northside is a case study in doing less with more.
I know those National Championship hopes are falling hard. That what Northside Eagles do to unprepared programs. Watch the PBS telecast. Even the analyst highlights how Randy McPherson and his Lowndes County staff were UNPREPARED for the moment.
Northside-Warner Robins 6, Lowndes County 2. These are the facts.
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
10:17 pm
ENR in our region, a three way tie is settled by the total points allowed with the three teams involved in their regular season games with each other. For instance, Lowndes gave up 6 to Colquitt and 10 to NSWR. If we ended in a three way tie with NSWR and Colquitt, the score in the Colquitt vs NSWR game would decide the region champion.
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
10:27 pm
ENR, it’s hard to argue with your reasoning. When we went on the road in 07 and beat camden 10-0 we should have won by 28. When we played Stephenson in the dome in 05 and won 14-0, it should have been 40-0. We were too tight and not just relaxed and having fun. I’ve heard it said the two trips to Camden in 03 were the same problem. We did however beat a very good Parkview team at the Big Orange Jungle for the title in 04. And we beat another good Camden team 30-0 on the road in 04. And I’ve got a wierd feeling that somethings different now, and this Lowndes team will go far in the playoffs. I guess we’ll see in round two, unless of course, Colquitt beats NSWR by ten which puts Lowndes in 1st place.
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:48 pm
AvikingFan:
Northside 16, Valdosta 13
Northside 10, Lowndes County 7 (Northside playing without their only All-State player on their roster)
Lowndes County 55, Valdosta 17
What does a score from a previous week have to do with another Friday night? Some teams do not match up well with others. What’s your point? If we used your flawed logic, we would assume that Lowndes County would put up 35 on Northside simply because Valdosta put up 13 points and were in the Red Zone four times. One week does not translate into another week. Lowndes County rarely matches up well against top tier competition when they play on the road. Therefore, you can throw their games at Martin Stadium out the window.
Warner Robins is more physical than Valdosta. Warner Robins runs the ball MUCH better than Valdosta. The last strong running team that Colquitt faced was Lowndes County. Lowndes HAMMERED Colquitt County. Warner Robins will do the same.
BROOKWOOD MOM
October 19th, 2009
10:54 pm
FootballFan: Because we still have to play Dacula, South Gwinnett, and Parkview. South only has to play Shiloh and Berkmar. Parkview only has to play Shiloh and Dacula only has to play Berkmar and Meadowcreek. Easy wins for them, tough competetion for us.
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:55 pm
AVikingFan: Thank you for the information about the tiebreaker. I really appreciate it.
As for Lowndes County playing in the Georgia Dome, that is a neutral site. You are very stubborn on this. Lowndes County usually loses on the road against top tier teams, particularly in the regular season. It is more than just Northside.
I can only go by what I have seen with my own eyes. I saw Lowndes County lose at McConnell-Talbert in 1997. Lowndes County had a SUPERIOR team. I saw Lowndes County lose at Grayson in the playoffs. Northside had lost the previous week at Camden County. I was certain that Lowndes was one of the best team ever assembled. The Vikings lost. I saw Lowndes bring, yet another, superior team to the MAC this season. Same result. I told this entire board that Lowndes was suspect and provided ample evidence to support my claims. We all saw it. We all saw Lowndes fold.
Warner Robins is going to beat Colquitt County. Watch! It will not be an upset. Warner Robins and Colquitt are both 3-1 in the region. Warner Robins has played at the #1 team in the state and natioonally ranked Grayson. They are prepared for Colquitt. Scheduling matters. Colquitt could not even compete against Lowndes. Warner Robins will beat Colquitt and compete/maybe beat Northside and/or Lowndes County.
Again, thanks for the tiebreaker information.
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:55 pm
Thanks for the information about the tiebreaker, AVikingFan.
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:57 pm
AVikingFan: Deal. You are definitely the buyer, partner.
EagleNationRising
October 19th, 2009
10:59 pm
Warner Robins 28, Colquitt County 7. You heard it from me. The Big Red takes the football in Moultrie and effectively run it down the throats of the Packers. Colquitt posters and Rush Propst will have a myriad of excuses. The bottom line is Warner Robins is better than Valdosta and Colquitt County. They will show it Friday night in Moultrie.
AVikingFan
October 19th, 2009
11:18 pm
getting late. see ya’ll tomorrow! Take over for me YO or Goober! ENR’s on a roll. (ha ha)
yo
October 19th, 2009
11:18 pm
ENR while I don’t douby Warner beating Colquit in Colquit is a possibility, I have seen Colquit play and 28 isn’t going to happen for Warner unless Colquit keeps turning the ball over inside their 10 yard line.
Having said this I am liking the Northside/Warner matchup more and more.
Going to be interesting to see how Northside moves the ball on Warners defense.
Did you ever follow my suggesttion and talk to your old friend Buck Godfrey and suggest that he might consider doing a Tomberlin/Nix and work on going down a classification so he can win his first championship? It worked for Tomberlin/Nix!!!
Suwanee 0wnz
October 19th, 2009
11:42 pm
It seems that Lassiter deserves serious consideration given that they are unbeaten, and given that they set a new Georgia record for total passing yards in a game. That sort of passing attack will probably give fits to some of the teams listed in your Top 10. They will be much more credible if they beat Roswell, but the program already deserves some attention.
Lassiter Roadie
October 20th, 2009
12:14 am
Lassiter is having an exception year! Ranked…unranked…who cares! See you in the playoffs! Go Trojans. Good luck at BOA LHS Trojans Marching Band!!!!
atown giant
October 20th, 2009
12:40 am
to all citizens of newton co. lets all be apart of history friday nite and see alcovy tigers cash their bid for the playoffs!
Mt. Zion Boi
October 20th, 2009
7:28 am
All this Alcovy talk. Whinning about being ranked. Look here, ya’ll are the 4th best team in your region behind Griffin, North Clayton and YES MT. ZION. So SHUT UP about all this Alcovy talk. I’m getting tired of it.
Wolverine Fan
October 20th, 2009
7:46 am
Viking Proud…….I guess you told us. What are we Woodstock folk thinking. How dare us think we could compete with Lowndes, Colquit Co. or NSWR.
GH
October 20th, 2009
8:42 am
Predictions:
BRACKETS:
Top Left Top Right
Reg 3 #1 Camden Co Reg 7 #1 N. Gwinnett
Reg 2 #4 Redan Reg 6 #4 Milton
Reg 1 #2 Lowndes Reg 5 #2 Harrison
Reg 4 #3 Westlake Reg 8 #3 Brookwood
Reg 4 #1 McEachern Reg 1 #1 N. W.R
Reg 8 #4 Parkview Reg 4 #4 Chapel Hill
Reg 7 #2 P Ridge Reg 3 #2 ?
Reg 6 #3 Lassiter Reg 2 #3 Union Grove
Bottom Left Bottom Right
Reg 4 #1 Newnan Reg 6 #1 Walton
Reg 1 #4 W.R Reg 7 #4 Norcross
Reg 2 #2 M.L.K Reg 8 #2 S. Gwinnett
Reg 3 #3 ? Reg 5 #3 Woodstock
Reg 8 #1 Grayson Reg 2 #1 Stephens
Reg 5 #4 E. Paulding Reg 3 #4 ?
Reg 6 #2 Roswell Reg 4 #2 Creekside
Reg 7 #3 Collins Hill Reg 1 # Valdosta
CDog
October 20th, 2009
8:44 am
Rankings mean very little in high school football since there is a playoff system. If a team has a weak schedule and an inflated record as a result, that will only hurt them come playoff time since they will have not faced any challenging competition prior to the playoffs.
yo
October 20th, 2009
8:49 am
Now that you’ve learned your lesson Wolverine Fan make sure you don’t forget it!!!
ETA: Yo, you had a question about your comments not showing up but we see them just fine. — AJC Sports
yo
October 20th, 2009
8:51 am
I’m thinking it is time for ENR to suggest to Buck Godfrey that he do a Nix/Tomberlin and go down a classification and get himself a state championship. It worked for those two, why not old Buck?
savannahdawg
October 20th, 2009
9:00 am
South Gwinnett should be there! No respect!