Newton (4-0) is ranked for first time since 1995
Newton is ranked for the first time since 1995, entering the poll at No. 10 in Class AAAAA place of idle Grayson.
That was a tough call because some will say that beating Newnan (1-3) doesn’t mean what it used to, and that Newton didn’t look that great in doing it. Newton committed six turnovers, and Newnan was without its top running back.
But I try to ignore that stuff because it’s a slippery slope of subjectivity. Bottom line is that Newton is unbeaten against a similar schedule that Grayson (3-1) has faced, so in go the Rams. They’ll have to validate their ranking against East Coweta (4-0) this week.
One thing I like about ranking Newton (although it had no factor in the decision) is that it sheds light on an interesting story over in Covington. Newton fired its coach, Nick Collins, just before the season and promoted Cortez Allen to replace him. The team has persevered.
Also, there’s a running back named Akeem Hunt who has been perhaps the state’s best back that nobody talks about. He rushed for 133 yards in the win over Newnan, scored the winning TD in overtime and also ran a kick back 96 yards to get Newton in the game after it trailed 15-0 in the third quarter. …
Other rambling thoughts …
Warner Robins is 0-4 for the first time since 1966. That’s also the year that Northside beat Warner Robins for the first time ever, and it game in Warner Robins’ fifth game. Warner Robins plays Northside. …
Kell has beaten five straight unbeaten teams. All five – Etowah, Woodstock, East Paulding, Hiram and Grayson — still would be unbeaten if not for losing to Kell. Next for Kell? Unbeaten Pope. That’s pretty cool. …
Camden County has called off school Friday so that students and staff can travel to Fort Lauderdale to see the Camden-St. Thomas Aquinas game. Win that one and Camden is a serious threat to win some sort of national title. …
Congrats to Marion County (5-0), which is ranked for the first time ever this week. Only one in 187 Georgians can find Marion County on a map.
Valdosta beats Brunswick 64-62, and Lowndes beats Ware County 3-0. Weird.
Cook plays Fitzgerald in a big one Friday in Region 1-AA.
More big games that I haven’t mentioned …
Valdosta (5-0) at M.L. King (3-1)
Brookwood (4-1) at South Gwinnett (4-1)
Wesleyan (5-0) at Pace Academy (4-0)
Eastside (4-1) at Sandy Creek (4-0)
Class AAAAA
1. Camden County (4-0)
2. North Gwinnett (5-0)
3. Peachtree Ridge (5-0)
4. McEachern (3-1)
5. Lowndes (5-1)
6. Stephenson (4-0)
7. Norcross (5-0)
8. Valdosta (5-0)
9. South Gwinnett (4-1)
10. Newton (4-0)
Class AAAA
1. Northside-Warner Robins (4-0)
2. Clarke Central (4-0)
3. Tucker (5-0)
4. Kell (5-0)
5. Griffin (5-0)
6. Marist (4-1)
7. Flowery Branch (5-0)
8. Thomas County Central (3-1)
9. Chattahoochee (4-0)
10. East Paulding (4-1)
Class AAA
1. Peach County (5-0)
2. Sandy Creek (4-0)
3. Cairo (5-0)
4. Carrollton (5-0)
5. Baldwin (5-0)
6. St. Pius (4-1)
7. Eastside (4-1)
8. Woodward Academy (4-0)
9. Gainesville (3-1)
10. Cartersville (4-0)
Class AA
1. Carver-Columbus (4-0)
2. Buford (4-1)
3. Calhoun (4-0)
4. Cook (4-0)
5. Dublin (4-0)
6. Thomasville (4-1)
7. Westminster (2-2)
8. Fitzgerald (4-1)
9. Swainsboro (4-0)
10. Lovett (2-2)
Class A
1. Charlton County (5-0)
2. Wesleyan (5-0)
3. Clinch County (5-0)
4. Savannah Christian (4-0)
5. Wilcox County (4-1)
6. Lincoln County (4-1)
7. Eagle’s Landing Christian (4-0)
8. Johnson County (5-0)
9. Darlington (4-1)
10. Marion County (5-0)
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206 comments Add your comment
Gatorbait
September 27th, 2010
10:17 am
I don’t think that AAAAA schools are down, I think that other programs have gotten better. Most rivalry games presents a challenge to both teams. It’s about pride and bragging rights. Training has gotten better, preseason prep has gotten better, camps have gotten better, feeder systems have gotten better. When you institute the same program into your youth league an drun it straight through to high school, then the players know the system and have been functioning in the system and can produce right away. Teams are more apt now to shuffle players in and out of games. The competitive base is broader now that it was. A lot of smaller schoolss were given the opportunity to request to saty in AAAAA football, but they chose to play in AAAA. Most of the teams in AAAA have always had good programs, there are some whose programs have gotten better. The questionis whether or not they can sustain a high level of performance from 2010 on. I would be interested to see how many teams elect to play up after the next reclassification. I don’t think many will. However until coaches start scheduling some of the these in non-region games we may never know who is better. Bigger does not always equate to better. Depends on what is in your school at that time.
GHSF Daily
September 27th, 2010
10:19 am
One final note – GHSF Daily, these rankings and this blog are produced by Todd Holcomb and Chip Saye, not Michael Carvell. We say that so that Michael’s car won’t be egged on our account.
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
10:34 am
Cannon Rules: Can you then create an explanation for Northside HS in Warner Robins, GA? Northside had the smallest AAAAA enrollment. Still more than 120 young men dressed for varsity and Northside had a combined record of 23-4 playing in what USAToday called the “SEC of High School Football.” During both seasons we were nationally ranked. Last season, we fielded practically all underclassmen. The enrollment conversation is an excuse.
What I do not get is why schools play up two classifications, i.e. Tift County, Savannah, Beach, etc. It does not make logical sense. Northside HS athletics lost signficant money playing in Region 1-AAAAA. Due to the distance between the schools, the supposed rivalry games where practically home affairs. We were used to having big road crowds and traveling with our teams for big games…heck, every game. I would take the atmosphere surrounding a Northside vs. Baldwin (Milledgeville), Northside vs. Peach County (Ft. Valley), or Northside vs. Westside-Macon game over any Northside vs. Valdosta or Northside vs. Colquitt game. There were small road crowds and the games were not what I expected going into the region.
Good Georgia high school football teams bring it! I do not believe a very good Buford program (768 students) can compete with Camden County (almost 2900 students). I do believe that Carver can play with Camden County on any day of the week. Ware County just played with Lowndes. Tucker can play with Stephenson. Peach County can play with North Gwinnett. I’d take Cairo over Kell. It helps to have more students to pull from. However, the top teams across the state are not separated by very much. My eyes were opened a couple years ago with the Carver vs. Northside game in Columbus. Those guys were probably more talented than our team top to bottom. They were not as deep but we were lucky to get out of there.
HeadEast
September 27th, 2010
10:36 am
AAAA goes through NSWR until proven otherwise. Kell is playing pretty solid ball but they’re not the best AAAA team out there, although the Etowah and Grayson wins are pretty impressive as those are certain playoff AAAAA teams.
HHSHORNET – North Paulding, Hiram, and Pope will battle for the third spot in the north subregion, the last spot with a chance to get into the playoffs as Kell, East, and Lithia Springs will take 3 of the 4 playoff spots. Hiram has a year and a half of glory, but it’s mostly illusion based on beating teams like South Paulding, Paulding county, Osborne, and Cass. The illusion will end, just like N Paulding’s did last Friday, when you get to the Boneyard in a few weeks.
cane fan
September 27th, 2010
10:36 am
Fitzgerald will dominate cook this week in adel, cook might have a different team, but Fitz has the same team they are still bad to the bone. Fitz will run down your throat for 300+ yds and throw for 200+ yds in the air, dI would not go to vegas with some of you guys any time soon. every game in region play in 1AA is tough I am more excited about T’ville than cook.
Etowah Fan
September 27th, 2010
10:43 am
Not sure I agree with bringing in Newton into Top 10 over Woodstock or even keeping Grayson in the Top 10. I know Newton is undefeated and recently beating Newnan (a former Top 10). Woodstock has been a solid team for the last several years and holding their own again this year. Woodstock has not blown anybody out, but also beat Newnan solidly NOT in OT. The only blemish for Woodstock is the loss to a very good Kell team. What other quality wins does Newton have? Woodstock has Newnan and arguably North Forsyth, a team picked to beat Etowah earlier in the year and is better than I think their record indicates.
I won’t make the case for Etowah just yet… the victory over Walton helped, but until the Woodstock/Etowah showdown in three weeks, perhaps the winner of that game will crack the Top 10?
I have to knock the Gwinnett bias and the anti-Region 5 bias in the rankings.
Etowah Fan
September 27th, 2010
10:56 am
ENR and HeadEast – good points. I will give the benefit of the doubt to the South Georgia teams in terms of quality year in/out. The enrollment and larger pool of talent discussion works at a macro-level but not a when discussing a difference of 1800 to 2100 with 1900 being the cutoff. Cherokee county schools (i.e. Etowah & Woodstock) will likely never exceed 2100. Our cousins (East Paulding and Cobb-Kell) have now dropped below the 1900 mark and thus in classification. I don’t see a huge difference in this range to really matter substantially. However, when you jump to the mega-enrollment of 2800+ (i.e. Gwinnett, Camden, etc) then I think the larger pool of talent does influence… vice-versa, I am amazed at Buford’s success.
I won’t go into the Metro-Atlanta ever-shifting school districts and population shifting and how that impacts the continuity of the feeder youth football programs, etc… just yet.
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
11:04 am
GHSF Daily: Every person in entitled to their opinion. The Boise State beating Virginia Tech analogy is the very reason the Alabama has to get beat to fall in the rankings after running the table last season and returning practically their entire team from last season, i.e. Northside-Warner Robins.
Yes, Boise State beat Virginia Tech. What you forgot to mention is that Virginia Tech then lost to James Madison. I will repeat myself. Beating a Grayson program that has yet to show up in two years, beating two Cobb County programs (a county that collectively has not shown up in 40 years) and beating two Paulding County schools (a county that has not shown up in 80 years) is no reason to jump established programs that are wrecking people.
Reeze
September 27th, 2010
11:07 am
The problem with these rankings is that the trigger is pulled to prematurely to rank some of these Metro schools ….Forget about Tucker , Northside and Clarke…..Why is Kell ranked above proven programs Marist , TCC or Flowery Branch…..Marist lost to Tucker and TCC a close one to Cairo……The problem with this State , The programs and student athlete’s that should get recogniton don’t . Camden
GHSF Daily
September 27th, 2010
11:10 am
ENR: I agree w/ you on the opinions. In the Boise example, I was asking whether Boise should’ve jumped Alabama immediatly after the VT game, not whether Boise still should be ahead of Alabama. For the same reason that I wouldn’t put Kell ahead of Northside, I wouldn’t put Boise ahead of Alabama – unless Northside or Alabama loses or plays poorly against a weak team.
WarEagle
September 27th, 2010
11:14 am
School size is an excuse (up to a point). Marist is a AA sized high school competing at the AAAA level and seems to do ok. But, with a smaller school, the margin for error is much more slim — smaller schools have good athletes too, but are less deep and cannot fill holes due to injuries as easily. For a smaller school to compete each and every year with the “big boys,” the coaching must be excellent and the kids must be super dedicated. Having said this, there is no AAAAA school that fairly can use size as an excuse — once your school has over 1800 kids, you should be able to field a competitive team if the coaches and kids are willing to work at it.
WarEagle
September 27th, 2010
11:19 am
@Reeze — Kell is undefeated and has beat winning teams, so I have no problem with their being ranked above Marist or other good 1-loss teams. The rankings are art, not science. I look forward to the playoffs when the top teams can make their case on the field.
old teach
September 27th, 2010
11:25 am
How about byoo’-nuh vis’-tuh!
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
11:26 am
Etowah Fan: Warner Robins, GA is NOT South Georgia!!! Warner Robins is in a region called Middle Georgia,
a beautiful place with beautiful people and hard hitting high school football. The dynamics and demographics of high schools outside of Atlanta change, as well. That is the “excuse” that Warner Robins HS staff and coaches are making to explain how a program with 2 National Championships is sitting at 0-4 and 17 total points in four games with Northside-Warner Robins next on their schedule.
The AJC hyped Warner Robins as one of the top 2+ loss programs in the state. I was honest last year when I put my own beloved Eagles on “Upset Alert” when we faced Warner Robins last season in the City Championship. Well, this season someone needs to place Warner Robins HS on “Violation Alert” Friday night. I expect Bryan Way, who won a state championship at Warner Robins in 2004, to get a pink slip after this game Friday.
Etowah Fan, this is a major contest of two tradition Middle Georgia powers. Programs like Northside, Warner Robins, Westside-Macon, Baldwin, Peach County, Washington County, etc. are in Middle Georgia. We are very different than South Georgia. We know that the good folks of metro Atlanta believe that anything south of Henry County is South Georgia. That is not the case.
LUV_HS_Football
September 27th, 2010
11:28 am
Not much chatter on AA… even though our top 2 (Carver-Columbus, Buford) could be two of the best team in Georgia All-Classification. Suprised GACS didn’t crack the top 10 with their win at Blessed Trinity. They are 4-1, including 2 wins over AAA teams… and that Hudson Kuipers is a beast… plays both ways, has a cannon for an arm and runs people over on short yardage.
Suwanee 0wnz
September 27th, 2010
11:29 am
Welcome back ENR.
I did not say that NSWR is a “big school”. Instead, I said they play like a 5A school. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who did so well in 5A stayed with your program even though they might now live in a different district. You are effectively drawing from a 5A talent pool even though NSWR is now a smaller school. This effect will continue for a couple of years until all of the players who were on that 5A team have moved through the program.
As I think about it, there might also be some advantage to having a military base in your district. I am not sure about your district boundaries, but it seems like other schools with military bases play a bit better than their competitors. I can believe that captains, chief petty officers, sargeants and other who have some choice about assignments might choose to be assigned to Georgia if they kids who are strong football players.
Of course, the single omst important factor in the repeated success of some teams, is coaching. Quality of the weight room and other facilities can also make a big difference. But you cannot coach speed or size. Yes, good coaches and facilities can turn a 6′1″ wimp into a 6′1″ Parkview middle linebacker. But they cannot make him faster, and they cannot grow a kid who is 5′9″ into a 6′1″ player.
Talent pool is a very important factor. Buford has succeeded year after year because of coaching, facilities, and because they can draw from the programs of several 5A schools around them.
I believe that Mill Creek is now the largest High School in Georgia, and that growth has happened almost over night. The quality of their academics places them among the elite in Gwinnett, and I believe their football program is making huge strides. Mill Creek is on the bubble for whether they make the playoffs this year. But they will be a factor in the future, partly just because of their size. To their credit, they are concentrating on academics first, but they are already on the elite stage in Swimming and “Fine Arts”, and I assume other programs. Gwinnett County could not build a new school fast enough to deny them a huge talent pool should they decide to become a top tier football program.
GHSF Daily
September 27th, 2010
11:31 am
“I have to knock the Gwinnett bias and the anti-Region 5 bias in the rankings.”
Not sure if that claim of bias is justified. Etowah was ranked at times in both 2008 and 2009 and failed to live up to it. We had Woodstock ranked on Sept. 5 when Gasports.com (the coaches poll) ranked Norcross instead. We bumped one Gwinnett team this week (Grayson) in lieu of a Newton County team. I think it’s just a matter of going with undefeated teams (Norcross, Newton) or teams that arguably have better losses (South Gwinnett lost to Lowndes; McEachern lost to P’Ridge). Etowah, Woodstock and Grayson all lost to Kell, which ain’t bad either, but most of those teams in the rankings also have better wins than Etowah, Woodstock and Grayson.
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
11:33 am
WarEagle: Are they still doing the thing with private schools where each student counts as 1.5 students? Or is Marist just playing up? If so, why? So many people asked why Northside has allowed our program to move down to the second largest classification twice. The first time was under Conrad Nix, who just NEVER bought the concept of Northside playing up. During portions of that time, our other two city high schools were playing in AAAAA. His point was that Northside was always going to play Warner Robins and Houston County, huge gates and big money games. He did not understand that benefit of playing up.
Now, some people have asked the same question. It works much better now, because people see that our other local schools are playing in AAAA. To my understanding, all Houston County schools (Northside, Houston County, Warner Robins, Veterans, & Perry) will inevitably play in AAAA together. I just do not get the benefit (if Marist is playing up) to playing up.
Valdosta plays up. Tift County only has 1400+ students and they are playing in AAAAA. It doesn’t benefit the schools. They get killed and it hurts school pride. For example, Valdosta, would still have opportunities to play traditional rivals like Lowndes, Tift County, and Colquitt and actually have a prayer of winning. It seems egotistical and silly to me.
Let us know about Marist. Are they playing up or does Marist have to play up because it is a private school?
Reeze
September 27th, 2010
11:35 am
WarEagle……I agree with you , the case is made on the field during the playoffs, and I have always admiried Marist for playing up two classes and making deep playoff runs over the last decade ….I just feel it’s a slap in Marist’s face.
Trojan94
September 27th, 2010
11:43 am
5A is better than 4A. With teams like camden, NG, lowndes, peachtree ridge, and valdosta how could you think other wise.
Etowah Fan
September 27th, 2010
11:49 am
ENR – I stand corrected (and I should definitely know better) so please replace South Georgia with “oustide of Metro Atlanta”. I would also be very liberal on how far outside metro Atlanta you draw this imaginary line.
As a side note, most of my family (and every previous generation) is from South Georgia by your definition… with family members having played at Lowndes, Valdosta, TCC, Thomasville, Cairo, Brooks County, etc. These same family members would also be quick to correct me to never confuse South Georgia with Middle Georgia as I get lazy by referring to every thing south of the gnat line as South Georgia.
I do respect Middle Georgia football with the same reverence as the football played in South Georgia in terms of storied traditions. Metro Atlanta has a lot to learn in that respect, but hard in the every changing evironment. I realize that Warner Robins and Macon had similar shifting, but that shifting is few and far between compared to Metro Atlanta. It would be very rare to find a second generation of family playing ball at the same school in Metro Atlanta compared to Middle or South Georgia… thus my storied tradition comment.
Trojan94
September 27th, 2010
11:49 am
To me if you line up the top 10 teams in 4A and 3A and let them play each other 3A teams would win half of those match up. So there no way 4A is better than 5A.
WarEagle
September 27th, 2010
11:51 am
EagleNationRising: Marist is choosing to play up two classifications. The old “Murphy Rule” you reference for private schools was eliminated a few years ago; even then, Marist was still playing up. As I understand it, Marist has decided to stay at AAAA because the competition seems to fit the school’s abilities for most sports; not a travel issue, because there are plenty of schools around at all classes. I think that Marist may be the only private school in AAAA, but not positive. Marist probably benefits from being in AAAA for the “country club” sports — tennis, swimming, golf, etc. — but the challenge at AAAA for football, baseball, softball, basketball, etc. is much stiffer than AA (with a few notable exceptions, such as Buford). Up until this year, Marist was able to preserve its rivalry game with St. Pius; the loss of that game for this year and next due to the full region schedule has disappointed some folks, and I wonder if GHSA is trying to force us to move down at least one class. Each school has to decide what is best for its students and community.
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
11:51 am
Suwanee Ownz: Kids that live on Robins Air Force do not and have NEVER been zoned to attend Northside HS. In general, practically every starter for Northside was raised in Warner Robins. There are some examples of kids moving in. However, they have traditionally played at Warner Robins HS and (now) Houston County (the poster child for an underachiving high school program).
As for fine arts, winning at Northside is not isolated to high school football. Review the GHSA site and take a look at how many State Championships that Northside has in One Act, Forensics (Debate), and State Literary. It makes our football team appear to be underachievers. Winning is a way of life in Warner Robins. You see it with our Little League teams, One Act, Literary, you name it.
I once had this belief that large schools ruled the day until I was sitting on the edge of my seat hoping that Northside’s defense could hold a highly talented Carver (Columbus) team. Those guys were as fast, as big, as disciplined, and as talented as we were. We play the best (Lowndes County, Camden County, Peachtree Ridge, Newnan, Tucker, Marist, etc.). Carver is as good as all of those guys. I promise.
If you want to see a very special program, watch Peach County play sometime. Some people in Middle Georgia will tell you that Peach County is probably the best team in the state (any classification). ***I don’t believe it.
(wink. wink)…we had to go for two to beat those guys a few years ago with a group of kids that went undefeated (regular season). We got lucky and beat Peach County 11-10. We scored 35-56 points on practically every other AAAAA team we played. We were down 9-10 and going for a 2 point conversion to beat AAA Peach County.
EagleNationRising
September 27th, 2010
11:55 am
War Eagle: If it is true that Marist is the private school playing in the highest classification, it probably benefits their ability to draw top athletes, as well. They have nice facilities and great tradition. However, it seems that the decision to play “up” benefits the school.
Heck, I would imagine that everyone that plays “up” creates a benefit of some sort for their own school. It just seems to fit a program like Marist to play in the same region as their rival school St. Pius X. It would be nice to hear from those coaches why they play “up.” I believe it hurts their chances across the board.
My school has never played up and from what I have heard, never will. It would be interesting to hear from diferent stories.
OMacG
September 27th, 2010
12:05 pm
Good post, Etowah Fan. North Georgia natives grew up with no distinction between Middle and South Georgia; the Gnat/Fall Line was the geographic divider. With the help of a year at ABAC and 20 years with my Middle Georgia in-laws, I have learned to know better.
True about the rarity of 2nd generation players in metro ATL programs. We have only 5 that come to mind whose parents played for McEachern, though we do have a huge number with parents who are Cobb County natives. I honestly believe this is a great intangible benefit for us, especially when compared to to other Cobb & metro programs. Heck- you can sit in the stands for a game at an east Cobb school or Harrison and never hear a Southern accent…experienced it yet again this past Friday sitting on the Kell side.
Trojan94
September 27th, 2010
12:09 pm
So who really is the best team in middle georgia? It peach, northside, or baldwin? West georgia wants to know.
Reeze
September 27th, 2010
12:14 pm
Trojan94……….The best team in middle Georgia is AAA Peach County , and I’m a Northside Fan…….Peach County is second in the State only to Camden. They are just thaat good this year.
Etowah Fan
September 27th, 2010
12:23 pm
GHSF Daily – the intent of my post was to ding the Gwinnett bias (IMHO) and the ding on Region 5, specifically Woodstock (not Etowah). Woodstock (different than Etowah) has done well in the playoffs over the last several years and lived up to their rankings in the past.
As for the Gwinnett bias, you have generally had three to five teams from Gwinnett (four now: three from Reg 7, one from Reg 8), two from Reg 1, and generally two from Reg 2, the perenial and deserved Camden, and McEachern. My opinion is a GHSF bias to the East and South of metro Atlanta. Admittedly, there have been only a few schools in recent years that have risen to the occasion from the North and West of metro Atlanta… Woodstock being left out at the moment due to the loss to Kell so just pushing for more representation on this side of town.
Nukieie
September 27th, 2010
12:34 pm
FYI: ENR……. Tift county is a AAAAA……it has 1935 according to last years FTE numbers.
High school in considered 9-12…. Tift county has Two(2) campus one being Tift conuty had 1401 and Northeast Campus, Tift County High School has 534, but they are considered one school as far as GHSA. Coffee county has the same type of system you can find this information at http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form …
but this does not affect how well they play or don’t play….. this is FYI…..several school besides the two named do this around the state.
THE CANNON RULES!!!!
September 27th, 2010
12:38 pm
TO: EagleNationRising…
I didn’t expect you to get my point and I knew (as always) you would jump to criticize the North Ga. teams and defend to the grave your beloved South Ga. / Middle Ga. / Gnat line teams. That was NOT my point, I was trying to comment on whoever started the AAAA against AAAAA conversation and simply state a point concerning the enrollment numbers, which I still think make a difference across the board.
Of course there will be exceptions as certain teams have stellar years and then fall back…you used Grayson as your example, I think you called them a one year flash or something like that. Marist is a good example as they play several levels above student enrollment numbers. But the big question is still can AAAA teams compete CONSISTENTLY year after year against schools with two times or more their enrollment???
It all depends on coaching, committment, and depth at positions (injuries could be huge for the smaller school)…From what I read in your post you refuse to believe there is now or EVER going to be a North Ga school that can compete with South Ga teams. Forget the 70’s, the 80’s & the 90’s teams and their records…this is now and some of the Cobb teams, many of the Gwinnett teams and yes maybe even a Paulding County team can and will show up deep into the playoffs!
CamdenCo76
September 27th, 2010
12:46 pm
Enter your comments here
joe
September 27th, 2010
1:05 pm
AAAAA you no that either Camden or North Gwinett will win the championship easily because AAAAA has 2 elite teams. AAAA you dont no who will win becuase teams are co close in skill you have Northside,Clarke Central,Tucker,Kell,Griffin,Marist and others like AAAA is the best region in football. The same team always win in AAAAA it gets boring AAAA is almost always somebody new.
DSGB
September 27th, 2010
1:22 pm
I wonder what Cairo will do this week since its open date….maybe pitch a shutout… I think we should be considered as a powerhouse in the “SOUTH” and in AAA.
Adman
September 27th, 2010
1:38 pm
How in the world can Westminster and Lovett, both 2-2, be ranked in the top ten of Class AA??!!
TJ
September 27th, 2010
1:58 pm
ENR, how can you call Grayson a one year wonder with a 38 and 6 record since 2007. Throw out the 2007 season where they lost to Camden in quarter finals. Grayson is 28 and 3 if you include injury loss in dome this year. In 2008 and 2009 they were in final 4. This year final 4 next year they win state…not sure if you would call it one year wonder but you have been known to put things out there in the past that have not made sense before. But hey…I just got nutty myself with prophesy that Grayson will win deep this year and win it all next year.
GHSF Daily
September 27th, 2010
2:03 pm
“How in the world can Westminster and Lovett, both 2-2, be ranked in the top ten of Class AA??!!”
Their losses are to Buford (#2 in AA) twice, Carrollton (#4 in AA) and Thomasville (#6 in AA). Is there an unranked team that would’ve won any of those games?
Bulldawg 15
September 27th, 2010
2:27 pm
@joe…i am a NG alum and former player…i root for them always, but Camden could destroy, and i will repeat DESTROY any team from any classification or any year this year… it hurts me to say it but they are that good.
Bulldawg 15
September 27th, 2010
2:32 pm
Enter the best 16 teams from AAAA and the best 16 teams from AAAAA and tell me who wins the state championship…anybody with a brain knows it would be AAAAA
WarEagle
September 27th, 2010
2:40 pm
EaglesNationRising: To be clear, Marist is in AAAA (not the highest classification). As for whether the move up has hurt Marist’s chances for success across the board, I don’t think so — Marist has won the Directors Cup for AAAA every year it has been in AAAA, and won 9 state championships in 2008-09 school year. For Marist, the decision is made by the AD, and not just by the coaches for one sport. As I said, I think each school has to evaluate the issue of whether to try to play up for itself, based on what is important to the school (school finances play a part) and to the school’s athletic program.
Bulldawg 15
September 27th, 2010
2:43 pm
the argument between gwinnett AAAAA schools having more talent because of numbers than AAAA schools will never be solved until AAAA schools realize and witness what actually goes on between schools in Gwinnett. Players move consistently and schools open consistently…so saying that AAAAA schools are better than AAAA schools, by AAAA schools, obviously states as an excuse as to why AAAA schools could not beat the best AAAAA schools. Gwinnett high schools are completely divided and thats why regions 7AAAAA and 8AAAAA are so competitive. AAAA dont call AAAAA out for having more people. The talent pool and athletes are just as equally spread out as they are at the best AAAA schools. End of STORY.
Bulldawg 15
September 27th, 2010
2:47 pm
Etowah fan….Look man…. bring your opinions and diagreements into region 7AAAAA and you will be awstruck when your team goes 4-6. Could’nt hang in 06′ and could’nt hang now.
Trojan94
September 27th, 2010
2:52 pm
GHSF Daily Carrollton is in AAA not AA.
Bulldawg 15
September 27th, 2010
2:57 pm
One last thing….Does anybody ever recall or can they vaguely imagine any camden fan/player/student complaining about student population…???????????????….the answer is no because they don’t care about demographics…they play football and beat everybody…In most ways NG is similar to camden with student pop. because NG’s best athletes have and continue to be neighborhood kids. NOT transfers or recruits. And look what these two programs have done over the last four years. Please AAAA just talk about some other excuse or complaint as to why the best AAAA teams can not beat the best AAAAA teams on a weekly basis. Its getting boring and old.
LCRedDevils
September 27th, 2010
2:59 pm
It doesn’t matter the class or size of your school.Just show up and play, and at the end of the season you’ll be ranked.
Trojan94
September 27th, 2010
3:04 pm
DSGB Cairo is already as a powerhouse in the south. As far as AAA goes every team that is ranked is a powerhouse. Belive me when i tell you that win over thomas county central was notice throughout AAA.
kb
September 27th, 2010
3:39 pm
I’ve got a question for ENR or anyone else on this blog who may be able to answer. Valdosta, from my understanding, had the option of moving down to 4A because of it’s school population. Technically they should be considered as a 4A school because of this. My question is if Valdosta had the option to play up or down and chose to play up, does Northside Warner Robins have that same option? If so, why did’nt they stay in 5A? They certainlly are capable of competing .
RealisticEPFan
September 27th, 2010
3:51 pm
Wow,,lots of good passionate commentary. As a transplant to Paulding County(from up north -Nebraska way), I have come to appreciate even more the high school football that is played here in Georgia. I’m an East Paulding fan first, then root for all the Paulding schools. I’ve only been around for the past 6 yrs so I’m mostly a newbee to GA football. Right or wrong this is how I see things: East Paulding came on the scene 5 years ago and has remained a very strong program since The beat downs in the playoffs and otherwise were inevitable opportunities for learning (Marist at the dome,,TCC in Thomasville, Grayson, Etowah, Woodstock,,and our cobb neigbor rival in Harrison). I’ve only been personaly witness to EP playing one team south of the ‘gnat’ line, but it definitly was one of the most memorable lessons that EP has learned along the way. Since then they have lost certainly, but I do think it was that game that showed the coaching staff, kids, parents and fans like me what it really would take to be a champion. All kudos to southern ga teams (though that is only one team). EP this year is much more resiliant then in the past,,,plays with a sense of urgency and purpose and a more physical brand of football and in general are starting to feel more like a team and program that wants to be around for the long haul.(Thanks TCC).
I see a growing Paulding county trend. Hiram for 2 years now is on the rise. Yes they got squashed in the playoffs last year but I think they are starting to build that championship caliber continuity also. An now we have an upstart North Paulding team playing its very first varsity schedule with Seniors on the team …..starting 4-0, putting up gaudy offensive numbers against over matched, out coached teams with out any history………they travel to EP and promptly get a huge beat down, by a team playing a totally different level of football (looked like EP/TCC in reverse). Point is North now too has had its eyes opened as to what it takes to play at a higher level and perhaps be competive when it gets out of the comfy confines of Paulding and Cobb county.
I think what the message is……80 years without doing anything is coming to an end and it will be sooner rather then later. There are 3 Paulding county schools all set in the right direction, and my hunch is that you”ll continue to see all 3 of them improve and be a big part of the football chatter in the coming years. My prediction …..Paulding county will bring a state championship to this area of the state long before big ole Cobb county does. Aspiring to play south georgia style football is a great thing……..
Lastly……….I think that EP getting moved into the rankings this week with 1 loss is evidence that respect comes not from one season but rather a number of years put togher of playing good football to get you appreciated and recognized in that manner. That may be right or wrong but explain the reasoning that Kell remains and will remain ranked behind teams with much longer winning tradtions.
WarEagle
September 27th, 2010
3:53 pm
kb: Any school can petition to play up, but it is up to GHSA to decide whether to allow it in a particular case. Hard to criticize any school for choosing to play in its properly assigned classification.
THE CANNON RULES!!!!
September 27th, 2010
4:13 pm
RealisticEPFan…
GOOD POST! Tippin’ the ole hat in your direction!!!
GO RAIDERS!!!!