Notable results of week 5: Riverdale, Dodge County among ranked teams to fall

There weren’t a lot of major upsets in Week 5 of the season, but GHSF Daily’s Chip Saye ranks the surprises, close calls and games of note from the weekend:

1. Irwin County 41, Wilkinson County 34: Wilkinson County was ranked No. 6 in the preseason in Class A, but the Warriors fell to 1-2 with a home loss to Irwin County, which evened its record at 2-2. Irwin County rushed for 538 yards and outscored Wilkinson 34-6 in the second half after trailing 28-7 at halftime.

2. Westover 17, Monroe 14: Monroe was coming off surprising victories against Wilcox County and Fitzgerald but couldn’t keep the momentum going in its Region 1-AAAA opener. Tanner Stumpe kicked the game-winning 43-yard field goal with 3:19 to play to help Westover even its record at 2-2.

3. Dutchtown 38, Riverdale 0: Riverdale was No. 9 in the Class AAAA rankings last week, but the Raiders’ first appearance in the top 10 since 2005 was a short one. Dutchtown led just 7-0 midway through the second quarter but scored a 55-yard touchdown on a fake punt and pulled away from there.

4. Bleckley County 15, Dodge County 8: Dodge County, No. 7 in Class AAA last week, became the highest-ranked team to lose to a non-ranked team when it fell to Class AA Bleckley County (2-1). It was Bleckley County’s third consecutive victory in the series after losing 12 straight against the Indians from 1998 to 2009.

5. Chestatee 57, Eastside 56: Eastside was No. 10 in AAAA after a 2-0 start but lost for the second consecutive week, this time against a region opponent that came into the game 1-1 overall. Eastside scored first in the second overtime but failed on a two-point conversion. Chestatee scored on its possession and kicked the game-winning extra point.

6. Commerce 18, Rabun County 17: Commerce was considered a 30-point favorite by the Maxwell Ratings computers, but it had to rally from a 17-6 deficit in the fourth quarter to win by a point. Commerce, which is 4-0 for the first time since 2006, scored the winning touchdown with 19 seconds to play.

7. Hapeville Charter 26, Greene County 10: Greene County, a longtime Class AA power that won a state championship in 1993 as Greene-Taliaferro, fell to 0-3 for the first time since 1997. Hapeville Charter, playing just its second season, is 2-6 overall in its short history but 2-2 this season.

8. Rabun Gap 37, Towns County 35: Rabun Gap made its GHSA varsity debut a good one with its two-point victory over a Towns County team that has struggled to an 0-5 start. Rabun Gap, located in the northeast corner of the state, is playing only one game as a Georgia varsity program this season. By the way, Rabun Gap’s football coach is named Dale Earnhardt.

9. Douglass 14, Towers 0: Douglass, which reached the second round of the playoffs as recently as 2007 in coach Gary Cantrell’s final season, snapped a school-record 26-game losing streak. The Astros had not won since beating Redan 26-20 on Oct. 17, 2009. Douglass has a new coach in Rodney Cofield, who helped make Washington an Atlanta city school force from 1995 to 2007. Towers is 0-4 this season and has scored just 10 points.

10. Salem 22, Winder-Barrow 20: Winder-Barrow cut the deficit to two points with 6:35 to play, but the potential game-tying two-point conversion was stopped, extending Winder-Barrow’s losing streak to 28 games. Winder-Barrow hasn’t won a game since beating Monroe Area 48-41 on Oct. 9, 2009.

Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily, a free e-mail newsletter. To join the mailing list, click here.