AAAAAA blog: Something old (Valdosta-Lowndes), something new (Johns Creek-West Forsyth) highlight schedule
Five things (games?) to watch this week in Class AAAAAA:
Lowndes at Valdosta – It’s Georgia’s best-known high school rivalry. Valdosta has won 34 of the 50 meetings, but Lowndes has won seven of the past eight. Shelby Wilkes, a senior, threw two TD passes in the final 50 seconds in a 21-17 Valdosta win that broke the skid in 2011. A Valdosta victory this year would be just as unexpected. Valdosta has lost to Class AA Brooks County and been blown out by No. 1 Camden County (43-6). Lowndes, meanwhile, is 6-0 and ranked No. 4, its only defining win a 17-14 victory over Colquitt County when the Lowndes defense was dominant. Lowndes is pretty simple – run the ball (the Vikings average 285 yards rushing per game) and play defense (they have 16 sacks and 10 interceptions).
Johns Creek at West Forsyth – Both are 5-0. Both opened in the past six years. Neither has won a region title. They are in Region 6. Watch the quarterbacks in this one. Johns Creek QB Skye Overton is 49-of-82 passing for 762 yards and five touchdowns and is the team’s leading rusher with 431 yards and 11 TDs on 70 carries. West Forsyth QB A.J. Erdely, who has committed to Middle Tennessee, has passed for 935 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions and has rushed for 408 yards and five TDs.
McEachern at South Cobb – These are the only unbeaten teams in Region 4. McEachern (4-2, 4-0) has lost 2011 finalists Grayson and Walton. South Cobb (5-0, 3-0) is coming off a 27-26 victory over previously unbeaten North Cobb. South Cobb has won three region titles in its history – 1969, 1971, 2005. Another key game in Region 4 is Hillgrove (3-2) at North Cobb (4-1)
Norcross at Collins Hill – These are the remaining unbeaten teams in Region 7. Norcross is favored. RB Alvin Kamara (687 yards rushing, 110 carries, 10 TD) is Norcross’ marquee player, but QB Joseph Wilber is having a pretty nice year, too. He’s 71-of-99 passing for 1,044 yards and 12 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Collins Hill (4-1, 3-0) has won four straight since an underwhelming loss to Central Gwinnett in the opener. QB Brett Sheehan threw for 301 yards in the 41-10 victory over Peachtree Ridge last week.
North Gwinnett at Mill Creek – North Gwinnett beat Colquitt County and lost to Norcross. Both are Top 10 teams. But there seems to be an undercurrent of doubt at the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1). If they’re not a legit Top 10 team, it could be exposed Friday at Mill Creek (4-2, 3-1). On the other hand, North Gwinnett has beaten Mill Creek six straight times, and it’s never been close.
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59 comments Add your comment
yo
October 12th, 2012
1:44 pm
Actually 5 Time I recall another article a number of years back declaring the Valdosta/Lowndes game as the #1 must see high school football game in the nation. Done by a national magazine.
57Cat
October 12th, 2012
2:24 pm
@yo – The guy that wrote the article saying the Winnersville Classic was #3 also slso said, “there may not be much to do in Valdosta ….” He obviously is unaware of the fact the we have lots to do. We’ve got the Honey Bee Festival in Hahira, the Peach Festival in Morven, Deer Fest and the Flatlanders Festival in Laleland, and even a tractor pull at the Alapaloochee Antique Tractor Show down near Lake Park
. He’s like those suburbanites up in Atlanta that say all we have is football. Harumph!
the truth
October 12th, 2012
2:57 pm
“Actually 5 Time I recall another article a number of years back declaring the Valdosta/Lowndes game as the #1 must see high school football game in the nation. Done by a national magazine.”
Must have been the Valdosta Times magazine because I think the 119 game rivalry of Massillon vs. Canton in Ohio would be a bit more interesting.
Coach madden
October 12th, 2012
3:56 pm
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5-Time
October 12th, 2012
4:13 pm
Yo. . . .I wouldn’t doubt that one bit. . . .
Da Coach
October 12th, 2012
5:17 pm
@Lambert….TBD I think your ending prediction is off alittle. I think West Forsyth wins the region at 10 -0 Johns Creek 9 -1 Hooch 6 -3 then Lambert to round that off. Hey quick question, Does your QB, the coaches son turn 20 years old this year and his brother the freshman WR is 16 years old? Just heard that and was wondering.
CamdenAlum
October 12th, 2012
11:23 pm
Suwanee Owns…. ESPN referenced Valdosta as Winnersville when they officially proclaimed it Titletown USA. That said, do you really think anyone cares about “Suwanee Owns” opinion on that subject? The short answer is No.
BTW, Lowndes has 3 State titles since 2004, how many does your school have?
Fred
October 13th, 2012
1:20 am
@camcat07 – Valdosta/Lowndes is not the oldest rivalry. There are others older.
With all due respect to Region 1 and the Vikes and Cats, I think some of the folks in the rest of the state take offense to the name “Winnersville Classic” without really understanding where the name came from. While it is a very important game in R1 and indeed, most all of S GA, North Ga football has grown to the point to where there are many games that we consider as important to us and to the state. Believe me, I know the history and where it comes from but I think since many of your districts/counties are single school areas that you might have a hard time understanding some of the rivalries in the Metro area and other parts of the state.
AVikingFan
October 14th, 2012
11:30 am
Fred — It’s a biog game because of the number of State Titles won by the two schools, and the number of tickets sole for the game. Friday night 12,500 fans and students filled up Cleveland Field. When the game is played at Lowndes, approx 13,500 reserved seats are sold. Outside the stadium 2 or 3,000 other fans were tailgating who couldn’t get tickets. A few of the tailgate parties start the night before, most starting about noon the day of the game. Merchants all over town put up signs cheering on the two teams. Cars are declorated and windows painted. It’s like a miniture GA/FL game. When the game is at Lowndes, fans come in their RV’s the night before. When the game is at Valdosta, businesses all over town, law offices, CPA firms,insurance offices, etc, host tailgate parties. I have been to Parkview, to Grayson, to the stadium where Southwest Dekalb and Stephenson play, to McEachern, to Lovejoy, to other Cobb teams, to Clark Central., etc. Time after time when we go to a lot of those places we have more fans than the home team does, No game is a bigger draw than Valodsta vs Lowndes, except possibly for the NSWR vs Warner Robins game. No game is played by teams with more titles. Valdosta alone has won more games and state titles than any team in the nation. It is now the winningest team in the USA including college teams. I think the Un of Michigan is number two! Valdosta passed Massilon of Ohio decades ago to be the winningest high school team. Lowndes has been in existance for approx 45 years and has 5 titles in the state’s highest classification. No team outside of Lowndes County has won 5 state titles in the highest classification.