Archive for October, 2012

In the battle for sole possession of first place in Region 3-AAAAAA, East Coweta didn’t have enough answers for Langston Hughes quarterback Kenny Moxey and running back Keion Davis.

Langston Hughes rolled to 28-14 win behind 293 total yards from Moxey and 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Davis.

“I’m just trying to score,” said Davis, who got 113 of his yards in the second half. “I have to give thanks to the line and the wide receivers. Everybody did a good job.”

Hughes outgained East Coweta 473-319 and benefitted from four Indian turnovers.

Davis’ touchdown runs in the second half, from 11 and 20 yards, allowed the Panthers to pull away.

The Panthers (7-1, 3-0 in 6-AAAAAA) survived two East Coweta scoring threats in the second half.

After Davis’ first touchdown, an 80-yard kickoff return by East Coweta’s Demarcus Godfrey gave the Indians (3-5, 2-1) the ball at the Hughes 18-yard line, but teammate Wylin Orr fumbled on the next play and Hughes …

Continue reading Langston Hughes 28, East Coweta 14 »

Ninth-ranked Lovejoy fought off the penalty bug and racked up 48 unanswered points Friday to overwhelm visiting Newton 51-6 at Twelve Oaks Stadium in Hampton.

Although the Wildcats committed 12 penalties for 80 yards in the first 24 minutes, the offense chalked up 290 yards and quarterback Alejanndro Bennifield threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns before halftime.

“He’s a special player,” Lovejoy head coach Al Hughes said of the Jonesboro transfer and Tennessee-Chattanooga commit. “He’s been big for us ever since he got here.”

Lovejoy (8-1, 5-0 in Region 2-AAAAAA) kept with its 50-point per game average in region play and took sole possession of first place in the region. Before Friday, Lovejoy had held its last three region opponents out of the end zone and had not given up points since a first-quarter field goal to Druid Hills.

Newton (3-5, 3-1) went ahead 6-3 with 4:01 left in the first quarter when James Hardeman ran in from eight yards out. The Rams drove …

Continue reading Lovejoy 51, Newton 6 »

Only three regular-season Friday nights remain.

We have a scoreboard that gives you quarter-by-quarter scores through the night, but news of some of the top games can be found more quickly on This Blog with the help of fans and the many online streams of games.

If you’re attending a game and can post online, let us know how you’re game is going.

In no order, here are some of the more interesting matchups this week

M.L. King at Stephenson
Thomson at Washington County
South Gwinnett vs. Archer
Milton at Walton
George Walton Academy at Athens Academy
Washington at Carver-Atlanta
East Coweta at Hughes
Miller Grove at Tucker
St. Pius at Woodward Academy
Bleckley County at Lamar County
Clinch County at Charlton County
Cook at Brooks County
Baldwin at Mary Persons
Colquitt County at Valdosta
Early County at Fitzgerald
ECI at Johnson County
Flowery Branch at Clarke Central
Hart County at Elbert County
Lanier at Stephens County
Riverdale at Jonesboro
Wilkinson County at First Presbyterian

Continue reading Friday Night Chat X: Report scores, find scores, talk live! »

Milton, the 2012 Class AAAAA boys basketball champion, named Van Keys on Thursday the interim head coach to replace David Boyd.

Boyd was forced to resign earlier this month amid allegations of undue influence to persuade student-athletes from other schools to transfer to Milton, which won state titles in 2010 and 2012.

Keys, a P.E. instructor at Milton and the school’s girls tennis coach, was head coach for nine seasons at Milton in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He also is a Milton alumnus. He has served as athletics director during his 23 years teaching at his alma mater.

Milton graduated four starters, three that signed with ACC or SEC schools. The fifth starter, Jalyn Patteson, transferred to a school in Florida. The team won’t be without some weapons, though. Mo Lewis IV, a key member of the ‘12 team returns with younger brother Chris Lewis, rated by many the top freshman in the state.

Continue reading Milton hires Keys to replace Boyd as boys basketball coach »

Here is this week’s schedule with projected margins of victory courtesy of the Maxwell Ratings. The projected winner is on the left. The projected margin of victory is on the right. The Maxwell computer ratings take into account historical scores, weighing the more recent seasons the most heavily. Games involving out-of-state teams are not included because of lack of data on those opponents.

Friday’s games

Alcovy at Druid Hills -18

Allatoona vs. Hiram -24

Alpharetta at Lambert -7

Apalachee vs. Salem -12

Appling Co. vs. Tattnall Co. -13

Aquinas vs. Warren Co. -31

Athens Academy vs. George Walton Academy -11

Athens Christian vs. Pinecrest Academy -5

Bainbridge at Northside, Columbus -24

Baldwin at Mary Persons -4

Banneker vs. Therrell -31

Beach at Southeast Bulloch 0

Benedictine at Toombs Co. -12

Berrien at Pelham -1

Bowdon at Bremen -9

Brooks Co. vs. Cook -13

Brookwood at Berkmar -33

Bryan Co. vs. Atkinson Co. -21

Buford vs. Fannin Co. -41

Cairo at Americus-Sumter …

Continue reading Maxwell Ratings: Projected margin of victories for Week 10 games »

Forfeits often reverse the most lopsided of games. Buford’s forfeited victories came by margins of more than 60 points. Here are the 10 most-lopsided games overturned by forfeit:

1998 Swainsboro 78, Hancock Central 0

2011 Dalton 73, Murray County 0

2011 SE Whitfield 70, Murray County 0

1989 Stone Mountain 69, Druid Hills 7

1990 McNair 65, Druid Hills 0

2012 Buford 63, Banks County 0

1990 Waycross 63, Pierce County 6

2012 Buford 61, West Hall 0

1994 Brunswick 61, Windsor Forest 0

2002 Dunwoody 60, Riverwood 7

Source: GHSFHA.com

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

Continue reading Most-lopsided games that were overturned by forfeits »

This is what the first round of the state playoffs would look like, based on our updated projections of the final region standings. The fields for the Class A public- and private-school playoffs will be determined by the power rankings.

Class AAAAAA

(R3 #4) Tri-Cities at (R2 #1) Lovejoy

(R4 #3) North Cobb at (R1 #2) Lowndes

(R5 #4) Etowah at (R8 #1) Parkview

(R6 #3) Alpharetta at (R7 #2) North Gwinnett

(R2 #4) Rockdale County at (R3 #1) Hughes

(R1 #3) Colquitt County at (R4 #2) South Cobb

(R8 #4) South Gwinnett at (R5 #1) Lassiter

(R7 #3) Mill Creek at (R6 #2) Johns Creek

(R4 #4) Marietta at (R1 #1) Camden County

(R3 #3) East Coweta at (R2 #2) Newton

(R6 #4) Chattahoochee at (R7 #1) Norcross

(R5 #3) Milton at (R8 #2) Grayson

(R1 #4) Valdosta at (R4 #1) McEachern

(R2 #3) Alcovy at (R3 #2) Newnan

(R7 #4) Collins Hill at (R6 #1) West Forsyth

(R8 #3) Brookwood at (R5 #2) Walton

Class AAAAA

(R3 #4) Glynn Academy at (R2 #1) Northside-Warner Robins

(R4 #3) Creekside at (R1 #2) Lee …

Continue reading Projecting the playoff field: Week 10 »

Buford made news this week when it was forced to forfeit victories over Banks County and West Hall. Buford, ranked No. 4 in Class AAA, fell to 4-3 from 6-1. The rulings by the GHSA also made North Hall (6-1, 4-0) the front-runner in Region 8-AAA. Buford self-reported the use of an academically ineligible player for just two plays in each of those games. Most forfeits occur because of ineligible players used inadvertently.

Here are 10 of the more interesting forfeit cases in GHSA football history:

1961 Waycross – Waycross is the only team in state history to win a state title after forfeiting victories. The Bulldogs were defending Class AA champions in 1960, coming off a 13-0 season under coach Earl O’Neal, so forfeiting their first two games of the season, against Appling County and Bacon County, was big news. They then lost their third game to Benedictine, making them 0-3. But Waycross corrected itself in time to win 10 consecutive games to the title.

1986 Peach County – …

Continue reading Evans’ 1987 playoff loss among state’s most memorable forfeits »

By Stephen Black

Score Atlanta

At the state softball tournament from Columbus, No. 1 Kennesaw Mountain fell to Mill Creek 6-3 in the quarterfinals and will play Region 4-rival Harrison today in an elimination game. Also in AAAAAA, No. 5 Lassiter defeated No. 2 East Coweta and will face No. 6 Archer today in the winner’s bracket. No. 8 Collins Hill beat Harrison 3-2 and will play Mill Creek today also in the winner’s bracket. Archer defeated Hillgrove in the fourth and final game in the state’s largest classification. The Hawks will face elimination against East Coweta today.

In Class AAAAA, top-ranked Union Grove shut out South Paulding 7-0 then defeated Whitewater 1-0. No. 7 Pope defeated No. 3 Greenbrier 7-1 as sophomore Kelly Barnhill earned the win in the circle. Barnhill also started against Loganville, a 1-0 Greyhounds win. Pope faces the No. 1 Wolverines today. Whitewater advanced by defeated Allatoona 4-1. The Buccaneers face South Paulding in an elimination game …

Continue reading Softball: Top-ranked Mustangs face elimination »

Compiled by Score Atlanta

AAAAAA

Archer 8, Hillgrove 2

Collins Hill 3, Harrison 2

Lassiter 8, East Coweta 0

Mill Creek 6, Kennesaw Mountain 3

AAAAA

Loganville 4, Northgate 3

Pope 7, Greenbrier 1

Pope 1, Loganville 0

Union Grove 7, South Paulding 0

Union Grove 1, Whitewater 0

Whitewater 4, Allatoona 1

AAAA

Madison County 3, Wayne County 1

Northwest Whitfield 8, Rutland 0

Northwest Whitfield 8, Madison County 3

South Effingham 4, Lumpkin County 0

West Laurens 2, Columbus 1

West Laurens 5, South Effingham 1

AAA

Buford 7, Jackson 1

Buford 4, Chapel Hill 0

Central-Carroll 2, Blessed Trinity 1

Central-Carroll 10, Pike County 6

Chapel Hill 4, Jackson County 1

Pike County 4, Ringgold 0

AA

Bremen 4, Jeff Davis 0

Dade County 6, Harlem 0

Dade County 4, Bremen 1

Heard County 4, Bacon County 0

Wesleyan 8, Vidalia 3

Wesleyan 9, Heard County 3

A Private

Darlington 7, Pace Academy 4

Mt. Pisgah 10, Eagle’s Landing Christian 3

Mt. Pisgah 8, Savannah Christian 1

Prince Avenue Christian 8, …

Continue reading Softball Scores »

Miller Grove has forced itself into what was thought to be a three-team race in 6-AAAAA, and the Wolverines can do a little more damage this weekend against Tucker as the region’s top four teams meet. But I expect Tucker to slow Miller Grove’s momentum and remain in the title hunt. Look for M.L. King to stay on top of the region with a victory against Stephenson that most likely won’t resemble last season’s 50-49 contest. And Washington County will capture the Region 3-AAA title by knocking off Thomson.

Congratulations go out to Will Sullins of Rome, who was last week’s winner in the High School Football Pickoff contest. Sullins was one of three contestants to correctly pick the winner in 14 of 15 games and won the tiebreaker for the closest guess of the score in the Thomas County Central-Lee County game. Click here to sign up and participate in this week’s contest.

THE WEEKEND PREDICTIONS

Last week: 163-28 (.853); Overall: 1,038-241 …

Continue reading Predictions: Big Region 6-AAAAA showdowns favor Tucker, M.L. King »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

There are several big games with post season ramifications on tap in Week 10. We highlight some of them and project some first-round playoff scenarios based on the updated Power Rankings.

Also, for fun, we look at what the first round would look like under the old system. And finally, I give “My Take” on the whole “transfer/recruiting” issue, which is a key reason many people believe splitting the public and private schools is a good idea. Here we go!

TOP GAMES

Walker (7-0, 4-0) at Whitefield Academy (5-2, 4-0 in Region 6-Division B  ). This one will decide the sub region champion in Region 6. It will also break the 5-5 tie in the all-time series between the two Cobb County private schools. Whitefield won last season, 38-13. Walker is one of only two teams (No. 3 Athens Academy) still undefeated in Class A.

No. 8 Irwin County (5-2, 3-0 in Region 2) at Turner County (5-2, 2-2). In an attempt to claim its first region title since 1998, …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Games of the week, first-round playoff projections and “My Take” on transferring, recruiting »

By Fletcher Proctor

For the AJC

Harrison fans will see a familiar face running the football program on an interim basis after Marty Galbraith left the Harrison program Thursday morning. Cobb County School District Communications Specialist Doug Goodwin confirmed this morning that Galbraith is no longer with the program, citing an personal matter. He would not comment further.

Goodwin also confirmed that Bruce Cobleigh will take over as interim head coach until a new permanent coaching hire can be made. He did not have a timeline for that, saying it was a decision that would be made by Harrison High School. The high school had no comment this morning on the situation.

Galbraith was hired before the year, taking over for David Hines. He led Harrison to a 4-3 mark including victories against Woodstock, Campbell, Pebblebrook and Kennesaw Mountain. He was 3-2 in region play but lost last week at home to South Cobb. Galbraith was returning to Georgia high school football after …

Continue reading Galbraith out, Cobleigh back in at Harrison »

Five things to watch in Class AAAAAA this week …

- Is it a must-win game for Archer and South Gwinnett? – The deepest AAAAAA region north of Region 1 is Region 8. There’s probably not enough room for Archer (6-2, 4-2) and South Gwinnett (5-2, 4-1) in the playoffs. They play each other Friday at Archer.

According to the Maxwell Ratings, both are top-20 teams, better than at last a dozen teams that are going to make the playoffs. But Archer needs to beat South Gwinnett this week or seventh-ranked Grayson next week to make it. The Tigers have lost heartbreakers to Brookwood (20-19) and Parkview (20-18).

South Gwinnett’s only losses are to No. 3 Norcross and No. 7 Grayson. They’ll need to beat Archer, Brookwood or Parkview to make the playoffs.

- Milton-Walton gets national (ESPNU) attention – The Milton-Walton game will be televised by ESPNU at 9 p.m. Friday. Some would argue that these teams have the best running backs in Class AAAAAA (although Alvin Kamara at …

Continue reading AAAAAA blog: Archer (6-2) vs. South Gwinnett (5-2) might be must-win situation »

The top four teams in Region 6-AAAAA will go head-to-head this weekend as they begin to try to sort out the logjam at the top created by Miller Grove’s upset of Stephenson last week.

M.L. King leads Stephenson, Tucker and Miller Grove by one game in the region standings and can capture the region title by winning out against those three teams, beginning on Friday against Stephenson at Hallford Stadium. Either M.L. King or Stephenson won the region title every year from 2005-2011 when they played in 2-AAAAA, the highest classification at the time.

Miller Grove also can win the region title with victories in its final three games, beginning on Friday against Tucker. Miller Grove, which has won five consecutive games since an early season loss to Mays, has never been to the playoffs and probably needs at least one more victory to get there this season.

But there are other Class AAAAA games this weekend with playoff implications, as well. Here are some of the best:

*Lee County …

Continue reading Top teams to begin sorting out bottleneck in 6-AAAAA »