AAAAAA blog: #1 Camden falls … Grayson wins region after all … South Gwinnett denies Parkiew … Check out the playoff draw

Four newsworthy happenings from Friday –

- No. 1 Camden County goes down – Camden had clinched a No. 1 seed in the state playoffs, but don’t think the Wildcats didn’t want to beat Colquitt County to run the table in their first season in vaunted Region 1. Instead, it was 10th-ranked Colquitt pulling the upset, 13-12. John Boatright’s 3-yard run in the fourth quarter and the ensuing extra point gave Colquitt the final margin in the final minute. Camden missed an extra point and later a two-point conversion and then a desperate 55-yard field goal in the final seconds. Camden County was ranked in the top five of four national polls with a high of No. 2 in the CNN/SI rankings. The seedings for the state playoffs in Region 1 remained the same. Camden is No. 1 and will play at home against Hillgrove, and Colquitt is No. 4 and will play on the road at McEachern.

- South Gwinnett denies Parkview’s Region 8 title – South Gwinnett upset No. 9 Parkview 16-14 on a field goal in the final seconds. Parkview (7-3) could’ve clinched its first region title since 2004. Parkview drove for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, but South Gwinnett (8-2) had the final say and wound up with the No. 2 seed in Region 8 and a home playoff game next week. Parkview fell to No. 3 in the region standings and must travel in the first round.

- Grayson wins Region 8 after all – Grayson, the 2011 champion of AAAAA and the preseason No. 1 in AAAAAA, fell out of the Top 10 briefly after a 22-7 loss to Parkview on Sept. 7. Since then, the Rams have taken it out on seven straight opponents, winning by average of 48-7. They gave Brookwood a taste o it 42-13 on Friday. But Grayson still needed Parkview to lose twice to claim the region title. Parkview slipped to Central Gwinnett 30-27 on Oct. 26, then to South Gwinnett. The drama of Robert Nkemdiche’s de-commit from Clemson wasn’t a factor Friday night. The Grayson defensive end and running back rushed for 74 yards and had two sacks.

- Playoff teams nearly set – Except for Region 5, the four state-playoff teams from each region are set. Valdosta eliminated Coffee in Region 1 with an impressive 44-8 victory. … Rockdale County took Region 2’s fourth playoff berth with an 18-14 victory over Druid Hills. … Tri-Cities took the final playoff berth in Region 3 with a victory over Douglas County. … Wheeler apparently made it in Region 5 despite talk of mini-games. … South Cobb has a small chance of slipping in from Region 4, but Hillgrove got the fourth seed despite losing to region champ McEachern 33-30. Hillgrove will travel to angry Camden County in the first round. Make that doubly angry Camden. Hillgrove stunned No. 1-ranked Camden on the road in the second round in 2010.

DRAW (unofficial)

(R3 #4) Tri-Cities at (R2 #1) Lovejoy
(R4 #3) Marietta at (R1 #2) Lowndes
(R5 #4) TBA at (R8 #1) Grayson
(R6 #3) Johns Creek at (R7 #2) North Gwinnett

(R2 #4) Rockdale County at (R3 #1) Hughes
(R1 #3) Valdosta at (R4 #2) North Cobb
(R8 #4) Brookwood at (R5 #1) Lassiter
(R7 #3) Mill Creek at (R6 #2) Alpharetta

(R4 #4) Hillgrove 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) South Gwinnett

(R1 #4) Colquitt County at (R4 #1) McEachern
(R2 #3) Alcovy at (R3 #2) Newnan
(R7 #4) Collins Hill at (R6 #1) West Forsyth
(R8 #3) Parkview at (R5 #2) Walton

323 comments Add your comment

AVikingFan

November 10th, 2012
10:42 am

A HUGE CONGRATS to Valdosta and Colquitt for their impressive wins last night.

@TipSmooth As for your coach being so “conservative” last night and at Lowndes, FWIW, our Randy Mac does the same thing in big games. But I’ll accept their won/loss record and choose to keep’em a while longer. Both are “pret near being damn fine coaches.”

@Fred — Perhaps McEachern’s coach is not “afraid” of Colquitt, as you say, but I’m sure as heck he is a good enough coach to be quite concerned. I’m guessing either Valdosta OR Colquitt would send the Mac Indians PACKING!

@ topper, according to the way I see the brackets, Colquitt, being on the lower right and Camden being on the upper right, would meet in the semi’s, not as you say, the Dome.

@Marietta2Blazer2Lowndes (banker/spotter friend of mine) — If we take care of your alma mater next week like we should, big OP and I plan to arrive at Lovejoy by high noon the day after Thanksgiving to set up the grills, tents, and smack talking brag stations. Plans are to have the 20 some odd band buses and Lowndes County blue lights to circle the stadium and drive by our tailgating, screaming, rocking, cowbell ringing, jug shaking 5 or 6,000 fans and let everyone know Lowndes has come to town!

The Mayor of Atlanta may have surrendered his city to the putrid blue coat yankees at Lovejoy Station, but the Vikings and big OP’s rebel yell will be heard at Stone Mountain and Kennesaw!

Our RB Nick Burgman and FS Tyquan Lang will be in Troy, AL today to see what all the fuss is about at Franklin and Soloman’s place. Troy is hosting Navy. Miss Judy and the Troy recruiters are licking their chops hoping to get both of’em to become residents for the next 4 or 5 years. They could both be ready for your am Friday night at the CP.

LTrojan Fan

November 10th, 2012
10:46 am

I don’t understand how the GHSA can set a rule about tie-breakers with the mini play-in games and the the AD’s at the school just go…NO WE DON”T WANT TO DO THAT. I think the rules are the rules and the mini games should be played. Beside, can you imagine how fun it would be to watch these 10- minute games???

waynester

November 10th, 2012
10:46 am

After the “morning after” and we go back and look at the Colquitt/Camden game minus the hyperbole Camden will still look like the team to beat for good reason. They really are the most dominant force in Ga HS football right now, despite playing a poor game on the road. Don’t get me wrong–I couldn’t be happier with the outcome(Happy as a Hawg in Mud) with the Pack slipping in to the playoffs. This isn’t CC’s most talented team but they’ve managed to keep games close vs elite competition and that’s the type of team to beware of in the playoffs. The addition of Camden to the region has really re-energized the whole region and raised the stakes for all involved…..

Warrior Nation

November 10th, 2012
10:49 am

Love seeing Cobb support Cobb! Goodluck to all of the Cobb County teams. Let’s show them that there is talent somewhere other than South Georgia!

jvillebil

November 10th, 2012
10:49 am

L Trojan Fan: I grew up in GA lived in Fla the past 15 years. We had a Monday night playoff game 3 years ago here with 3 teams competeting for 2 spots. Our stadium was sold out, it was unbelievably exciting, like watch O.T. games back to back to back. Plus we brought in a ton of exta money.LOL

Rynard Watson

November 10th, 2012
10:53 am

Seems from all the above comments all but one are discounting the Wildcats of Valdosta!
Keep that up and c where we go!!!!!!

AVikingFan

November 10th, 2012
11:01 am

Rynard Watson, this Viking fan predicts Region 1-AAAAAA will be toting brooms Friday night, for a clean sweep!

stooge

November 10th, 2012
11:30 am

“Propst is an idiot. He berates the officials on most every play. His antics are a joke.”
“Camden must have been playing their JV to save the studs for the playoffs. Colquitt ain’t that good.”

See you in Atlanta

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
11:35 am

sportsnut……Colquitt played great game! The officiating was terrible, for both sides, but especially for Camden. For example, throwing a flag on Propst for unsportsman like conduct, then waving it off. Throwing a flag for pass interference and waving it off. Calling an obvious fumble by Camden’s QB a forward pass, and the list goes on. But that was not why Camden lost, Propst played to win, his strategy of using his 230 lb plus QB as another RB was very effective. Herron played not to lose. He placed too much on the defense when they’re not accustomed to playing that many snaps. He has numerous offensive weapons, but chooses to use them conservatively. I can understand his approach of using minimal offense. I understand not exposing too much and using your defense to seal the deal. Camden has 5 losses in the last 4 years and most of them came in a similar fashion! I just wish Coach Herron would stop being so conservative with his high powered offense. Good luck Region 1 and Go Camden county Wildcats! :-D

NGHS 09

November 10th, 2012
11:40 am

@ Fred…I would like to know also lol

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
11:41 am

McEachern will be a HARD out! They have the edge on offense, Colquitt had the edge on defense. :-)

Stooge

November 10th, 2012
11:52 am

@Camden74-Using that quarterback as a RB was unexpected by all of us. You guys make a team work too hard for points :) ! Great game and the best of luck to Camden. Yes we have a bit if a loose cannon at the helm but he can take a ship out a storm when needs to(now the real storm begins).

NGHS 09

November 10th, 2012
12:02 pm

Lets just say that all bets are off after round one. The BEST team will have proven themselves the BEST team in December.

NGHS 09

November 10th, 2012
12:03 pm

@Camden74…McEachern has an outstanding offense and their defense has athletes everywhere.

how 'bout

November 10th, 2012
12:09 pm

…Congrats to Colquitt County & especially Cole Seagraves …this kid put his team on his back last night & just kept bringing it :) …good luck going into the playoff …see you again in the semi’s :D …that is if Camden can get its offensive act together :(

The Cross

November 10th, 2012
12:19 pm

Here we go the real season begins…Based on what I have seen so far, the winner will come from region 7 or 8. Region 1 will lose one or two teams in round 1, one or two more in round 2 and whomever is left will have their season end in round 3. Gwinnett just plays better football and gets exposed to a lot better athletes top to bottom. Lassiter still has not played a schedule worthy enough for a number one ranking, but I believe they will be ranked number one for two weeks and then they will get bounced.

The Cross

Falconguy45

November 10th, 2012
12:24 pm

Cobb people….. Not to be rude, but don’t come into this blog and talk about how great your teams are. Last years state championship was a complete mismatch between Grayson and Walton. Walton had negative yards rushing with one of the states best running backs. The final score could have been 50-0. Until a Cobb team proves itself against a Region 1 or Gwinnett school, then you cannot come in here and prove to us that your a contender. The level of competition that you guys play does not equal some of the other regions. North Georgia football has been put on the map from the Gwinnett schools. Time for you guys to prove something and not talk about it.

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
12:28 pm

Stooge…..The big surprise was the 69 yard TD run! All of Camden’s players with the exception of maybe two, were bunched up at the line of scrimmage and low and behold, he out runs everyone to the end zone! A once in a lifetime event!…..LOL Best of luck to you guys too! Go Camden County Wildcats! :-D

Dum-Bass

November 10th, 2012
12:30 pm

One observation after getting some game info late last night. Looks like Mr. Richt at UGA may have been recruiting the wrong QB! The one who looked like a college QB was Cole Segraves of Colquitt Co. Ramsey was not that impressive. In fact he was rather quiet. Here’s CS’s stats: 18 carries for 144 yds(yes that’s the QB) and 20-34 passing for 160 yds. He alone was responsible for 304 yds. Guess why the Packers won the game? If a stranger from say, TX, had been visiting in the stands last night, and you asked him after the game to guess which QB was highly recruited and going to UGA, he would, without blinking, have said, the Packer QB. Looks like MR is too busy recruiting “thugs” so they can get suspended and arrested and he’s not checking out the QB’s in the state too well! Segraves ran all over Camden, right up the middle several times, and even outran their secondary on a 70yd. run for a TD. Think he had his best game as a Packer and may carry them through the playoffs. He can run and he can throw. Also, they have an excellent backup QB. As an outside observer, I look for Camden and Colquitt to meet again in the semis.

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
12:30 pm

NGHS 09……McEachern is exactly where I expected them to be. This game will be a good one. Colquitt had better have it’s secondary ready! :-)

Falconguy45

November 10th, 2012
12:32 pm

I agree that Seagraves is an excellent QB with good size. Is he being recruited? If so, where? He played well against Grayson last year.

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
12:37 pm

Hopefully last night was a wake up call to Coach Herron. Release the CATS! :-D

topper

November 10th, 2012
12:43 pm

sportsnut – Colquitt straight up beat us last night no excuses.

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
12:44 pm

Not sure, I heard he was being recruited by some of the Mid-Majors. Possibly one or more of the Florida Schools. He stood tall the same way last season against Camden in the playoffs….. :-) .

topper

November 10th, 2012
12:46 pm

AVikingFan – my exact words were “If Camden and Colquitt play again it will be in Camden.”

57Cat

November 10th, 2012
12:47 pm

Dum-Bass – Had you seen the Colquitt – Valdosta game you might not be so high on Seagraves. Were it not for Mobley, Colquitt would never have made the comeback that they did. Seagraves had a very poor game. Also, I don’t remember the stats, but I do recall Ramsey looking like the real deal when Camden beat us pretty good.

Camden74

November 10th, 2012
12:53 pm

Ramsey is definitely the real deal, but you can’t turn a player on and off like a switch. Get him in the flow of the game early, then if you need him later to pull it out, he’ll be ready. :-D

Coffee Trojan#44

November 10th, 2012
1:03 pm

Congrats to all 1-AAAAAA teams that made the playoffs!

HAWG WILD!

November 10th, 2012
1:07 pm

Cole Seagraves is the man!!!!! This kid is the real deal and if the coaches would turn him loose and let him sling it downfield more his #’s would be amazing!! GO PACK GO!!!

PackerHawg

November 10th, 2012
1:25 pm

Sportsnut…I was there…Great game by two very good teams, both teams got equally bad calls, Camden played everybody..Green-Ramsey, etc, just a great High School football game in the Hog Pen…Both teams will go deep into the playoffs…Welcome to Region 1-AAAAAA…Good luck to the Cats, Vikings and VHS-Cats!

Graydog

November 10th, 2012
1:27 pm

I think last night was a coaches ploy. Colquitt told all their secrets and Camden told none. Colquitt had to win and Camden did not. If,on the other hand,last night was the best we can do, then, we have been way over rated all season.
Camden doing what Camden knows is a 500 yd. offense and lights out defence. No excuses. Colquitt is more like a shower in a third world country. this week they’re hot next week they’re frozen.

Fred

November 10th, 2012
1:29 pm

Before we lose sight of the regular season, I just want to say I have seen some outstanding football played this season from all over the state! I have really enjoyed this year and I hope everyone else has as well. Safe travels to all teams as the distances generally get greater during the playoff (except for regions 1! ;-) ).

yo

November 10th, 2012
1:32 pm

South Georgia 4 teams and cross the state of Georgia travel.

North Georgia 28 teams and cross town travel.

Sorry you are at such a disadvantage North Georgia. :-)

PackerHawg

November 10th, 2012
1:34 pm

Graydog…Don’t worry!…We can afford plenty of heaters to take to Atlanta with us!

Fred

November 10th, 2012
1:36 pm

I’m just not buying that Camden didn’t want the win last night. Even though the game had no relevance in the R1 standings, the loss means the hopes for a MNC are out the door! I’m fully aware the national polls don’t mean that much in general scheme of things but they do kind of confirm what you may think about your team. I don’t know how the pollsters will treat this lose but I would not be surprised to see them drop out of the top ten in several polls.

topper

November 10th, 2012
2:00 pm

Fred- I would be shocked if they didn’t drop out of the top 10 in all the polls.

LassiterAlumni2011

November 10th, 2012
2:03 pm

Not so Fast Grayson fans y’all might be the #1 seed but if you do your research on wheeler you will see that they gave Langston Hughes there only loss of the season and they are a much better team then there record shows but enough about wheeler because my Lassiter boys about to beat both Brookwood & Alpharetta just like last year then beat Hughes and then whoever else we gotta play TrojanNation Its time for Printz and the Trojans to do work good Luck to all of Cobb

AVikingFan

November 10th, 2012
2:16 pm

@TOPPER — My bad! Someone else said that on another blog. Thought it was you. Did not mean to be disrespectful. If a rematch occurs, it WILL be at Camden.

Graydog

November 10th, 2012
3:37 pm

I looked at the complete/incomplete pass at the end of the game to #4and the missed 55 yd. field goal.Colquitt got very lucky on both of those plays. This year lucks great and next year looks just as good.

Dum-Bass

November 10th, 2012
3:53 pm

Camden got very “lucky” also on one huge play toward the end. That was a fumble and was ruled an incomplete pass. He was hit before he started his throw and Colquitt recovered it. If there was such a thing as replay review in HS, no doubt in my mind what the outcome would have been. Watching it objectively on the net I thought there were some bad calls but it went both ways. The outcome was decided more by the coaches than the referees.

Graydog

November 10th, 2012
4:03 pm

Packerhawg , you might strap those heaters to your team.
Your team played a fine game. Great game plan , great execution. Go beat Maceachern. Maybe we’ll meet again.

border dweller

November 10th, 2012
4:04 pm

Can’t blame the refs for the Camden loss, the ‘Cats had several opportunities to put the game away and simply couldn’t, and the reason they couldn’t was those Hawgs. There are always bad calls in HS Football, and there were a few both ways last night, but that was one heck of a HS footbal game, just like last year’s. This 1AAAAAA thing is gonna be fun for years to come. Just please try to teach Probst not to be such a punk on the sidelines. That’s an embarrassment to an otherwise great team.

LoyalDawg

November 10th, 2012
4:32 pm

Congratulations to West Forsyth HS, Region 6 Champions! Nice job guys. Good luck in the playoffs.

HereWeGo

November 10th, 2012
5:41 pm

For those of you asking, I like North Gwinnett based on the fact that they beat Colquitt County already. They also had Norcross beat but a dropped touchdown pass that changed the momentum of the game. They have dominated everyone else they have seen which includes multiple playoff teams. They have one of the best QBs in the state who will test the Grayson defense like they have not yet seen this season.

GwinnettDad

November 10th, 2012
5:56 pm

Looking at the brackets. And looking ahead. Historically most Cobb County teams disappear early, though Walton did make it to the finals, and it was an all Cobb County semi-final before that. But suppose, just suppose the visiting teams from 1-AAAAAA defeat the home teams in round 1. Colquitt over McEachern, Valdosta over North Cobb. If so, it appears to me, anyway, that both Valdosta and Colquitt would have VERY easy 2nd round games regardless of who they play. Suppose Lowndes defeats Lovejoy in the 2nd round. Camden should be HUGE favorites over both their first two round games. Then, there would be four 1-AAAAAA teams left out of 8.

If so, the rest of Georgia High School football might NEVER hear the end of it! But it looks more possible to me, now that the brackets are set, than ever before.

how 'bout

November 10th, 2012
6:01 pm

…question? …is Camden’s #28 Jaccob Johnson less than 100%…

how 'bout

November 10th, 2012
6:04 pm

…just seem a 5′10″ 215-225 lb back makes a better fullback than a 170 lb speedster if you plan on pounding it up the middle…

Truth about McEachern

November 10th, 2012
6:12 pm

McEachern has been underachieving / choking in the state playoffs for nearly 30 years. Seriously, since the mid ’80s, we’ve been waiting on them to capitalize on their monster potential and get over the hump at the state level. Time to finally turn that big corner, McChokern.

yo

November 10th, 2012
6:19 pm

HereWeGo I am hoping you are right about NG over Grayson. Then the possibility of Lowndes not having to travel one week would be drastically improved. Don’t see it happening though.

Packerfan2000

November 10th, 2012
6:22 pm

For all classy Camden fans on here:

Welcome to the region on congratulations on the region championship your first year in.

To the whiners:

Your coach should call both Valdosta and Lowdnes coaches, and thank them very barely beating Colquitt. Otherwise you would have lost the region last night. Also, quit being delusional, and making excuses. Bottom line is you lost so get over it. By the way, Colquitt has some talent too, and we know how to play a little ball over here. Therefore, don’t ask surprised when we find a little bit of chink in that armor, and Propst builds his teams for the playoffs. Regular season is over, slates are clear, and season records no longer matter. Let’s Dance…