Archive for the ‘1ABlog’ Category

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

We’re one day away from Semi Final Friday.

PUBLIC
No. 5 Dooly County (10-2) at No. 1 Lincoln County (11-1)
No. 3 Emanuel County Institute (11-1) at No. 2 Wilcox County (10-2)

PRIVATE
No. 11 George Walton Academy (9-3) at No. 2 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (11-1)
No. 10 Landmark Christian School (9-3) at No. 9 Prince Avenue Christian (10-2)

Todd Holcomb and the folks at Georgia High School Football Daily – a free, daily e-mail newsletter that is a must read for Georgia high school football fans of all classifications – have done a solid job previewing the four semi final games in Class A. Go here to check them out: http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-high-school-sports/2012/12/06/semifinal-previews-class-a/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_high_school_sports

So here at Class A Blog headquarters, we’ve got a little something extra. It no doubt takes great talent to compete for a state title, but it takes great coaching to sustain that level of …

Continue reading Class A: Coaches in semis talk keys to game, other factors »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Even though we are just two weeks away from crowing our champions in football, it’s time to start talking a little hoops. Here’s a look at some teams garnering early attention. Let us know who we’ve missed.

GIRLS

SACA wants the crown
The big bad Wolves of Wesleyan have moved on to Class AA. Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, last year’s runner-up, is looking to lay claim to the throne. The Warriors are 4-0 out of the gate, pending an early season showdown on Tuesday with Buford (1-0), last season’s runner-up in Class AA. SACA is paced by seniors Amber Brown, Mia Anthony, and Alexis Carter, and juniors Marquita Daniels and Amy Griffin.

Holy Innocents’ looks to get into the mix
Holy Innocents’ plans to challenge SACA. The Bears are off to a 5-1 start, winning by an average margin of 21 points per game, including a 52-8 stomping of Landmark Christian. The lone loss was a 53-47 defeat at the hands of Class AAAAAA Brookwood, which is …

Continue reading Class A Basketball: Teams making noise early »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Remember last week when it looked like all the parity was on the private school side? That theory went out the window in the quarterfinal round as all four games were won by at least two touchdowns, and both previously undefeated teams were thumped soundly.

On the public school side, two of the games were decided by 14 points or more.

And it looks like Regions 5 and 8 have lived up to their billing as the two best in Class A. Region 5 teams, Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy and Landmark Christian, went 2-0 on Friday while Region 8 teams – Athens Academy, George Walton Academy and Prince Avenue Christian – were 2-1. Here’s a look at the region records after two rounds:

Region 1: 1-2

Region 2: 2-3

Region 3: 3-2

Region 4: 3-3

Region 5: 4-2

Region 6: 2-5

Region 7: 4-4

Region 8: 5-3

Undefeated no more
The dream seasons ended for No. 1 Athens Academy and No. 3 Walker. In Athens, No. 9 Prince Avenue Christian (10-2) avenged a regular …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Unbeatens Athens Academy, Walker fall hard, Grace and Howard put on a show »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Time for the Second Round, the Elite Eight, or the Quarterfinals, whichever you prefer. Here is a quick look at all eight games – four public and four private.

But first, some have made the argument that while Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy is the clear favorite on the private school side, there is great parity among the other private schools. After the first round, proponents of that theory may be on to something.

If you take the Power Rankings as the measurement of team strength, which many absolutely do not, the top eight seeds were supposed to be the “favorites.” On the private school side, half of those teams lost last week. While the top three – Athens Academy, ELCA and Walker – moved on, No. 4 Brookstone, No. 5 Calvary Day, No. 6 Aquinas and No. 8 Darlington were all soundly beaten. That smacks of a lot of parity among the private schools, ELCA not withstanding.

Meanwhile, on the public school side, things went more …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Quarterfinal previews — 4 public, 4 private »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

The first round is in the books. Both top seeds – Athens Academy (barely) and Lincoln County – will move on. While the higher seeds went 6-2 on the public school side, the lower seeded teams split with the higher seeds on the private side.

Here are the quarterfinal match ups, followed by some observations from the first round and a look at how the regions fared as well.

PUBLIC

No. 9 Wilkinson County at No. 1 Lincoln County

No. 5 Dooly County at No. 4 Seminole County

No. 11 Trion at No. 3 Emanuel County Institute

No. 7 Marion County at No. 2 Wilcox County

PRIVATE

No. 9 Prince Avenue at No. 1 Athens Academy

No. 13 First Presbyterian Day at No. 12 Landmark Christian

No. 11 George Walton Academy at No. 3 Walker

No. 7 Savannah Christian at No. 2 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy

Top 4 public seeds roll, Commerce’s struggles continue

The top four seeds on the public side all cruised to wins in Round 1. No. 1 Lincoln County (21-0 over …

Continue reading Class A: No. 13 FPD over No. 4 Brookstone biggest upset, other top seeds advance »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Class A joins the post season march toward crowning two champions as the playoffs get started this weekend. Here are some facts about each of the 16 games.

PUBLIC

No. 16 Hancock Central (5-5) at No. 1 Lincoln County (9-1). The teams faced each other two weeks ago in the regular season finale. Lincoln, the Region 7 champions, prevailed 27-8, even though the Red Devils rested most of their starters. The Bulldogs are 0-15 against Lincoln, with the closest game being a 28-15 loss last season. Running back Mike McIntire leads Lincoln with 1, 040 yards rushing, while quarterback Ben Turner has thrown for over 1,000 yards as well. Lincolnton is located just minutes from the South Carolina boarder. 

No. 15 Greenville (5-5) at No. 2 Wilcox County (8-2). The only meeting between these two schools came during Wilcox’s championship run in 2009. Wilcox, the Region 2 champions, won the second round playoff game 39-19. Wilcox County is located in Rochelle, …

Continue reading Class A: 16 First round playoff previews, 8 public, 8 private »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Another ripple effect of the New World Order of things in the Class A playoffs is the built-in bye week between the end of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.

So no recap of Friday night’s games … because there were none. But we’ll soldier on with a few nuggets for everyone to chew and stew on until we preview the first round games on Tuesday. But first, a bit of non-football housecleaning:

Congrats to the baseball program at Mt. Pisgah Christian, which is sending two of its players to the next level in 2013. Last week, Kyle Jackson, a 5-11, 185-pound center fielder signed with Coastal Carolina and Adrian Celata, a 6-4, 215-pound catcher, signed with Tusculum. The senior duo looks to help the Patriots improve upon last season’s 16-8 record.

Public school “losers:” Johnson County and Mt. Zion-Carroll? Maybe, maybe not.

Last week we presented a list of public and private school “winners” and “losers” …

Continue reading Class A: Are Johnson County and Mt. Zion-Carroll really public school “losers”? »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Now that the Power Rankings have been settled and the playoff brackets certified, we’ll have plenty of time to examine the games because of this weekend’s built-in bye week to allow the Class A playoffs to keep pace with the other classifications. So today we take a look at some of the winners and losers in the new points-driven Power Ranking system.

But first a bit of house cleaning:  Congratulations to Jordan Wren of Landmark Christian. The 6-1, 170-pound outfielder for the War Eagles signed with Samford this week. If you know of any other Class A athletes signing with colleges on any level, please let us know here at Class A Blog headquarters. Send the information to your humble scribe, S. Thomas Coleman, at s.thomascoleman@yahoo.com.

And now on to our winners and losers.

PUBLIC WINNERS

Commerce
Record: 5-5, 1-5 in Region 8
Power Ranking: 13

The Tigers lost five of their last six games, including the season finale – a 31-21 decision to …

Continue reading Class A: Winners and losers in the new playoff system »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Early on in the new process for selecting teams for the post season in Class A football, you could tell that things weren’t going to end well for a handful of teams.

That day appears to have come on Tuesday when the final Power Rankings for the 36 public and 29 private schools competing in football in Georgia’s smallest classification were released. The Power Rankings delivered a tough pill for several teams to swallow:

– Whitefield Academy, which held the 16th and final playoff spot on the private school side going into last week’s final regular season game, finished 17th after losing to Trion (17-7) last Friday. The Wolfpack finished .01 of a point behind Mt. Pisgah, a team they thrashed (28-6) back on Oct. 19.

– Telfair County finished third in Region 2, ahead of Turner County and Charlton County, both of which it beat during the regular season. Yet the Trojans public school Power Ranking of No. 21 will keep them at home in McRae …

Continue reading Class A: A number of teams hurt by Power Ranking System »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Well, the regular season is done.

But while the playoff field is set in nearly every other region in the state from Class AA to AAAAAA, Class A must wait until Wednesday, when all of the points have been counted, appeals have been exhausted and the Georgia High School Association officially “blesses” the public and private school playoff brackets based on the final Power Rankings. So here is a look at how many of the pivotal games went on Friday night.

Darlington 31, Mt. Pisgah 14. The Tigers (7-3, 4-1 in Region 6) rolled up more than 400 yards of offense in the romp over the Patriots (6-4, 3-2). Darlington already had a solid private school Power Ranking (No. 7) and hopes to move up, while Mt. Pisgah, which had a No. 15 Power Ranking, has to sit and wait to see if it can hang on to a playoff spot.

Trion 16, Whitefield Academy 7. The loss by the Wolfpack (6-4, 5-1 in Region 6) means they will have to wait and see if they can hang on to …

Continue reading Class A: Regular season’s done, time to hurry up and wait on the Power Rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC 

It’s “Judgment Week” in Class A, with a dozen games that will either decide a region champion or have minor to major Power Ranking and post season ramifications.

One of those games is the annual Landmark Christian-Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy donnybrook. We catch up with the man whose team has the biggest target on its back, ELCA head coach Jonathan Gess.

But first, a couple of house cleaning items:

1. There are a couple of websites that have been publishing power rankings for Class A schools that differ wildly from those on the Georgia High School Association’s website. So to make things crystal clear, Steve Figueroa, director of media relations for the GHSA said this:

“The State Executive Committee voted to use a particular formula for this task, and the result of that formula is the listing that appears on the GHSA website under the heading ‘Power Rating Points.’ Nothing else matters. … The only [ranking] that will …

Continue reading Class A: Region titles, Power Rankings on the line in “Judgement Week” »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

It’s Week 12, the final week of the regular season, and in some instances in Class A, it’s “Judgment Week.”

As such, we’ll change things up a bit here at Class A Football Blog headquarters. The latest Power Rankings are out and so we will look at those, instead of posting our Top 5 Lists. At this point, the Power Rankings are much more important. We’ll classify teams as “Locked In,” “Safe,” and “On the Bubble.”

But first, here are the region play-in games for Regions 3 and 6. The coaches in each decided to take different routes to deciding their league champions.

In Region 3, they will use the No. 1 vs. No. 1 and Nos. 2 vs. Nos. 3 format, where the sub region winners face off for the league crown. In Region 4, they will use the Nos. 1 vs. Nos. 4 and Nos. 2 vs. Nos. 3 format. If both No. 1 seeds win, the best Power Ranking will determine the region champion.

Here are the matchups (a few of which we’ll preview later this …

Continue reading Class A: New Power Rankings heading in to the final week of the regular season »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here’s snapshot of some of the key developments Friday night.

Seminole County not dead yet. Seminole County (7-2, 5-0 in Region 1) helped its post season chances immensely on Friday by blanking rival Miller County (8-2, 5-1) 20-0 in front of the hometown crowd in Donaldsonville. Seminole’s defense was the difference, holding the Pirates’ offense to just 173 total yards and minus 3 in the fourth quarter, according to the Albany Herald. Seminole, the defending region champs, most likely needs to win the region in order to make the public school playoffs due to its low Power Ranking, No. 20, this week. Seminole can clinch a playoff birth and the region crown with a win next week at Mitchell County (5-4, 4-1) in Camilla.

Another region title for Lincoln County. Lincoln County (8-1, 6-0), ranked No. 5, rallied from a 13-0 deficit to take down No. 9 Wilkinson County (6-3, 5-1) 21-19, Friday in Lincolnton. Quarterback Ben Turner threw a …

Continue reading Class A: Seminole not dead yet, Region 4 still up for grabs, Landmark surging »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Week 11 is the biggest thus far in Class A in terms of the number of key games. We’ll take a look at some of them.

Also, we’ll clarify the region play-in game scenarios for the two sub divided regions in Class A – 3 and 6 – with a quick look at one of the possible champions, Walker in Region 6. And as we’ve done for the past few weeks, we break down how the first-round playoff matchups would look like if the playoffs began today.

But first, a correction. We reported earlier this week that if Our Lady of Mercy advances to the playoffs this season, it will be the Bobcats’ first visit to the post season in the 12-year history of the football program. Not true.

In 2004, Mercy and Mt. Zion-Carroll went into the last game of the year with 0-9 records. But because Region 5 had just five teams in it at the time, the winner would earn the region’s fourth and final playoff spot. Mercy prevailed 13-12, but was thrashed in the first round by …

Continue reading Class A: Huge games in Week 11, Region play-in game scenarios, Possible first-round playoff pairings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Time for our weekly Divided Top 5s List as we head into Week 11.

But before we get to the Lists, kudos to Our Lady of Mercy head coach Mike Earwood, who earned his 200th career win on Saturday when his Bobcats hammered an overmatched squad from Mt. Vernon Presbyterian, 68-19 (attrition caused by various injuries has reduced the Mustang roster from an already thin 25-30 players down to just 17).

Earwood, whose career record is now 200-97-1, is just the 51st coach in the history of Georgia high school football to amass at least 200 wins. In 26 years as a head coach at Cartersville (1986-1995), Upson-Lee (1996), Starr’s Mill (1998-2009) – where he started the program – and now Mercy (2010-present), Earwood’s teams have claimed one state title (Cartersville, 1991) and eight region titles, and have advanced to the state playoffs 16 times. He has a record of 18-11 at Mercy and has the Bobcats within striking distance of advancing to the state …

Continue reading Class A: New Public-Private Divided Top 5 Lists, Mercy’s Earwood wins No. 200 »