Archive for the ‘1ABlog’ Category

S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here’s a look at how our Top 5’s fared in Week 5. There’s sure to be a shake up in the rankings on Sunday as three Top 10 public schools went down.

(Note:  Charlton County lost to the No. 7 team in AA, Fitzgerald, so it would be tough to penalize them for that.)

PUBLIC

1. Wilcox County (2-1, No. 2 overall). Off this week. Next: Friday at No. 9 Charlton County (2-2).

2. Wilkinson County (1-2, No. 4 overall). The Warriors lost 41-34 to Irwin County (2-2). Next: Friday at Georgia Military (3-0).

3. Marion County (2-1, No. 7 overall). The Eagles lost to Miller County (3-1), 20-7. Rod Williams (8 yards) and Jacolby Jones (25 yards) had rushing touchdowns for Miller County, and Marvin Grant scored on a 40-yard pass from Algin Merritt. The Pirates’ defense held Marion to 112 yards total offense. Next: Friday vs. Greenville (2-1).

4. Lincoln County (2-1, No. 8 overall). Off this week. Next: Friday at First Presbyterian Day (2-1).

5. …

Continue reading Class A: Three public Top 10 teams fell Friday night »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here’s a look at some of the top games in Class A this weekend:

Our Lady of Mercy (3-0, unranked) at Athens Academy (2-0, unranked). This match up could have private school playoff implications down the road. For Athens Academy, it will be a slight upgrade over the competition the Spartans have faced thus far. For Mercy, the Spartans will be a step up in competition as well, but the game also will be a litmus test on how far the program has come since head coach Mike Earwood took over three seasons ago.

The Bobcats are now 16-7 since the arrival of Earwood and assistant head coach Glenn Griffin. That’s the same amount of victories Mercy had claimed in the program’s first nine years of playing varsity football.

“I told our players that I feel like they’ve already made strides,” Earwood said. “Athens Academy is a tradition rich program. They play soundly and they play hard every snap, and this will be a huge test for our …

Continue reading Class A: OLM-Athens Academy, Darlington-King’s Ridge and other games to watch this weekend »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for our Top 5’s heading into Week 5.

But first, here is a note about the power rankings. Some of you have asked about a running tabulation of where teams stand from week to week. The Georgia High School Association with the assistance of MaxPreps.com has done it. Every Wednesday, the GHSA will post updated power rankings on its website (www.ghsa.net). Visit here to find the rankings through last week, and check back tomorrow to see the updated lists.

As of last week, Holy Innocents was leading the private school rankings while Greenville was ahead on the public school side. But be mindful that this is a very fluid list and in no way reflects who the best teams are yet. Case in point, as of last week, Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy would be a No. 4 seed behind Strong Rock Christian, and on the public school side, Wilcox County would be a No. 14 seed.

So give it time. The true picture will begin to …

Continue reading Class A: New Top 5’s list heading into Week 5, GHSA posts power rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here’s a look at how our Top 5’s did Friday night.

PUBLIC
1. Wilcox County beat Dooly County 28-14. In a game that was tightly contested, the difference was the Patriot duo of quarterback Mikail Grace and receiver Jonathan Howard. Grace was 22-of-35 for 319 yards, though he did throw two interceptions. Grace also ran for 29 yards and a touchdown. All but seven of his completions were to Howard, who caught 15 balls for 225 yards and two touchdowns, one of 17 yards and a 71-yarder in the fourth quarter that broke a 14-14 tie. Calling Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech staff. Hello! Is anybody home? Is this thing on? The Patriot defense was solid as well, shutting out Dooly in the second half. The secondary, also led by Grace and Howard, held the Bobcats to just 11 yards passing. Wilcox moves to 2-1 and is off next week. (Note: Stats courtesy of the Macon Telegraph.)

2. Wilkinson County (1-1, No. 4 overall) was off this week. The Warriors …

Continue reading Class A: How the divided Top 5’s faired on Friday »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

There’s only one truly huge Class A game in Week 4 (of course they are all big to the teams involved), but there are several intriguing match-ups.

The Big One

Wilcox County at Dooly County. Wilcox will try to make a statement about its supremacy in Class A when the Patriots travel to “The Grove” in Vienna to face the Bobcats in their home opener. Wilcox is 1-1, No. 2 overall and the top public school in our divided Top 5 list. Dooly is 2-0, No. 8 overall and the No. 4 public school in the divided Top 5. Dooly is coming off of close wins over teams from larger classifications – 21-20 over AA Macon County on Aug. 31 and 21-12 over AAAA Americus-Sumter last week. The Bobcats are led by the state’s top defensive tackle recruit, Montravius Adams, as well as quarterback AJ Smith. Wilcox’s all-state quarterback/safety Mikail Grace will return to action after sitting out last week’s loss to AAAA Monroe (28-14). He was injured in the …

Continue reading Class A: Wilcox at Dooly this weekend’s best game, GWA at Holy Innocents next »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Week 3 saw a number of good teams take losses, which caused a huge shake up in the Top 10 rankings. We’ll look at how our Top 5 Public and Private lists were impacted, see how far mighty Clinch County has fallen and have another installment of “My Take.” Here we go:

PUBLIC:

1. Wilcox County (1-1, Ranked No. 2 overall) Wilcox lost to a pretty good Class AAAA team in Monroe (28-14) last week without one of the state’s best players in quarterback/safety Mikail Grace, who sat out due to concussion-like symptoms after a jarring hit in the final minutes of the previous week’s win over Wilkinson County (No. 4 overall). The Patriots will complete the third leg of what is arguably the state’s toughest three-game stretch to start the season on Friday, when they travel to Dooly County (No. 8 overall).

2. Wilkinson County (1-1, No. 4 overall) Last week the Warriors dominated Landmark Christian (41-10), which had been ranked in the Top 10. …

Continue reading Class A: (Updated) New Top 5’s; Clinch is down, not out; My Take on North Gwinnett’s Bob Sphire »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Six of the Top 10 in Class A went down in Week 3 (Game 2 for most teams). Look for Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy – a 47-20 winner over Clinch County — to become the third team this season (Savannah Christian and Lincoln County were the first two) to be dubbed No. 1 when the new rankings come out on Sunday.

No. 1 Lincoln County (1-1) lost the 75th version of the Highway 378 War, falling to Washington-Wilkes, 21-6. The Red Devils trailed 21-0 before they finally scored in the fourth quarter. Lincoln had won nine of the last 10 meetings. But the Red Devils will pick up a nice amount of points from the game, as the AA Tigers (2-0) look as if they will win a lot of games this season.

No. 2 Wilcox (1-1) lost to AAAA Monroe (1-1), 28-14, but will earn significant points for the game. They earn six for playing a team three classes higher and Monroe looks like it will at least match last year’s regular season win total of six.

No.5 …

Continue reading Class A: Six of Top 10 go down Friday, including No. 1 Lincoln County »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

There are some tremendous games on the slate in Week 3, with no classification having more contests of impact than Class A. Here’s a look at a few.

No. 9 Landmark Christian (1-1) at No. 4 Wilkinson County (0-1). One of the best games in the state, bar none. After a disappointing home loss to Calvary Day (28-21) in its opener, Landmark bounced back last week against Athens Christian (31-7). But the War Eagles will get another stern test down in Irwinton against a Warrior team that is looking to bounce back as well, after losing in the final seconds last week to No. 2 Wilcox County. Landmark is led by senior WR/DB Josh Nobles, who already has four touchdowns on the year, and all-region DB Cole Higbie, who is also playing quarterback. Wilkinson is paced by senior quarterback David Whipple, who threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown and ran for 57 yards and another score against Wilcox. This is the first meeting between the two …

Continue reading Big games on tap already in Week 3 »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Heading into Week 3 (which is the second game for most teams) here’s our Top Fives, public and private, along with a quick look at top-ranked Lincoln County and “My Take” on why Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson needs get down to South Georgia on the double.

Top Fives
Not a whole lot of movement in our Top Fives this week, but more teams moved onto our “Trending” list. Feel free to let us know if we’re spot on, way off, or somewhere in between:

PUBLIC:
1. Lincoln County (1-0 … No. 1 overall … beat McCormick, S.C. for the 20th consecutive time last week, 24-0 … hosts Washington-Wilkes, which moved up to Class AA, on Friday);

2. Wilcox County (1-0 … No. 2 overall … beat Wilkinson County, 41-38, in a thriller in Rochelle last week … hosts a tough Monroe team from Class AAAA on Friday);

3. Wilkinson County (0-1 … No. 4 overall … lost in the final minutes to Wilcox last week … hosts Landmark Christian on Friday); …

Continue reading Top 5 Public, Private Schools; Campbell sandbagging; Tech needs Grace »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

In Week 2, which was the season opener for some, several teams made early statements of various kinds.

Wilcox County 43, Wilkinson County 39.
Statement: That Wilcox (1-0) will again be a contender for a state championship. The Patriots’ win over a quality opponent like Wilkinson County (0-1) in the first game of their season means they will probably be in familiar territory at season’s end – in the think of the title chase.

Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 32, Briarwood Christian (Birmingham) 7.
Statement: Thmight be the year ELCA (1-1) wins a state title. After a narrow loss last week (24-19) to one of the best teams in Class AAA, Washington County, ELCA bounced back with a win over one of the best teams in Alabama’s second largest class.

Clinch County 36, Mitchell County 20.
Statement: Talk of the Panthers’ demise is premature. Clinch was throttled by Class AA Brooks County in Week 1, but bounced back to knock off a solid …

Continue reading Teams make early statements in Week 2 »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

It’s time for us to look at a handful of big games in Week 2, which is actually Opening Week for a great number of teams. But first, as of course it’s never to early to talk about the playoffs, let’s examine something pretty interesting in Class A.

Last season, of the 32 teams to advance to the post season, 19 were public schools and 13 were private schools. Public: Bacon County, Bowdon, Bremen, Calhoun County, Charlton County, Clinch County, Commerce, Dooly County, Emanuel County Institute, Greenville, Johnson County, Lincoln County, Marion County, Miller County, Mitchell County, Seminole County, Washington-Wilkes, Wilcox County and Wilkinson County.

Private: Aquinas, Athens Academy, Brookstone, Calvary Day, Darlington, Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy, First Presbyterian Day, George Walton Academy, Holy Innocents, Landmark Christian Academy, Mt. Paran Christian, Prince Avenue Christian and Savannah Christian.

This year when the …

Continue reading Open playoff spots, Games of the Week, Possible player shortage at SACA »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Week 1 is in the books but not every team in Georgia played its first game. Many will take the field for the first time in 2012 this weekend.

Heading into Week 2, we’ll take a look at our Top Five public and private school teams and check in with possible title contenders Calvary Day and Wilcox County.

Darlington loses to defending Tennessee AAA champ
Before we get to the Top 5, a bit of house cleaning. Darlington (0-1), the preseason No. 10 team in Class A, was beaten by Christian Academy of Knoxville (Tenn.) last Saturday, 42-23.

It was a tale of two halves as CAK (2-0) dominated the first two quarters and led 35-9 at intermission. But their star player, senior receiver Josh Davis, who has committed to Tennessee, broke his collar bone and did not play in the third and fourth quarters, according to the Knoxville Sentinel. Darlington took advantage, outscoring the Warriors 14-7 in the second half. Darlington finished with 401 yards of offense …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Week 2 (Top Fives, check in with Calvary Day and Wilcox County) »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Week 1 is in the books. It’s just Week 1, so it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. So for now, we’ll go the “Jeopardy” route and pose everything as a question.

Road to private school title still goes through Savannah? Defending Class A champion Savannah Christian, the pre-season No. 1 team in Class A, is rebuilding this season after losing 15 seniors, including standout running back Will Austin and two players now playing at Division I schools – linebacker/safety Nardo Govan, at Georgia Southern, and defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown, at Louisville. The Raiders’ youth showed a bit Friday night in a 21-20 loss to Jenkins, a Class AAAAA school that is 26-26 over the last five seasons. (Note: The Raiders probably shouldn’t have been ranked that high to begin the season.)

But Calvary Day looks primed to pick up the flag for Savannah. The Cavaliers, who have most of their starters back from a 10-2 season in 2011, battled …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Week 1 Wrap Up »

Continue reading Class A Blog: Games to watch in Week 1 »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

It’s baaaaack! Or should I say, “We’re back!”

Football season is here again and back by popular demand are the Football Blogs for each of the six classifications in the Georgia High Schools Association (GHSA). Three days a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday – look for blogs from the writers covering high school sports for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Interaction and participation from and with you is the goal. Check out the blogs and give us your feedback on the blog sites or on Twitter @ajcprepsports.

So let’s get to it! Here’s the first Class A blog for the 2012 season.

Power rating for the post season
Remember, there are six classifications in Georgia now, from A to AAAAAA, after the GHSA voted earlier this year to add another one. And one could argue that there are actually seven classes, given the fact that private schools and public schools will compete for separate championships in the major sports this year.

But …

Continue reading Class A Football Blog: Power rankings, Top 5’s, Earwood nears 200 wins »