Saye It Ain’t So: Surprising and notable results from Week 11
Ranking the most surprising and notable games of the weekend:
1. Decatur 40, Chamblee 38: Decatur scored on a fourth-down, 53-yard halfback pass from Tristan Strickland to Malachi Miller with 11 seconds left in the 4-5A game to capture its first region championship since 2004. Chamblee was a seven-point favorite, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings. Decatur is 4-0 in region play after starting the season 1-4.
2. Carver (Columbus) 27, Dougherty 0: Ranked No. 4 in Class 3A two weeks ago, Dougherty slid to the No. 3 seed in Region 1 with its second consecutive loss, this one against one-point underdog Carver, which will be the No. 2 seed. Dougherty will open the playoffs on the road against the No. 2 seed from Region 2 (Jackson, Upson-Lee or Mary Persons).
3. Mount Zion (Carroll) 33, Christian Heritage 10: Though hardly a stunner, Mount Zion pulled off the Maxwell Ratings’ biggest upset of the week when it beat 18-point favorite Christian Heritage in a Region 7-A Division II game. Mount Zion can secure its first region title since 2018 with a victory this week, but it will have to win against top-ranked Bowdon to accomplish it.
4. Holy Innocents’ 42, Stephenson 14: Stephenson had a chance to clinch the Region 6-4A title but instead fell into a tie for first place with Westminster and Holy Innocents’, which was an eight-point underdog. All are 3-1 in region play. Barring an upset in Week 12, the teams will finish tied for first place, with the seeding order being determined by the region’s point-differential tiebreakers.
5. Berrien 35, Dodge County 29: Berrien clinched its first winning season since 1994 with a victory over seven-point favorite Dodge County, which had beaten then-No. 3 Cook the previous week. Berrien is 6-3 overall and tied for third place in Region 1-2A with a 3-2 mark in league play but finishes the regular season against top-ranked Fitzgerald.
Worth noting: Allatoona, all but written off after a 1-5 start that included losses in its first two Region 6-6A games, is tied for second place after beating four-point favorite Sequoyah 10-0 for its third straight win. The Buccaneers will be the region’s No. 2 seed if they beat River Ridge this week. … Chestatee picked up its second win of the season with a 32-28 victory over 16-point favorite East Forsyth, which lost its third straight game after a 5-1 start. Before the game, Chestatee’s Shaun Conley announced his retirement after seven seasons as head coach. … Northside of Columbus clinched the first region championship in the program’s 19-year history with a 57-14 win over 19-point underdog McIntosh in a 3-5A game. Northside finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, tying the school record for victories. … Riverwood moved into a tie for third place in Region 4-6A despite a 2-7 overall record with a 40-33 victory over nine-point favorite Dunwoody. The Raiders finish the regular season against region champion Marist and are likely to end up as the region’s No. 4 playoff seed. … St. Francis, which started its program in 2010, clinched its first region title with a 35-18 victory against 15-point underdog Mount Pisgah Christian in a Region 6-A Division I game. The Knights (6-3) were a combined 6-14 the past two seasons.
