Saye It Ain’t So: Surprising and notable results from Week 8
Ranking the most surprising and notable games of the weekend:
1. Toombs County 31, Appling County 28: Toombs County, at the time the lowest- ranked of three top-10 teams from Region 3-2A, vaulted into first place with a victory against then-No. 2 Appling County, which was projected as a 17-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings. Appling County is the highest-ranked team that Toombs has ever beaten. Appling had appeared to be the region favorite after defeating then-No. 3 Pierce County the previous week.
2. Osborne 35, Kennesaw Mountain 3: Osborne ended a 46-game losing streak in region games that dated to 2011 and a 71-game losing streak against fellow Cobb County schools that dated to 2004. The Cardinals have six wins for the first time since 1994 and probably need just one more victory (two at the most) in their final four games to reach the state playoffs for the first time in program history. The school has played football since 1957.
3. Richmond Academy 28, Cross Creek 0: Richmond Academy (3-4 this season) became the 24th school in Georgia history to reach 600 all-time victories, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, with a win over 10-point underdog Cross Creek. Marietta reached that milestone earlier this season, and Glynn Academy is five victories away.
4. Loganville 51, Clarke Central: Loganville pulled off the biggest upset of the week, according to Maxwell, when it defeated 22-point favorite Clarke Central. Loganville has won back-to-back games against the Gladiators for just the second time in a series that began in 2002. Clarke Central leads the series 15-7, but Loganville has won five of the past nine meetings.
5. Carver (Atlanta) 28, Mundy’s Mill 0: Mundy’s Mill of Class 6A was 6-0 for the first time in its 21-year history but suffered its first loss at the hands of Class 3A Carver, a 17-point underdog. Mundy’s Mill remains unbeaten in Region 3-6A, in first place a half-game ahead of Woodward Academy. Carver is 2-4 but has played a rugged non-region schedule.
Worth noting: Carver (Columbus) has sole possession of first place in Region 1-3A after a 28-14 victory over 13-point favorite Thomasville, the defending region champion. Thomasville had won 12 consecutive region games since a 29-28 loss to Fitzgerald on Nov. 6, 2020. … Charlton County picked the right time to get its first victory of the season, defeating eight-point favorite Turner County 26-6 in the teams’ Region 2-A Division II opener. Charlton County had been 0-6 for the first time since 1984. … Harris County, a 2-9 team a year ago that finished fourth in five-team Region 3-5A, opened region play with a 27-7 victory over defending champion Northside of Columbus. Harris County (6-1) is tied for first place with Northgate as it seeks its first region title since 2014. … Jones County, which slipped to 6-5 last season after winning three consecutive region championships, retained its share of first place in Region 2-5A with a 48-17 victory over Ola, a 14-point favorite. Ola has lost two straight games since being ranked No. 9 after a 4-0 start. … Rome continued its dominance in Region 6-6A with a 56-3 victory over seven-point underdog Sequoyah. Since the start of last season, the Wolves are 9-0 in region play, winning by an average of 50 points per game, with their closest game a 42-19 win over Allatoona last year.