St. Pius rallies to fourth win in row

St. Pius remains on a familiar, promising path. The Golden Lions started 0-2 in 2014, beat arch-rival Marist at midseason, won a region title and reached the state finals.

They’re halfway there this season after beating sixth-ranked Marist 24-14 on Friday to win their fourth consecutive game after another 0-2 start.

St. Pius, ranked No. 9, trailed 14-10 with five minutes left, but scored two touchdowns to win, one set up on Reed Egan’s 62-yard pass to Grant Holloman, the other on Garrett Gooden’s interception return to the Marist 1.

It was the fourth consecutive victory in the series for St. Pius (4-2, 4-0), which took the lead in Region 6-AAAA. Marist fell to 5-2, 4-1.

Other notable results from Friday:

Region 7-AAAAAA’s playoff teams were decided as the four 3-0 teams played and beat the four 0-3 teams. The now 4-0 teams are Norcross, Mill Creek, Collins Hill and Peachtree Ridge. Out are Duluth, Meadowcreek, Mountain View and North Gwinnett. Most conspicuously finished is North Gwinnett (2-5, 0-4), which lost to Peachtree Ridge 42-6. North Gwinnett will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

No. 1 Colquitt County routed No. 6 Lee County 54-17 in a 1-AAAAAA game. Colquitt County and No. 8 Camden County (7-0, 2-0) are the only unbeaten teams in region play. Camden County defeated Lowndes 38-19.

Hughes (3-3, 3-0) made itself a factor in 3-AAAAAA with a 29-21 victory over previously unbeaten East Coweta (5-1, 2-1). Hughes and Newnan (5-1, 3-0) are now the region leaders.

Sixth-ranked Lanier (6-0, 5-0) took control of 8-AAAAA with a 16-8 victory over Gainesville (4-2, 4-1). Lanier has won 19 consecutive regular-season games and 17 consec- utive region games.

Glynn Academy’s 14-7 victory over No. 5 Ware County (5-1, 3-1) in 3-AAAAA ended Ware’s 34-game winning streak in games that count in the region standings, dating to 2010. No. 9 Coffee (6-1, 4-1) won another key game in the region, putting a first loss on South Effingham (5-1, 3-1) 34-22. That leaves four teams with one loss in region play. Glynn Academy is 5-2, 4-1.

Jonesboro (6-1, 2-0) beat the only ranked team in 4-AAAA, No. 7 Spalding, 21-9. Spalding, which was 6-0 for the first time in its history, fell to 6-1, 2-1. Jonesboro could win its first region title since 1949.

No. 3 Greater Atlanta Christian came back in the second half to defeat No. 7 Pace Academy 33-13. GAC (6-1, 4-0) and No. 4 Wesleyan (7-0, 4-0) will play Nov. 6, probably for the region title. Wesleyan barely escaped with a 10-8 victory over BEST Academy.