The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb County rivals tangle
Hillgrove’s Tavion Walker is tackled by McEachern’s Bryce Sims during Friday’s matchup of the two rivals at Powder Springs. McEachern won 37-17.
Houston County defeated defending Class AAAAA champion Northside-Warner Robins 34-13 in a Middle Georgia game on Friday, and the repercussions could be felt from there to Stockbridge and beyond.
Houston County, ranked No. 8, earned the Region 2 title, claiming tiebreakers against Northside and No. 6 Jones County. All three are 9-1 overall, 8-1 in region play.
Also losing Friday was No. 2 Mays, the 2014 runner-up, to No. 5 Stephenson 10-9. That gave Stephenson — which had 10 sacks — the region title in 6-AAAAA, the Jaguars’ first since 2009. Stephenson’s only loss is to American Heritage (Fla.), a top-25 nationally ranked team.
The new No. 1 team in AAAAA entering the state playoffs could be Stockbridge, which completed its first 10-0 season in a history that dates to 1964. Stockbridge defeated pre- viously unbeaten Northgate 20-2 to win the title in Region 4.
Several other region titles were decided Friday.
Pinecrest Academy beat the No. 1 team in Class A, Mount Paran Christian, 28-21 for the 6-A championship. Mount Paran had won 23 consecutive games and beaten Pinecrest 35-19 in September. It is Pinecrest’s first region title since joining the GHSA in 2010.
No. 5 Mill Creek beat No. 6 Peachtree Ridge 20-17 in overtime to claim 7-AAAAAA. The victory gives Mill Creek, which opened in 2004, its first region championship and 10-0 regular season in its history.
No. 2 Greater Atlanta Christian (9-1) repeated as 6-AA champion with a 35-31 victory over No. 9 Wesleyan (8-2) after trailing 28-17 entering the fourth quarter. GAC quarterback Davis Mills threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Liam Sullivan on the final play.
Jonesboro (9-0) won its first region title (4-AAAA) since 1949 with a 19-14 victory over Locust Grove (9-1). Jonesboro trailed 14-0 at halftime but won on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Zerrick Cooper to Calder Marria in the final seconds.
South Forsyth (9-1) won its first region title (6-AAAAAA) since 1997 with a 31-6 victory over West Forsyth (8-2).
No. 3 Roswell won its first region title since 2010 with a 24-7 victory over No. 10 Etowah in 5-AAAAAA. Roswell is 10-0 for the first time since 1985.
Several other region titles were decided in winner-take-all games. Those included McEachern over Hillgrove 30-10 (4-AAAAAA), Dalton over Kell 21-7 (7-AAAAA), Bainbridge over Cairo 14-6 (1-AAAA), Mary Persons over West Laurens 20-16 (2-AAAA), Woodward Academy over Carrollton 42-7 (5-AAAA), Cartersville over Pickens 35-0 (7-AAAA) and Buford over Stephens County 42-0 (8-AAAA).