A historic night on the football field

Colquitt County defended its No. 1 ranking against the preseason No. 1 in the highest classification, and Wheeler put itself in position to be ranked for the first time in 25 years, also in Class AAAAAAA.

Lowndes and Warner Robins won big cross-town rivalry games on Friday night in Georgia high school football.

But in the most historic development, Warren County defeated Lincoln County 28-21 in Lincolnton.

Warren, despite fielding several playoff teams over the years, had lost 43 straight games to Lincoln, last winning in 1971, making it one of the most lopsided rivalries in state history. Warren is one of the state’s smallest football-playing schools with just under 150 students and was 1-9 last season. But the Screaming Devils are now 3-2 under coach Cherard Freeman, a former all-state running back at Lincoln County.

In the night’s marquee matchup, Colquitt County defeated third-ranked Grayson 26-14 after trailing 14-3 in the first half. It was the fifth time that the nationally ranked state powers have met this decade, during which each has won two state championships. Colquitt (6-0) now leads the series 3-2. Grayson fell to 3-2, its other loss to nationally ranked Bergen Catholic of New Jersey

Wheeler, an east Marietta school that hasn’t had a winning season since 2012, or won a playoff game since 1997, stunned fifth-ranked Roswell 37-36 in a non-region game. Wheeler is now 5-0, its best start since 1993. If Wheeler moves into the rankings this week, it would be for the first time since 1993.

In the two historical rivalry games, one was close – Warner Robins defeated Northside 39-34. One was not – Lowndes defeated Valdosta 71-35 in the highest-scoring game in series history. The 71 points are the most ever scored against Valdosta. Valdosta leads the series 37-20, but Lowndes moved ahead of Colquitt County and Albany with the most victories against the Wildcats.

In other games between top-10 teams, No. 4 Parkview defeated No. 6 Milton 37-35 after leading 37-13 in a AAAAAAA game. No. 8 Archer of AAAAAAA beat No. 2 Buford of AAAAA 48-24.

Class A had several top-10 matchups. Mount Zion beat Darlington 27-17; Fellowship Christian beat Mount Paran Christian 21-13; Marion County beat Manchester 40-21; and Clinch County beat Turner County 35-7.

A couple of highly ranked teams narrowly got by. No. 4 Carrollton of AAAAA beat East Paulding 24-21, and No. 2 Cartersville of AAAA beat Cedartown 21-20.

Cox Media Group