Shockers and heartbreakers highlighted Week 2 of the prep football season last week.
On the shocking side, you had Rabun County getting routed by Stephens County, 35-0, at The Reservation. It was a toss-up game going in so the Indians winning was not the shock. The manner in which they dispatched the Wildcats was (we discuss this below).
You also had White County blowing past Habersham Central, 34-6, in a game that had two teams looking to rebound from tough Week 1 losses. And Commerce absolutely ran over Murphy (NC), 56-13, pounding out 538 yards on the ground behind Jaiden Daniels and Tysean Wiggins. Again, it was the manner in which they won.
On the heartbreaking side, Jackson County lost in double-overtime to Duluth, 35-34, on the road.
And speaking of Stephens County, for a second straight week the Indians will be involved in one of the most intriguing matchups of the week. This time they head to Flowery Branch, a place they have never won in a series where the home team has dominated (we discuss this one below as well).
Overall, Northeast Georgia-area teams went 14-9 last week, with three of those losses coming in head-to-head matchups with other area teams. Area teams went 11-6 against everyone else, including three wins over out-of-state teams.
Those are among the things covered in the football notebook this week:
IT WAS GREAT WHILE IT LASTED: As much as any team in the state, Rabun County (1-1) has built a body of excellence over the past decade that most programs would envy. The Wildcats have won 104 games since the beginning of the 2014 season, including nine straight region titles (eight in Region 8-2A). They have won 9 or more games in each of those seasons and are working on a streak of eight straight state quarterfinal appearances, one of the longest running in the state in any classification.
They had scored in 119 consecutive games, also one of the longest running streaks in the state. But that streak came to a shocking end last week in a the big loss to Stephens County.
Rabun County had not been shutout since 2013 -- a 34-0 loss to GAC in the first round of the playoffs. Friday’s shutout loss was their first in the regular season since 2011.
That has put into play a couple of other streaks that the Wildcats would like to see continue. The last time Rabun County started a season 1-2 was in 2014. Three times since then they have sat 1-1. Each time they answered the bell. They also have not lost back-to-back games in the same season since 2013, when they lost an overtime game to Jefferson and then were blown out by Washington-Wilkes.
They are 6-0 following a loss since those two losses. They will have a challenge this week traveling to a good Adairsville team (1-0) that beat Class 4A Cherokee Bluff last week on the road.
HOME SWEET HOME? When Class 3A No. 4 Stephens County (2-0) visits Flowery Branch (2-0) tonight, a couple of powerful trends await both teams.
The home team has won four straight in the series, which is tied at 3-3. The home team is 5-1 overall in the series and the Falcons have never lost to the Indians at Falcon Field. The only road win in the series came in 2008, when Branch beat the Indians in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Branch is 8-3 in its last 11 home games. But the Indians have won five straight road games, including a thrilling 31-29 victory over Habersham Central on a game-winning field goal with 5 seconds left to open the 2023 campaign.
Stephens County beat the Falcons 27-11 in Toccoa in 2022. But neither team has won back-to-back games in the series since the Falcons won in 2008 and 2009.
Will something give in this one? Who knows, but it could be one of the best games of the night, not just in Northeast Georgia, but in the state.
WE GOT THE POWER: Regions 8-5A and 8-2A, which contain five area teams combined, continue to show, at least early on, they will be players come playoff time. Region 8-5A with Jefferson and Flowery Branch is 11-2 (.846 win percentage), which leads the state, all classes. Region 8-2A, which has Banks County, East Jackson, and Union County, is fourth-best in the state at 8-3 and leads Class 2A with a .727 win percentage after the first two weeks. Region 1-6A is second with a 10-2 mark (.833) and Region 2-A Division 1 is third, winning at a .750 clip.
SLOW STARTERS: Several other area regions need to pick up the pace. Region 7-3A is just 5-8, though teams like Dawson County, Wesleyan, and Pickens have played tough non-region schedules so far. A lot of eyes will be on 7-3A after getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round in 2022.
Region 8-4A, with area teams Chestatee, East Forsyth, East Hall, and North Hall, is just 5-6. It was considered a possible power region in the classification but has struggled coming out of the gate, despite having No. 2-ranked North Oconee in the field.
Region 8-6A, with Gainesville, Habersham Central, and Jackson County, is just 5-9 (.357) after the first two weeks, the worst in the classification. However, Gainesville (2-0) and Jackson County (1-1) have three of the five wins. The rest of the region is just 2-8 so far.
EARLY RECOGNITION: Only five Northeast Georgia-area teams are ranked in the latest Friday Game Night composite rankings. Buford remains No. 1 in Class 7A and Gainesville has been holding steady at No. 2 in Class 6A. Jefferson also held at No. 6 in Class 5A.
In Class 3A, Stephens County has moved up to fourth after the Indians' rout of Rabun County last week. The Wildcats dropped to seventh from fourth in Class A D1 after last week's loss.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE for Friday, Sept. 1
(All games kick off at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.)
Buford at North Cobb, 8 p.m.
Cedar Shoals at East Forsyth* -- WDUN FM 102.9
Central Gwinnett at Jackson County
Coconut Creek (Fla.) at Gainesville -- 94.5 FM The Lake
Commerce at Hebron Christian
East Hall at Johnson
Hickory Hawks at Lanier Christian
Jefferson at St. Pius
Lumpkin County at Franklin County
North Forsyth at West Forsyth
North Hall at Dawson County
Rabun County at Adairsville
St. Anne-Pacelli at Lakeview Academy
Stephens County at Flowery Branch -- WDUN AM 550
Stratford Academy at Riverside Prep
Towns County at Union County
West Hall at East Jackson
White County at Chestatee
