Week 7 is in the books, but not before a handful of AA teams lost. As a result, there will most likely be a new No. 1 next week.
Current No. 1 Fitzgerald lost 35-28 to AAAAAAA's Tift County in the final seconds, which could pave the way for No. 2 Benedictine to take over the top spot. The Cadets beat Bryan County 48-20 in a Region 2 contest. The Purple Hurricane are 4-1 while the Cadets are 6-0 and 2-0 in league play.
The No. 3 Brooks County Trojans fell 16-14 to AAA's No. 8 Crisp County. That's not all too surprising given the injuries the Trojans have suffered to key players, as The Valdosta Daily Times' Glendon Poe noted in his preview of the game. What's impressive, though, is that the Trojans hung tough and had built a 14-3 halftime lead. They fell to 4-1 with the loss.
The unranked Pepperell Dragons seized control of Region 7 with a 28-14 road win over No. 7 Model, improving to 4-1 and 3-0 in league play, while dropping the Blue Devils to 5-1 and 2-1. It's not clear if this knocks the Blue Devils out of the rankings, or if it pulls the Dragons inside them but it would be justifiable for pollsters to lean that way.
In any event, Week 7 is responsible for what will likely be the biggest shakeup in the rankings to date.
Here's how the rest of the top 10 fared:
- No. 4 Jefferson County beat Glenn Hills 52-14 in Region 4 action to improve to 6-1 and 2-1.
- No. 6 Rabun County won its Region 8 opener against Banks County 46-3 and are 4-0.
- No. 8 Dublin beat Bleckley County 21-6 in a Region 3 game to improve to 6-0 (2-0).
- No. 9 Vidalia got back on track against Bacon County with a 31-13 win in Region 2 play and are now 4-2 and 2-1.
- In Region 4 play, No. 10 Screven County made easy work of Harlem, 42-10 to improve to 5-1 (3-0).
On bye: No. 5 Callaway.
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Credit: Adam Krohn
Credit: Adam Krohn
