Week 5: Blowouts in key showdowns and a big result in 8-AAAA

There were plenty of surprises in area prep football on Friday night -- mostly for the fact that a number of big showdowns turned out lopsided -- save one.

After last week's thrilling, 57-56 double overtime win over Eastside, Chestatee showed it had plenty left in the tank, as the War Eagles traveled to Toccoa and knocked off previously undefeated and fifth-ranked Stephens County 24-20.

After last week's offensive explosion, the War Eagles showed they can play some defense too, hemming up the Indians' explosive rushing attack -- and taking the driver's seat in the playoff race in Region 8-AAAA in the process.

Meanwhile, in two games that were expected to be four-quarter slugfests, Gainesville and North Hall showed that they are hitting their peaks in their respective regions, as the Red Elephants stomped Heritage 42-14 and the Trojans demolished Dawson County 47-14.

Gainesville gave the Patriots their first loss of 2012 while hanging twice the amount of points Heritage had given up through four prior games.

North Hall, meanwhile, rolled to a 34-0 lead in the first half to firmly wash away memories of their last game -- a 27-21 loss to Jefferson on Sept. 14.

Elsewhere, Lumpkin County pulled off an 80-yard scoring drive to clinch its first win of the season, 13-12 at Walnut Grove, while Buford hammered Banks County 63-0. Flowery Branch also improved to 3-0 in Region 8-AAAAA with a relatively easy 35-16 defeat of Salem.

Even without a couple of key starters, White County proved too much for East Hall, 41-12, in Cleveland, while Fannin County blitzed West Hall for its first win of the season, 31-8 in Oakwood. Rabun County also bounced back from a tough loss last week for a 49-23 win at Social Circle.

On the other side of the equation, Commerce dropped its first game of the year, 26-15 at George Walton, while North Oconee pounded Jackson County 35-6, and North Forsyth came up short at Lambert, 21-7. Athens Academy also proved too much for Lakeview 21-6, while Habersham Central and Riverside Military also remained winless.

Visit our sports and high school sports pages to read more in-depth game stories. Scroll down for area scores.

AREA PREP FOOTBALL SCORES, Sept. 28

Athens Academy 21, Lakeview Academy 6

Buford 63, Banks County 0

Chestatee 24, Stephens County 20

Elbert County 42, East Jackson 2

Fannin County 31, West Hall 8

Flowery Branch 35, Salem 16

Gainesville 42, Heritage 14

George Walton 26, Commerce 15

Jefferson 62, Greene County 26

Lambert 21, North Forsyth 7

Lumpkin County 13, Walnut Grove 12

Norcross 49, Mill Creek 41

North Hall 47, Dawson County 14

North Oconee 35, Jackson County 6

Oglethorpe County 31, Riverside Military Academy 12

Peachtree Ridge 30, Habersham Central 7

Rabun County 49, Social Circle 23

Washington-Wilkes 36, Union County 0

White County 41, East Hall 12