Once again, northeast Georgia teams put on a show on Friday around the area. And others showed that they may be to claim title contender status
No game was bigger than the showdown in Tiger as Class 4A No.2-ranked Jefferson looked to take down Class 2A No. 1-ranked Rabun County on the road. A late rally gave Rabun the win last week over Prince Avenue. This time, a bigger Jefferson squad wore them down in the second half in taking a 28-14 victory behind Malaki Starks in a game heard on 102.9 FM WDUN in front of a packed Frank Synder Stadium. Starks had a 72-yard TD run and junior Rabun County quarterback and South-Carolina-commit Gunner Stockton had one TD pass of 41-yards but was limited most of the game as the Dragons ate up most of the second half on the ground.
Gainesville's Week 1 assault on Stockbridge did not make Flowery Branch flinch as the Falcons built an early lead and then held off a furious fourth-quarter rally that saw the Red Elephants take the lead with 59 seconds left. But the Branch scored in the final seconds to post a 29-22 win over the Red Elephants at Falcons Field in a game heard on 94.5 FM The Lake. It's the third consecutive win for the Falcons over Gainesville, a first in the series.
White County (3-0) continued its impressive opening to the season with another dominating win in a 42-7 rout of Pickens at home. Commerce went to Watkinsville looking to take down Class A Private power Athens Academy but the Tigers fell behind early and could not recover in a 24-7 loss to the Spartans.
Buford avenged a rare season-opening loss with a 39-6 dismantling of Carver-Atlanta at Tom Riden Riden Stadium. The Wolves ran for 228 yards after being held to under 150 last week. In the annual Battle of Oakwood, heard on WDUN AM 550, West Hall ended its overall 12-game losing streak and avenged last year's heartbreaker against Johnson with a 50-0 rout over the Knights at The Dungeon.
Jackson County could not get its first 2-0 start since 2017 as Stephens County rallied for a 24-10 victory in Jefferson. Union County got its first win of the season with a 39-19 victory over Chestatee in Blairsville.
East Hall could not pull off its second straight win falling to surprising unbeaten Franklin County, 31-21, in Carnesville. The Vikings were looking for their first 2-0 start since 2011. North Hall fell to 0-3 after a tough 55-22 loss to Hart County at The Brickyard.
East Jackson finally got to open its season Friday night and got a dramatic 23-22 win over Banks County in double overtime. The Eagles rallied from a 16-0 deficit on the road. Towns County won its second straight game, the first time since the end of the 2017 season, with a shocking 43-14 victory over Lumpkin County at home. And, Dawson County fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2014 after dropping a wild offensive shootout 63-49 decision to Class 7A South Forsyth at Tiger Stadium.
You can check AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night page for game stories and video highlights.
SEPTEMBER 18 SCORES
Athens Academy 24, Commerce 7
Buford 39, Carver-Atlanta 6
East Jackson 23, Banks County 22 2OT
Flowery Branch 29, Gainesville 22
Franklin County 31, East Hall 21
Hart County 55, North Hall 22
Jefferson 28, Rabun County 14
South Forsyth 63, Dawson County 49
Stephens County 24, Jackson County 10
Towns County 43, Lumpkin County 14
Union County 39, Chestatee 19
West Hall 50, Johnson 0
White County 42, Pickens 7
