There was only one showdown with northeast Georgia area teams involving two ranked programs. But that did not stop teams from putting on a show Friday night.
The biggest matchup of the night had Habersham Central playing host to White County in what was expected to be a high-scoring shootout between two of the state's best offenses. However, the defenses upstaged them. J Ben Haynes and the Warriors won a back-and-forth affair over Joshua Pickett and the Raiders, 28-21, at Raider Stadium. Haynes scored on a pair of second-half TD runs to cap a comeback and lead White County to its first 4-0 start since 1975.
For a third straight week Rabun County, now ranked third in Class 2A, took on a ranked opponent. And for the second time, the Wildcats came away with a solid victory, this time taking down Class 2A No. 8 Bremen, 48-34, on the road. The Wildcats rallied from an early 13-0 deficit to win the wild shootout.
After a month into the season, Gainesville finally opened its home schedule routing Discovery, 48-0, behind a superb defensive effort They held the Titans to just 18 total yards in a game heard on 94.5 FM The Lake.
West Hall made it two wins in a row for the first time since 2017 slogging out a 14-8 victory over Chestatee at Spartan Field in a game heard on FM 102.9 WDUN. The Spartans got another solid outing from its defense, which limited a depleted Chestatee offense to less than 100 yards for the game.
In a game heard on WDUN AM 550, Buford avenged its only loss of the 2019 season with an impressive 47-0 rout of former region foe Clarke Central at Tom Riden Stadium. The Wolves ground game churned out 291 yards behind Gabe Ervin and Victor Venn while holding a rebuilding Gladiators offense to just 117 total yards.
Commerce rebounded from last week's rough loss to Athens Academy to knock off Class 2A Elbert County, 55-28, at Tiger Stadium. Dawson County finally snapped its longest losing streak in the Sid Maxwell-era with a 42-20 win over Class 5A Northview on the road. East Jackson could not open the season 2-0 for a second straight campaign after falling to visiting Gilmer, 28-19. Jefferson rolled to another big win over Class 7A Mountain View at home, 40-7.
Cherokee Bluff continued to roll blowing out Georgia Military College 52-0 on the road. Lakeview Academy got its first win under new coach Lee Shaw shutting out Walker 34-0 while also dedicating their new stadium. And Towns County dropped a heartbreaker, 21-20, in overtime to Mt. Zion-Carroll.
You can check AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night page for game stories and video highlights.
SEPTEMBER 25 SCORES
Banks County 37, Lumpkin County 0
Buford 47, Clarke Central 0
Central Christian 36, Lanier Christian 32
Cherokee Bluff 52, Georgia Military 0
Commerce 55, Elbert County 28
Dawson County 42, Northview 20
East Hall 41, Johnson 3
Franklin County 14, Jackson County 13
Gainesville 48, Discovery 0
Gilmer 28, East Jackson 19
Jefferson 40, Mountain View 7
Lakeview Academy 34, Walker 0
Mt. Zion-Carroll 21, Towns County 20 OT
Rabun County 48, Bremen 34
West Hall 14, Chestatee 8
White County 28, Habersham Central 21
