While most of the talk of high school football in Georgia typically centers around Atlanta or the South Georgia locales, a 90-mile radius in the Northeast Georgia area is where you will find the most No. 1-ranked teams in the state.
Buford in Class 6A, Jefferson in Class 4A, and Rabun County in Class 2A all sit atop their respective classifications heading into Week 7 of the 2021 campaign. That’s three teams out of eight classifications. Not bad.
The Wolves and Dragons both have been perched atop their rankings the entire season. Rabun County opened the season at No. 1 but dropped to No. 3 after falling to Jefferson in its season-opener. The Wildcats reclaimed the top spot this week after Fitzgerald fell to defending Class 3A state champion Pierce County last week.
Rabun County also will have a chance to cement their spot at the top taking on that same Pierce County team this week in Blackshear.
However, the area appears to be top-heavy at the moment. Only one other of the area’s 23 teams is ranked in any statewide poll.
Flowery Branch, at No. 7 in Class 4A, is the only other area team currently ranked in the top 10 in any of the eight classifications. Commerce began the season seventh in Class A-Public, jumped to No. 5 in Week 2, but is currently not ranked after dropping back-to-back games.
LEADER’S OF THE PACK:
Just as last week, four Northeast Georgia-area players lead their classifications in several offensive categories. And climbing up the overall state ranks as well.
Rabun County’s Gunner Stockton continues to pace Class 2A in passing and is now second in the state, all classifications, with 1,628 yards. He also has 22 TD passes on the season.
Towns County’s Kyle Oakes still leads Class A Public in rushing with 883 yards and has moved into second place in the state, all classifications, behind Simeon Askew of Houston County in Class 6A (1,177 yards).
Stockton’s teammate, Jaden Gibson, also leads Class 2A in receiving yards with 668 and is second in the state overall, just 5 yards behind Travis Hunter of Collins Hill, who leads Class 7A with 673 yards. Dawson County’s Bailey Dameron leads Class 3A with 606 yards and is fourth overall in the state. Ethan Clarke of Rabun County is 3rd in Class 2A (360 yards), Collin Crowder of Towns County (344 yards) is 4th in Class A-Public, and White County’s Darius Cannon (355 yards) is in the top 10 in Class 3A in receiving as well.
In Class 3A, Region 7-3A players dominate the top 10 in rushing. No one leads the classification but North Hall’s Kevin Rochester (681 yards) is third, Cherokee Bluff’s Jayquan Smith (626 yards) is fourth, East Jackson’s Tyler Crow (615 yards) is fifth, and Silas Mulligan of White County (604 yards) is sixth in Class 3A.
In passing yards, Luke Bornhorst of Chestatee dropped to second in Class 4A with 1,034 yards, just 178 yards behind leader Holden Geriner of Benedictine. The War Eagles were off last week.
GOING FOR IT:
Stockton is continuing his chase up the record books. And at his current pace, he could become the state’s all-time passing and touchdown leader.
The senior Georgia-commit at quarterback has picked up where he left off last year with 1,628 yards and 22 TDs so far this season. That has bumped him up four spots on the state’s all-time list into fifth place with 11,146 career passing yards. He is now third in TD passes with 144, which is 11 behind former Gainesville standout Deshaun Watson (13,077 yards, 155 TD) and 17 behind the all-time leader, Trevor Lawrence (13,902 yards, 161 TD).
In five games so far this season, Stockton is averaging 325 yards and 4 TD passes a game. If the Wildcats make it to the Class 2A state title game, and he averages 250 yards/game and throws 1.6 TD passes a game over that span, he would become the state’s all-time leader in both categories. If the Wildcats get to the same spot in the playoffs they got in 2020, the semifinals, Stockton would need to average 276 yards/game and throw 1.8 TD passes a game to break the records.
MORE STREAKING: There are several intriguing streaks among teams around the Northeast Georgia area when it comes to region play.
THE GOOD:
-- Commerce has won 8 straight region openers going back to a 2012 loss to George Walton Academy.
-- Since joining Region 8-6A last season, the Buford offense has been nearly unstoppable. The Wolves have scored 35 or more in all 7 region games to this point averaging 42.5 points/game. Buford plays host to Habersham Central tonight.
-- Jefferson has won 7 straight road games going back to a playoff loss to Crisp County in 2019 but has won 14 straight regular-season road games going back to a season-opening loss to Oconee County in 2018. The Dragons travel to East Hall tonight in Region 8-4A.
-- The Dragons also have won 12 straight region games going back to 2018.
-- In the North Hall-White County series, the road teams have a streak going of their own. The road team has won four straight and 6 of the last 7 in the series. The Trojans are at home against the Warriors at The Brickyard.
-- Lumpkin County snapped their 19-game losing streak two weeks ago.
THE BAD:
-- But Lumpkin County, which plays host to Gilmer to open Region 7-3A play, also has a 16-game Region 7-3A losing streak working as well. Their last 7-3A win came vs. Cherokee Bluff in October 2018.
-- East Jackson has dropped 9 straight region openers
-- East Hall has dropped 4 straight region games.
-- Johnson is still trying to snap what is now a 16-game losing streak.
-- Chestatee also is trying to snap a 7-year drought in opening region play with a win. The War Eagles' last region-opening win came in 2013.
STAYING POSITIVE:
-- Gainesville is off to its best start since 2015, which was the last time the Red Elephants advanced past the first round of the playoffs. They also are looking for their first 2-0 start in region play since 2015 (8-6A).
-- Tonight’s showdown in Lincolnton against Lincoln County will be the fifth road game of the season already for Towns County. The Indians so far are 3-1 away from Hiawassee and the three road wins are the most in a season for them since 2008. They have never won 4 road games in one season.
-- North Forsyth, which takes on No. 7 West Forsyth in Region 6-7A, has not started region play 0-2 since 2014. The Raiders lost two weeks ago to Denmark, 20-17, to open region play.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/10/1042753/week-7-notebook-whos-no-1-streaks-and-chasing-records