Football teams from the South Georgia area did pretty well on the opening weekend of Georgia’s high school football season. The perennial powers all won their games and there was a surprising outcome in a state championship rematch from last year.
All of the area Region 1-6A schools won: Valdosta trounced Brookwood 31-0, Camden rolled over Lincoln (Tallahassee, Fla.) 49-27, Lowndes took care of Roswell 37-14, Colquitt beat Mill Creek 31-14, and Tift handled Henry County 45-8. Ware County beat Brooks County 31-6 and Brunswick defeated McIntosh County 41-6. Statesboro, which took on Burke County immediately following Coffee’s win over North Oconee in the Erk Russell Classic, lost 12-0.
The smaller programs also fared well. Atkinson matched its win total from all of last year with a 30-14 win over Brantley County. Clinch defeated Calhoun County 36-8 while Fitzgerald beat Worth 27-20 while Irwin and Early County tied 7-7. And in a rematch from last year’s GISA Region 3-2A state title game, Valwood, now in GISA Region 3-3A, whipped up on Memorial Day from Savannah 51-15. In the GISA state finals last year, Memorial Day defeated Valwood 42-20. It was the Valiants’ only loss under head coach Ashley Henderson.
Bacon County, now under the leadership of former Cook head coach Ken Cofer, did not play Friday night. The Red Raiders open their season this week against Atkinson County.