It was the lightest weekend of the season for Class 7A teams, with only 19 games scheduled, none matching top-10 teams. It was expected to be a snoozer, really. Instead, week seven of the high school season might’ve been a turning point with two major upsets and one serious injury. Here is a closer look at it.
*Collins Hill star receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, generally considered the state’s best player, left the game with a lower leg injury. Collins Hill coach Lenny Gregory believes Hunter might return. “We don’t think it’s a season-ending thing,” he told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “We’re praying for good news obviously and I think, from everything we’re hearing, he’s going to be just fine.” Collins Hill beat Peachtree Ridge 63-0. In Hunter’s absence, it might be discovered that Collins is better and deeper than people realize. Quarterback, Sam Horn is a Missouri-committed player who holds the Gwinnett County record for career passing yards. Hunter wasn’t Collins Hill’s only good receiver. But what’s most underrated about Collins Hill is its defense. The Eagles have shut out four straight opponents, and the team overall is much better suited to handle this injury that it would’ve been last season, when the Eagles were Class 7A runners-up.
*Newnan beat North Paulding 42-17 as a 36-point underdog, according to the Maxwell Ratings. That’s the biggest upset of the year by that standard. Consider that Newnan had lost to Sandy Creek (a top-10 Class 3A team, but still) along with unranked Starr’s Mill and Harris County, two other lower-classification teams. North Paulding had beaten Brookwood, a top-10 team in some polls. It was a non-region game but showed Newnan, 9-2 last season, can contend again in the Region 2-7A all along with McEachern and East Coweta.
*North Forsyth beat No. 7 West Forsyth 30-27 as a 29-point favorite. West Forsyth entered 2-2, but the losses were against No. 2 Mill Creek of 7A and No. 2 Cartersville of 5A. West Forsyth had beaten No. 6 Walton. North had already lost a region game but came in confident because it had beaten West in 2020. West went on to reach the Class 7A quarterfinals while North finished 6-4 and out of the playoffs.
*No. 10 Grayson, a 28-point favorite, beat South Gwinnett 17-14 in a Region 4 game. Grayson, the defending 7A champion, is talented but clearly still retooling itself with young players. It will be interesting to see who wins this region, which also houses Brookwood, Newton and Parkview, teams that have been ranked but aren’t currently.
*Camden County lost to Warner Robins 77-34, and Tift County lost to Valdosta 16-3. Neither was an upset, although 77 points allowed is pretty sobering. Camden hired Jeff Herron, and Tift hired Noel Dean, and coaches have seven state titles among themselves, but making those teams top-10 programs will take time.
