While football's region play is getting hot and heavy, the region titles on the softball diamond were being decided in Gwinnett County. In Region 7-AAAAA, Collins Hill won its second straight crown with a 5-1 victory over the Bulldogs of North Gwinnett. The two Suwanee schools went at it hard and the Eagles led 2-1 in the championship game when Christina Parham of Collins Hill gave pitcher Kayla Floor a dash of insurance with a three-run home run. Parham's blast came in the fifth inning, and with the extra runs, Floor cruised to the victory. Floor's final line included one run on four hits with six strikeouts. The Eagles are hoping that a second straight region title will bring a second straight Class AAAAA state title and will enter the state playoffs with a 25-2-1 record and were set to face Etowah at home in the first round. The results were not available at press deadline. Meanwhile, despite the loss, North Gwinnett will host Lassiter in the first round and carry a 20-7-1 record into the state playoffs.
Across the county, Brookwood claimed Region 8-AAAAA by coming out of the elimination bracket to beat Grayson twice for the title. The Lady Broncos won game one 7-5 by rallying back thanks to a Megan Litumbe two-run double and then used a three-run homer from Litumbe to build a 10-0 lead before holding on against the Lady Rams to win 10-9. Brookwood earned a date with West Forsyth by winning the region while Grayson was to face Roswell after finishing second in Region 8-AAAAA. Both series were slated to be played after press deadline.
In the lower classifications, Buford won its third straight Region 6-AA title with an 8-1 win over the Greater Atlanta Christian School. Karly Fullem tossed a complete game in the win and helped her own cause by going 2-2 at the dish. The complete game was Fullem's eleventh this season.
And in an upset on the volleyball courts, Wesleyan was unable to win its tenth straight Area A/AA championship, falling to Holy Innocents' in a mild upset 24-26, 17-25, and 18-25.
On the prep gridiron, Gwinnett County had three of the top teams in Class AAAAA and those three were all in action last week. Collins Hill sent shockwaves throughout the state after knocking off No.3 Peachtree Ridge 14-10. The Lions were held to just 261 total yards, well below its season average of total offense and Collins Hill made two first half TD passes stand up with strong defense in the second half. Score 44 member Taylor Heinicke attempted 40 passes and two went for TDs early, including one to Jeff Glover to get the Eagles on the scoreboard. The catch for Glover was bittersweet though as he would have to leave the game later with a broken right arm.
Heinicke found Herdie Lawrence on a three-yard scoring pass to give the Eagles a 14-3 halftime lead. Ridge would open up the second half with a 68-yard scoring drive capped off with a Billy Best 34-yard TD pass to Joe Horn. The Eagles defense would then stand up though, forcing three turnovers as well as a turnover on downs and would intercept Best to end the game. The Eagles improved to 3-3, while Peachtree Ridge dropped its first game of the year.
No.2 North Gwinnett surely did not want to fall victim to the upset bug that bit the Ridge Lions and the Bulldogs would never even sweat it, shutting out No.7 Norcross 38-0. The Bulldogs led 28-0 at intermission and CJ Uzomah accounted for over 150 yards of total offense including 20 receiving, 81 passing and 52 rushing and two TDs while North Gwinnett totaled 382 yards of offense. Joe Jones rushed for a score to get North Gwinnett on the board first and then Ethan Kilgore found the endzone on a 13-yard run. Jones then connected with Uzomah on a reverse pass for a TD. The shutout loss for Norcross was its first whitewashing since 2003. Peachtree Ridge will travel to face Norcross this week as the two teams attempt to rebound from the first loss for each on the year. On last week's GPB Sports Central XL, Gwinnett County coaching legend Dave Hunter applauded North Gwinnett for its tough scheduling, saying that the Bulldogs toughened themselves for the region slate, which he called the toughest in the state.
In other football action, the South Gwinnett Comets got back to its winning ways with a 54-27 victory over Berkmar. Running back Aaron WImberly had 155 yards and three TDs before being lifted in the third quarter of the blowout win. QB Kent Rollins, a member of the Score 44, passed for 157 yards on 11-16 throwing and one TD, with one INT. The Comets fell out of the rankings last week after losing to Brookwood.
Grayson, ranked No.9 in the latest poll defeated No.10 Dacula 16-10 in a defensive struggle. Dacula, ranked No.10 and ranked for the first time since preseason 2007, fell after gaining just 140 yards of offense while the Rams managed just 157 yards. Grayson QB Nick Schuessler did manage a TD pass late in the second quarter to give the Rams a 16-7 lead and put the game out of reach thanks to Mickey Conn's suffocating defense.
Duluth got its first region win with a 46-22 victory over Mountain View while Parkview edged out Central Gwinnett 24-17. Meadowcreek couldn't dent the scoreboard yet again as Mill Creek romped to a 47-0 victory. The shutout loss was the fifth straight game where the Mustangs could not manage a single point. For Mill Creek, Tyler Cierski, headed to Maryland to play fullback, scored three TDs.
At the AA level, GAC earned a huge road region win with a 28-18 decision over Decatur. Kyle Scales, Lavondre Nelson and Jared Chapple all ran for TDs for the Spartans. The win ran GAC's record up to 5-1. The No.2 Buford Wolves used two early Alex Ross TD passes to put Clarkston in a hole early. The final would be 47-0 in favor of Buford. Dominique Swope ran for one TD while Seon Jones notched a TD scamper of his own.
In Class A, Wesleyan earned its 24th straight regular season victory dating back to 2008 with a victory over King's Ridge 49-6. Quarterback Andrew Frerking posted 222 passing yards and 4 TD through the air while sneaking one across for a score. Running back Kyle Karempelis finished with 182 total yards (102 rushing and 80 receiving) for the Wolves.
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