It’s not how you start, or Walton would be at home this week. The Raiders – 5-5 in the regular season and facing their first losing season since 2016 – upset fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten McEachern 28-24 last week, coming from 21-9 down starting late in the third quarter. Walton had lost to McEachern 50-17 in the opener in August.

Roswell beat its archrival and won a region championship on a last-minute field goal last week. It's not clear which of those details was the most exciting in the moment. “The most memorable big part was watching the refs put the sign up saying it’s good and hearing the crowd go crazy and everyone cheering,” said Roswell kicker Balint Vorosmarty

Win or lose, Cairo was going for it last week against No. 2 Peach County in a game for first place in Region 1-3A. The Syrupmakers started the game by recovering an onside kick. Then on fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line, Cairo went for it again, and Bryian Duncan scored the first of his five touchdowns in a 38-31 victory.

Powder Springs isn’t called Winnersville. That’s Valdosta’s title. But it was a city with two undefeated top-10 teams last week, and only one could remain that way. That turned out to be McEachern, a 35-14 winner over Hillgrove. “We understood what we wanted to get done, what the mission was, and we came over here and executed,” McEachern coach Kareem Reid said after the game.

Statesboro hasn’t won a region title since 2011, and capturing one this season is still three victories away But without last week’s 28-21 victory over Brunswick – a 23-point favorite – the elusive championship would be out of the Blue Devils’ control. Now, Statesboro can win Region 1-5A with victories over Evans, South Effingham and Effingham County.

Worth County beat Thomasville by one point last season as a 21-point underdog. This season, Worth County was something worse – actually trailing by 20 points late in the third quarter, down 34-14. “Players were saying that we’ve just got to go play football, and coaches were just saying to trust our stuff and everything was going to play out in the end,” quarterback Lyndon Worthy said.

North Clayton is chasing its first region title since 2008 and got a historic victory last week by beating Stephenson 42-41. The game ended with a tackle on a Stephenson back at the North Clayton 1-yard line.

Jenkins and Calvary Day might’ve become Savannah’s best football rivalry. The 2024 game went to overtime, with Calvary Day winning 34-31 and claiming the Region 3-3A title as a result. Last week, it was Jenkins’ turn. The Warriors won 41-33 and now stand alone atop the Region 3 standings.

Coweta County Schools has three football teams, and Northgate has been third for most of its history, with no victories over Newnan or East Coweta. In a game between unbeaten county rivals last week, Northgate broke through. beating Newnan 35-21, likely the most satisfying regular-season triumph in the Vikings' 28 seasons of varsity football.

A season after going 1-9, two years removed from 0-10, Lithonia perked up with a 6-4 finish last year, but first-year coach Kevin Barnes wasn’t satisfied. The Bulldogs didn’t make the playoffs. They could’ve tolerated three region losses, but not four. This week, Barnes is feeling better, for now. Lithonia last week avenged one of those region losses – against Tucker, winning 27-20 after losing 41-7.

It wasn’t about revenge, Creekside coach Maurice Dixon said. Just respect. Creekside beat DeSoto, Texas – ranked in the top 25 of four national polls – 70-28 after losing 70-0 to the same team last year in Texas. It was the biggest one-year points turnaround for a GHSA team since the 1940s.

Newnan coach Chip Walker called it a game that “will be talked about for years to come” in Coweta County. Against East Coweta, Newnan's archrival, Newnan trailed 49-24 late in the third quarter and 56-46 late in the fourth but won 60-56 after scoring two late touchdowns and recovering a critical onside kick with 48 seconds left.

As soon as practical, any new football coach should strive to get rid of any losing streak he finds lying around. It’s good for morale. In coach Kevin Saunders’ first game Saturday, his new team, 15-point underdog Apalachee, discarded a 29-game losing streak, defeating Chattahoochee 29-9 and avenging a 47-21 loss from the previous season.