Malachi Fannin-Render played only four plays the first time that LaGrange played Sandy Creek, and the Grangers lost 27-7. Three months later, they played again. The senior running back got the ball 32 times. It made a difference.

Zylea Dinkins, a junior middle linebacker for undefeated Westside of Macon, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Dinkins intercepted three passes, returning two for touchdowns, in a 27-0 victory over Mary Persons that clinched the Area 5 Division I championship last week.

Jahnias Wilcox, a senior wide receiver at Coffee, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the week. Wilcox has a 4.0 GPA and is also a member of the weightlifting team. “Jahnias is such a valuable part of our football team and school, quiet by nature and as hard of a worker as you can find, both on and off the field,” Coffee head coach Mike Coe said.

Sequoyah is proud of its 38-28 victory over No. 6 Gainesville in the Class 5A first round. Just don’t call it an upset. “For our kids, they pretty much expected it, to be honest,” Sequoyah coach James Teter said. “Some people feel like we won in an upset, but our players felt like we had played well all year and that our region was tough enough.”

Archer needed a Hollywood ending to beat Harrison last week, and Jonathan Do delivered on que, throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to Tyree Begne with 13 seconds left to give the Tigers a 46-42 victory in the Class 6A first round. “He has the Rocky Balboa attitude,” Archer coach Dante Williams said of his junior quarterback.

Ariana Respress, a junior quarterback and safety at Peach County, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Respress led Peach County to four victories last week and the program’s first area championship. Peach has improved to 12-3 this season after going 1-8 last year.

Drew Linnihan, a senior kicker/punter at Marist, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Linnihan is the leading scorer for the Class 4A No. 1-ranked War Eagles with 65 points. He has made 47 of 48 extra points and is 6-for-7 on field goals, and 49 of his 62 kickoffs have been touchbacks.

Audrey Jensen, a junior quarterback at Milton, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Jenson was 30-of-40 passing for 481 yards and six touchdowns as Milton beat Johns Creek 27-12 and Blessed Trinity 28-27 last week.

Landon Walker, a senior quarterback at Woodward Academy, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Walker, who has a 4.37 GPA, has passed for 1,898 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 369 yards and eight touchdowns this season for the War Eagles, who won their fourth consecutive region championship.

Callaway’s strategy was to keep the state’s leading receiver from deciding the game. The plan worked as Callaway conceded 245 rushing yards but held Morgan County's Jaylen Elder to four catches for 28 yards. Callaway scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 33-26 come-from-behind victory over a previously undefeated and second-ranked team.

There aren’t many high school goals left unchecked for Savannah Christian defensive tackle Elijah Griffin, the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect who committed to Georgia last month. A region title was one of them. Savannah Christian’s game last week against Toombs County would decide the Region 3-A Division I champion.

GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Westover’s unit of left tackle Vincent Tumblin, left guard Torian Chester, center Emory Clark, right guard Tanner Turner and right tackle Kyson Mallard with Corey Gardner and Jshawn Jinks assisting on heavy sets. They paved the way for Dominique Ball’s 302-yard rushing game in a 29-10 victory over eighth-ranked Cairo in a Class 3A game.

Chelsea Njoku, a quarterback at McEachern, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Njoku was 67-of-103 passing for 884 yards and 15 touchdowns last week as McEachern beat Osborne 34-0, South Cobb 13-0, Hughes 25-0 and Walton 46-7 to improve to 11-0 on the season.

Branson Brooks, a senior linebacker at Lambert, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Brooks, who has a 4.1 GPA, has 91 tackles (56 solo, 35 assisted), two tackles for losses and three sacks through nine games. He also plays lacrosse and is a member of the Young Life Christian Group.

Athens Academy completed its first 10-win season and won its first region championship in five years Friday with a 34-28 victory over Rabun County. It's been a season of fourth-quarter heroics. Against Rabun County, Hampton Johnson threw a 68-yard TD pass to Keyon Standifer to break a 28-28 tie with 4:45 left.

Zayden Cook became this season’s first 2,000-yard rusher Friday. That’s usually enough to get the game ball. But Cook did a little extra to make sure. The Chattooga senior rushed for 464 yards and six touchdowns, made nine tackles, intercepted two passes and punted twice for a 42.0-yard average in a 56-36 victory over Dade County.

GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Kell’s unit of left tackle David Torres, left guard Chase Lewandowski, center David Ornelas, right guard Vincent Consolino, right tackle Brodey Bedwell, guard/tackle Kayden Jacobo, guard Keenan Thompson and center/guard Jared Miller with tight ends Brayden Rouse, Kason Fox and Bryce Shelton.

Katie Smith, a senior quarterback at Locust Grove, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Smith was 63-of-87 passing for 850 yards and 18 touchdowns in comfortable victories over Whitewater, Morrow, Luella and Union Grove.

Marcus Romain, a senior quarterback at Wheeler, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Romain, who has a 4.18 GPA, has passed for 519 yards and rushed for 412 yards this season despite being limited to six games because of an injury. Romain also is a member of the school’s track team.

Call it reloading. Say that tradition doesn’t graduate. The old clichés apply to Cartersville, a team that graduated all eight of its first-team all-region players and returned only five starters from last year’s state semifinal team. The Purple Hurricanes are 9-0, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, and a victory from their ninth region championship in 11 years.