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September 3, 2010

Dallas Jackson
Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the Senior Analyst for RivalsHigh. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him on Twitter.

The two top teams in Georgia pulled off upsets of the top teams in Florida and California on Friday night.

But if you think that's reason to celebrate Georgia football, think again. Trust us, the Peach State is down.

First, let's start with the victors.

No. 22 Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett moved to 3-0 on the season, knocking off No. 17 Los Angeles (Calif.) Crenshaw.

The good news is the Bulldogs defended their home turf on national television. The hard-to-swallow part is that the team was losing 12-7 at halftime, it took the lead on a fumble recovery, did not show much on offense despite being its third game to Crenshaw's first and had no answer to De'Anthony Thomas outside of the cramps that knocked him out of the second half.

Then there was No. 19 Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County, which knocked off the No. 3-ranked Miami (Fla.) Central, 45-42, on a last-second field goal.

As spectacular a game as it was to watch, the performance of Camden County is to be taken with a marginal grain of salt. Miami Central made its typical handful of mental mistakes and undisciplined errors over the course of the game. And for a team that prides itself on defense and physical play, giving up 42 points is a little disconcerting.

But that's the good news for the Peach State.

For the second time in two weeks, one of the state's preseason favorites took home a loss as No. 47 Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes fell to Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern, 23-22.

While McEachern is not a slouch, ranked No. 16 in Georgia entering the game, it entered the game 0-1 after losing its home opener to Suwanee (Ga.) Peachtree Ridge two weeks ago.

What this all means for Georgia is that to peripheral high school football fans the perception of the state has been saved.

The wins over a top-ranked Florida team and a state finalist from California would indicate to peripheral high school football fans that things are solid in Georgia.

But for hard-core high school football fans that peel back another layer, the harsh reality is starting to become clear. The Class AAAAA in Georgia is not what it was compared to just one year ago.

The good news is that the top end rankings will not change for Georgia.

Two-time defending champion Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County will remain No. 1 in the state, and may slide up a little in the national rankings into the Top 15.

The second place Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett Bulldogs will probably slide down in the rankings, as the team showed less in victory than some teams nationally have in defeat.

Beyond that, there is a major gap in the rankings and Georgia may only be represented in the RivalsHigh 100 by those two names.

The fringe of the rankings will see some more teams gaining consideration.

All poised to slide up a spot with victories will be Class AAAA No. 1 team Warner Robins (Ga.) Northside, Class AAAA No. 2 team Griffin (Ga.) High, Class AAA No. 1 team Fort Valley (Ga.) Peach County, Class AAA No. 2 Tyrone (Ga.) Sandy Creek and Class AAAAA No. 3 team Newnan (Ga.) High.

None of the teams listed above is likely to make the jump into the rankings at this point, but all are being considered candidates.

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