Lowndes and Camden County have won five of the last six championships in Class AAAAA, Georgia’s highest classification. Both have been nationally ranked by MaxPreps this season.
The reason they’re meeting now, in the round of 16, is that Lowndes failed to win Region 1-AAAAA. That title went to Northside of Warner Robins, another nationally known program that upset Lowndes 10-7 on Oct. 2.
Meanwhile, Camden County (8-2) won Region 3-AAAAA. Camden has won eight straight games since losing close decisions to nationally ranked Grayson (11-0 and No. 1 in Georgia) and Hoover of Alabama.
This is the week in which No. 1 and No. 2 seeds face each other, and the Camden-Lowndes game is the blockbuster of several outstanding games, especially in AAAAA.
Camden is 3-2 against Lowndes under coach Jeff Herron, who came to Camden in 2000 and won state titles in 2003 and 2008. But Lowndes has shut out Camden the last two times they’ve played (2004, 2007), both in the state semifinals at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Both of those Lowndes teams won state championships, but Herron believes the current Lowndes team is the best ever.
"We’ve watched all but two games of theirs on film, and they’ve scored on the first play of the game in about five of them," Herron said. "They’ve scored 50 points on two very good teams (Valdosta and Peachtree Ridge). I think last year they depended too much on Greg Reid. They’re more balanced dangerous now."
Reid was the all-class player of the year who signed with Florida State and is having an impact there.
This Lowndes offense is clearly balanced. The three running backs in the Wing-T have similar stats – Khary Franklin (942 yards, 92 carries, 10 touchdowns), Robert Anderson (820, 96, 10) and Troy Braswell (909, 83, 12). Each easily could finish with 1,000 yards.
Camden is led by two-way starter Ean Days, who scored five touchdowns in a game two weeks ago, but only about one-third of the players from the 2008 championship team are back. Herron is concerned he doesn’t have the same great defense the ’08 team had, but he’s also convinced his team has improved greatly since an opening 14-10 loss to Grayson.
This game features Class AAAAA's top two offenses, and both are run out of the Wing-T. Lowndes is averaging 44.8 points per game, while Camden County is at 43.5. Here’s a look at the other seven first-round games in AAAAA:
Brookwood (6-5) at Peachtree Ridge (9-2): Brookwood barely has avoided its first losing season since 1986 but then stunned undefeated McEachern 20-10 last week. Next is 2008 runner-up Peachtree Ridge, which has been a mild disappointment with two losses. But the Lions also were 8-2 in the regular season last season when they got hot. Quarterback Nick Lombardo has been battling injuries. His health could be the key to a struggling offense that trailed 7-0 in the final minutes before pulling out a 14-7 victory over Kell last week.
M.L. King (10-1) at Newnan (11-0): M.L. King’s Mack King, who has committed to Florida, is rated as the state’s top running back prospect. Newnan’s Alec Ogletree, who has committed to Georgia, is rated the state’s top safety and defensive player.
Woodstock (10-1) at North Gwinnett (11-0): Woodstock was the AAAAA Cinderella in 2008 when it reached the quarterfinals under Mike O’Brien, who won a state title at Valdosta in 1998. Now, the Wolverines are ranked No. 10 and given a good shot at the upset against the No. 2 Bulldogs. North Gwinnett is led by quarterback C.J. Uzomah, who is returning to form after a knee injury.
Roswell (10-1) at Grayson (11-0): Roswell beat Collins Hill in overtime last week. Next is the No. 1 team in the state. Grayson lost star running back Ean Pemberton to a separated shoulder in a 21-14 victory over Marietta last week, but he’s expected to play. Defensive end Joseph Champaign, who has committed to Navy, is just coming back from an ACL injury.
South Gwinnett (9-2) at Lassiter (11-0): Lassiter’s Hutson Mason just shattered the state record for passing yards in a season with 3,714. He threw seven touchdown passes in last week’s 62-37 victory over North Forsyth. South Gwinnett is another team that has turned around its fortunes with a top quarterback in Kent Rollins.
Colquitt County (9-2) at Stephenson (11-0): Under Rush Propst, Colquitt County has nine wins for the first time in a decade. He’ll bring the spread offense to metro Atlanta and Stephenson, which is loaded with top prospects on defense. The best one is defensive tackle Michael Thornton, who has several ACC and SEC offers.
Union Grove (9-2) at Northside (10-1): Northside is 65-3 over four seasons but somehow not the first team mentioned as a favorite to win the title in AAAAA. The Eagles are favored to beat Union Grove, whose star is defensive end Anthony Williams, a Georgia Tech recruit.
