By Adam Carrington
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
North Cobb, Harrison and Walton remain in the top 10 in The Associated Press Georgia High School poll, but it's the final weeks of the regular season that really matter to the coaches.
The Warriors, who are still undefeated with an 8-0 overall record, are still ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAA. Harrison stayed at No. 6, and Walton moved up from eighth and is now tied with Stephenson at No. 7. But there are still three weeks remaining in the regular season.
"The (rankings) really don't mean anything," Harrison coach Bruce Cobleigh said. "We just want to reach our goals of winning region, making the playoffs and see how far we can go."
North Gwinnett is the leader of the polls for the second straight week. M.L. King is still ranked No. 3, Lowndes is No. 4 and Norcross rounds out the top five. Camden County is ranked No. 9 and Grayson is No. 10.
Walton (6-1, 2-0 in Region 6A-AAAAA) needs a win over Sprayberry at home to be in a comfortable position for a spot in the state playoffs before facing Lassiter and Wheeler to end the regular season.
The Raiders, who got 271 rushing yards and five touchdowns from J.J. Jackson in their 56-24 victory over Kell, will have to go up against a Yellow Jacket team that has a two-headed monster in the backfield in David Carter and Forest Holt.
"We're just trying to close out a good season," Walton coach Ed Dudley said. "We have a good game against Sprayberry coming up, so I haven't even looked at the polls or thought anything about them."
North Cobb (8-0, 6-0 in 5AAAAA) and Harrison (5-1, 3-1) are off this week, but both teams will have tough battles when they return. The Warriors will face Etowah at home Oct. 27 before ending with Marietta on the road. The Hoyas, after their bye week, will have to contend with McEachern at home before taking on Campbell on the road.
"We got the toughest part of our schedule ahead of us," North Cobb coach Shane Queen said. "In the last two weeks, you can go from being the first seed to the third seed (in the playoffs). We have to go out there and play hard like it's the first round of the playoffs. Even though we won eight games, we still have to work hard and improve."
There aren't serious injuries on the Harrison squad, but Cobleigh said there is some bumps and bruises, and the bye week came at a proper time. The Hoyas expect to be healthier for McEachern next week.
North Cobb's and Harrison's 5AAAAA rival Marietta (6-1, 4-1) received votes for a top 10-ranking.
The Blue Devils are one of several Cobb County teams with important region games in the final three weeks of the season.
Marietta will be on the road against Murray County and Woodstock before hosting North Cobb in the regular season finale.
Harrison's only loss of the season came to North Cobb, and the Hoyas are the only team to leave a mark against the Blue Devils this season.
Campbell (4-3, 2-3) will travel to Kennesaw Mountain (3-4, 2-3) this week with the loser left with a tough road and likely in need of help from several teams to reach the playoffs. McEachern will probably need to win the rest of its games to get into the postseason. However, Harrison and Etowah are two of those three squads.
Lassiter (2-5, 1-1) travels to Wheeler (4-3, 1-1) on Friday. The loser of that game will likely need help from other teams to have a shot at one of Region 6A-AAAAA's two playoff spots.
Sprayberry (4-3, 2-0) topped Wheeler last week and would control its on region-title destiny with a win over Walton on Friday. The Raiders will close out the regular season with Lassiter and Wheeler.
With three games left to play, Pebblebrook is also still in the hunt for a playoff seed from Region 5AAAA. The Falcons (4-3, 4-2) are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the region with Sequoyah and Lithia Springs, which Pebblebrook beat to open region play. The Falcons have matchups with Chapel Hill (0-7, 0-6), Cherokee (6-1, 5-1) and Sequoyah (4-3, 4-2) remaining.
Whitefield Academy (3-4, 1-1) is in a four-way tie for second place in Region 5A, with Fellowship Christian sitting atop the standings (7-0, 2-0). The Wolfpack's only region loss came against Landmark. Whitefield picked up a huge 30-29 win last week over Eagles Landing Christian Academy, which travels to Fellowship this week.
The Wolfpack will close out its season with games at Our Lady of Mercy (4-3, 1-1) and Mount Pisgah (3-4, 0-2) before hosting Fellowship in its finale.
Marietta Daily Journal Sports Writer Drew Brantley contributed to this story
acarrington@mdjonline.com
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