Lee County, Dougherty football teams open season in state rankings

The AJC released its first top 10 football polls of the season Sunday and both Lee County and Dougherty were among the best in their classes.

The Trojans of Lee County were listed as the top team last week in the Maxwell Ratings, but in the AJC poll released Sunday, the Trojans came in at No. 2. The AJC rated Hughes of Fairburn as the top team in the class. Hughes finished last season with a 13-2 record and lost in the state championship game to Buford, 21-20. Speaking of Buford, the Wolves are now the top-ranked team in Class AAAAAAA.

“Langston Hughes is definitely the team to beat in Class 6A,” said Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio. “While early season rankings don’t mean very much, it is still an honor to be ranked so highly. We are excited about this year’s team.”

In what could be the biggest game of Week 1, Lee County will get a chance to see how good it is Friday night when they travel to Warner Robins to take on the Class AAAAA defending champion Demons who are ranked No. 1 to start the season in their class.

In AAA, the Trojans of Dougherty came in at No. 9 in the first poll. Defending state champion Cedar Grove took the top spot with Dougherty region foes Crisp County and Carver-Columbus taking second and third, respectively. Thomasville, which lost in the state championship game last season in AA and has jumped to AAA, was not ranked.

“Knowing where this team was a couple of years ago and to be spoken of in the top 10 speaks volumes to where we have come,” said Dougherty head coach Johnny Gilbert. “I’m very proud of the accomplishments of being in the top 10. We just have to keep working to improve.”

The only other southwest Georgia teams named in the preseason top 10 were Colquitt County No. 3 in AAAAAAA, Bainbridge No. 7 in Class AAAA, Brooks County No. 2 in A Division I and Turner County No. 4 in A Division II.

Joe Whitfield