Henry Daily Herald

Photo by Dennis Thomas Coach Al Hughes’ Lovejoy Wildcats cracked the Top 10 rankings in Class AAAAAA for the first time this season. The Wildcats are ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, which was released on Tuesday.

There was plenty of movement in this week’s Associated Press poll involving teams from the Southern Crescent area.

Lovejoy made its first appearance in this week’s Class AAAAAA poll, when pollsters voted the Wildcats in at No. 9 following their 44-6 win over Mundy’s Mill last week.

The Wildcats will put their ranking on the line this week when they travel to Moultrie to take on No. 10 Colquitt County. It will be the team’s first big test in Class AAAAAA.

Colquitt will enter the game at 1-1 after defeating Thomas County Central 35-33 last week in Thomasville. In its opener Aug. 25 at the Georgia Dome, Colquitt lost 16-14 to North Gwinnett in the Corky Kell Classic.

The loser of the Colquitt-Lovejoy game will likely move out of next week’s poll.

Eagle’s Landing Christian moved up two spots to No. 4 in the latest Class A poll. The Chargers started the season in the top spot in its classification, but dropped to No. 6 with a 24-19 loss to No. Washington County of Class AAA in the first week of the season.

An impressive 32-7 win over Class AAAAA Briarwood Christian of Alabama convinced the pollster move the Chargers up.

Stockbridge’s 23-0 loss to M.L. King in the opener last week was enough to drop the Tigers out of the Class AAAA poll from their No. 9 ranking to start the season. It was the first time in 13 regular season games that the Tigers have been shutout.

It was the first time since 1968 that Stockbridge entered the season ranked.

Stockbridge’s first five opponents to start the season all made the playoffs last season.

Jonesboro, which opened the season with a win over Mount Zion, was four points away from entering the Class AAAA poll. The Cardinals travel to Albany to take on Westover on Friday at Hugh Mills Stadium.