Daily Dive: Class A Division I underdogs prepare for top 10 showdowns

Two of Class A Division Is ranked teams will take on programs that were among the best in Class 6A last season and currently occupy the Class 5A polls. Score Atlantas poll places the Toombs County Bulldogs at No. 1 and the Thomasville Bulldogs at No. 3 behind Dublin and the overall composite puts Thomasville at No. 1 with 56 total points and Toombs County at No. 2 with 55. It is unlikely that the results of this week will impact their position in the poll, but the real takeaway will come with how competitive the matchups turn out to be.

Starting with Thomasville, the undefeated Bulldogs will be hosting defending Class 6A state champion Thomas County Central. According to the Maxwell computer projections, Thomas County Central is a nine-point favorite. The series is tied 28-28 all-time and this is the highest both teams have been ranked at the time of kickoff since 1987 when Thomasville was a No. 1 and TCC was a No. 3. This year it will be a No. 3 versus No. 4 according to the Score Atlanta polls. Last year, Thomas County Central scored a 45-7 home winwhich was the Jackets largest win over the Bulldogs since 1995 when the game was decided by the same exact score.

Toombs County is a larger underdog heading into its road trip to Rome and the Maxwell projections favor the Wolves by 28 points. Last year, Toombs County won its first region title since 2000 and reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008 in Class 2A. The teams only two losses were to state finalists Pierce County and Rockmart and defensively, Toombs County produced five shutouts and held seven opponents to single digits.

This matchup differs greatly from the 28-28 all-time series between Thomasville and Thomas County Central because Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the schools. Romes first game of the season was called off after the teams scary bus accident following their scrimmage and they fell 44-22 to Carrollton last week. This will be Romes final contest before opening Region 5-5A play next week at home against East Paulding so it will be important for the Wolves to handle business.

Both of these matchups will be updated during tonights broadcast and will be two of the most interesting cross-classification matchups between ranked opponents as Class A Division I's top tier takes on Class 5A's banner programs.