CLEVELAND, Ga. — The White County Warriors, the high school football team for Helen, Cleveland and the rest of White County, sit at the top of a national list of teams winning far more often than the numbers say they should.
A national analysis of high school results put the Warriors first on its Biggest Overachievers list. That study weighed more than 13,000 programs and roughly 50,000 games played through Oct. 19, comparing actual wins with what computer ratings expected.
White County is 7-1 even though its national rating stands at 6,934. The team has outscored opponents by an average of only 4.6 points a game, and the study found the Warriors have won almost three more games than their ratings and schedule strength projected.
Close finishes have been the theme. White County also landed fifth in the country among Close-Game Specialists, with five of its wins coming by seven points or less.
The Warriors had an open date on the Week 10 schedule Friday, Oct. 23, when Chestatee, Dawson County, Flowery Branch and North Forsyth were also idle across Northeast Georgia, giving the team a week of rest before the final stretch of the regular season.
Elsewhere in the region, Friday brought several tight finishes of the sort White County has lived on all fall. Milton came from behind to beat Gainesville 49-46 in a top-five meeting that left Milton atop Region 7-6A.
Cherokee Bluff had the better of second-ranked Monroe Area for long stretches at Yonah Field but fell 35-31 in Region 8-4A after a final drive came up short. In Dahlonega, Elbert County held off Lumpkin County 24-21 in Region 8-3A, and Prince Avenue grabbed the Region 8-2A lead by beating Commerce 21-9.
For a county of mountain towns like Helen, Sautee Nacoochee and Cleveland, the ranking puts a national spotlight on a team whose margins have been thin all season but whose record keeps climbing.
