Oglethorpe County's football team pulled off a 28-19 upset over No. 5 Rabun County, their first win over a top-10 team since 1994.
Oglethorpe County shattered a 30-year drought Friday night, toppling a top-10 powerhouse and rewriting the school’s football history.
The Patriots knocked off previously undefeated and fifth-ranked Rabun County 28-19 to move to 3-4 and 1-2 in Region 8-A Division I play. It was the Patriots’ first win over a top-10 team since defeating Buford in 1994.
“Going into the game, I did not have high hopes for it,” quarterback Caden Hartrum said. “It seemed like a hard game, and it didn’t really seem like we were going to come out on top, but I got to keep a positive attitude toward the team.”
Hartrum threw for two touchdowns — his first and second of the season — and ran for another score. Junior Nicah Pass had 166 receiving yards and a touchdown, and senior wingback Dalton Hilley caught Hartrum’s other touchdown pass. Junior running back Paris Crowder also rushed for a touchdown.
Last season, the Patriots lost 48-14 to Rabun County. Hartrum said coach Michael Holland told the team that the last time they beat the Wildcats was in 2011.
Hartrum also had extra motivation going into this matchup.
“I think the main thing that got us going was our old coach, Gary Hughes, going over there,” he said. “That got everybody going for the week, and everybody was locked in all week at practice.”
Hughes is the former offensive coordinator for the Patriots and is in his first season at Rabun County.
The Patriots came off a bye week heading into the matchup, giving them a boost in game planning and preparation, Holland said.
“We had a good idea of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to attack Rabun, so that we were able to get those extra practices and focus on what we needed to.” Holland said.
He also highlighted all three phases of the game. Defensive coordinator Mike Campbell, offensive coordinator Josh Austin and special teams coach Web Allgood prepared the team well, Holland said.
“Coach Campbell, Coach Allgood and Coach Austin all put together a phenomenal game plan for Rabun,” Holland said.
Going into the game, Hartrum was 5-for-18 for 95 yards this season. Against Rabun County, he was 7-for-9 for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Pass caught four of those, totaling more than 80% of those yards.
“It felt good. We were practicing that all week, and just go out there and do what I had to do,” Pass said.
The Patriots have three region games remaining to close out the regular season, all against the bottom teams in their region. Commerce (0-7, 0-3), Providence Christian (1-6, 0-3) and Banks County (0-7, 0-3) are a combined 1-20 this season.
“I think the biggest thing that we have to guard against is not getting too comfortable,” Holland said. “We’ve got to approach this week like we approached last week in that game. So that’s going to be the focus, my message to the team.”
Oglethorpe is fourth in the region, behind Athens Academy (7-1, 4-0), Elbert County (4-4, 4-0) and Rabun County (7-1, 3-1).
“If you’re in the top four, you automatically make it. Which we could do with three wins, we would be in the top four, for sure,” Holland said.
The Patriots reached the playoffs in both 2022 and ’23, when they were in a four-team region and automatically qualified each year.
“When I came here, I wouldn’t have this job and tried to pursue this job if I didn’t think we could build something special here,” Holland said. “When we all commit as a community and are pulling on the same end of the rope, I guarantee you we can be just as good as any team that we play.”