Score has learned that Walton football coach Rocky Hidalgo will leave the Raiders to coach Glynn Academy in 2014. The move will be announced Friday morning. The Louisiana native was 40-18 in five years at the helm of the east Cobb school and made the playoffs four times. His best team was the 2011 edition that went 14-1 and made the state finals.

Hidalgo replaces Rob Ridings, who coached the Red Terrors from 2004-2013. Ridings coached Troup from 1996-1998 prior to that. His career record is 80-60 and he led Glynn Academy to six straight playoff appearances. Ridings left Glynn for Thomson earlier this month.

Hidalgo was previously Walton's defensive coordinator under Ed Dudley and was promoted to head coach when Dudley left for Ware County prior to the 2009 season.

One possible candidate for the job is East Paulding head coach Chuck Goddard, a former Walton assistant. Goddard has also been a head coach at Wheeler (2001-2005) and Cass (1997-2000).

The school released this official statement today:

"The Glynn Academy head football coach position has been offered and accepted by a candidate who applied for the position.  The recommendation will be presented to the Glynn County Board of Education for approval at a Special-called Board Meeting at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 25, 2014.  The meeting will be held in the board room of the Administration Building at 1313 Egmont Street in Brunswick."

Calls and texts to Hidalgo were not returned.

In our rankings that were released Tuesday, Milton shot up to No. 3 in a topsy-

Photo by Duana Farkas

turvy Class AAAAAA poll as several teams ahead of the previously-seventh-ranked Eagles suffered defeats. Etowah lost three straight and dropped to No. 10 while Walton climbed back into the top five after beating Wheeler and Lassiter last week.

Class AAAAA also saw several ranked teams lose including No. 1 Whitewater, which lost to rival McIntosh. However, the Wildcats remained No. 1 as the rest of the top four also lost games. Dunwoody and Creekview made this week's rankings as each team is riding an impressive winning streak.

In Class AAAA, Redan rode a six-game winning streak to the No. 3 spot this week while Locust Grove is now No. 4 with a gaudy 17-2 record. Veterans also made the top five after winning 12 of 13 games.

Blessed Trinity dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 while St. Pius X, which beat the Titans last week, rose to No. 5. Cartersville completed a two-game sweep of Ringgold and is now ranked No. 9 ahead of the 10th-ranked Tigers.

Berrien made the Class AA poll this week as Region 1-AA now has three teams in the top 10.

In Class A, Athens Christian made the top five as Pace Academy dropped to No. 6 after a loss to Paideia last week.

SEE LEFT PANEL FOR RANKINGS

Hillgrove was exposed for the second time in its last three games on Wednesday when it fell to Etowah 9-2. The Hawks opened the season with 11 straight wins, but faced just three teams with winning records during that stretch. Hillgrove has three games remaining on the regular-season slate (Grayson 4/25, North Forsyth 4/28, Woodstock 4/30).

Walton has hit a rut entering the final week of the regular season and was

Photo by David Weaver

handed its second consecutive defeat and third loss in its last five games on Wednesday at Roswell. The Hornets closed out a 12-9 victory two days after Chattahoochee toppled the visiting Raiders 12-7. Walton plays Montgomery Bell Academy (Tenn.) on Saturday in the Legacy Cup.

April 25-26 marks the 2014 Legacy Cup. Elite teams from as far away as California come to compete in this highly competitive tournament that is held in memory of Parker Jackson, a former Milton player who died in a car accident in 2006. The event will showcase a total of 14 boys games and 11 girls games over the two days. Centennial, Alpharetta, Cambridge, Milton, Riverwood, Walton, Decatur, Etowah and Lambert will represent Georgia in the boys games and Milton, Cambridge, Lassiter, Lambert and Marist will compete in the girls tournament.

Like the Walton boys, the Raider girls enter the final week coming off consecutive losses. The two losses, however, were to Pennsylvania's Strath Haven (16-13) and Radnor (16-8). Walton is 10-5-1 and is 3-4-1 against out-of-state opponents. Walton hosts Loyola Academy (Ill.) Thursday night, which is 10-1 this season, before closing the season at No. 2 Lassiter.