It’s crunch time. Just ask any high school football team that’s still playing. The playoffs begin statewide on Nov. 12 and, as always, they are sure to entertain and surprise onlookers. Here are a few teams to watch for as the second season gets underway.
NORTH GWINNETT …
If you follow high school football in Georgia, you know about Bob Sphire’s North Gwinnett Bulldogs. They finished the season at 10-0 and are ranked No. 2 in Class 5A. With big time talents like athlete C.J. Uzomah, who plays several positions on offense, a running back rotation featuring Joe Jones, Ethan Kilgore and Donnie Miles, a solid offensive line and defense, and you have one of the top teams in any classification in Georgia.
For Sphire’s team, getting overconfident is unacceptable as they prepared to face Lassiter in the first round. They beat the Trojans 34-14 at the Corky Kell Classic in August. But Sphire warns that anything can happen.
“You’ve got to be focused on this game,” he said. “Maybe in some other brackets, some other classifications, schools can afford to do that. But I absolutely know 5A ball in Georgia, the experiences I’ve had, you can’t afford to do that.”
We’ve seen such shockers transpire before. Look at 2007’s North Cobb Warriors, who lost in the first round of the playoffs to Peachtree Ridge after being ranked No. 1 for five straight weeks.
“Every year you see a few lower seeds upset some higher seeds and you see some road teams beat some home favorites,” Sphire said, “and none of that should really be a surprise because across the board in east, west, north, south Georgia they really know how to play the game of football.”
MARIST …
Expectations are always high at Marist. Alan Chadwick’s team finished the season at 8-2, finishing second in difficult Region 6-4A.
Like North Gwinnett, not looking ahead is crucial. But Chadwick hopes a surprise 20-0 loss to Dunwoody earlier in the season has already taught his players a lesson about playing at a low intensity level.
“Really it [the poor play] all started the game before against Lakeside,” Chadwick said. “Two weeks in a row we weren’t very inspired. We left a lot of points on the board in both those games. We weren’t that good on offense, we turned the ball over quite a bit.”
The team responded well from the shock defeat, winning their last three matchups with relative ease. Now with the playoffs right around the corner, it’s full speed ahead for a team that features quarterback Andy Perez, who has recovered after struggling midseason, while Gray King leads a solid ground attack.
“We’re starting to play with a lot more confidence and passion and energy,” Chadwick said. “And we just have to use that as motivation and keep going.”
Heritage-Conyers was the first-round opponent for Marist.
KELL …
The top seven teams in Class 4A finished the year at 10-0. The Kell Longhorns are one of those teams, placing fourth in the final GACA Poll before the playoffs. Kell just might be the most dangerous of those seven. After all, they did beat three good 5A teams in Etowah, Woodstock and Lassiter to open the season before sweeping through their region schedule.
“Its just been a great, great season,” said head coach Derek Cook. “Just to be able to win the games that we wanted and for the most part we’ve done it decisively over some teams that were very good.”
Indeed, it has been a dream year for the Longhorns. But they will want to end it at the Georgia Dome. Like North Gwinnett, they stand to host at least a first and second round game in the playoffs after winning their region.
“Being at home, it’s just a reward for the year,” Cook said. “Our guys like to play at home and we love that.”
Tennessee commit Brian Randolph is a handful in the backfield and at safety, while trustworthy Austin Petrik leads the offense from under center. First up is South Forsyth, while a potential juicy second-round matchup against the winner of SW DeKalb-Flowery Branch awaits.
OTHERS TO WATCH …
Buford and Westminster, the top two out of Region 6-2A, represent a favorite and potential dark horse in the classification.
The Wolves are on fire. And as usual, they are one of the favorites. After a 14-0 loss to Carver on Sept. 3, they have rolled off eight straight wins, with a 23-point spanking of the Wildcats being their closest game.
This may not be Buford’s most talented team ever, but it’s certainly a very good one that plays well as a unit. Running back Seon Jones is a terror who ran for 313 yards in a game earlier in the year. They’ve also got speedster Eric Barr in the backfield and in the secondary, and a steady quarterback in Alex Ross. This is also a team with history behind them, as the perennial power has lost just two games over the last four years and has won three straight state titles.
As for Westminster, they finally have their stud running back on the field. Ralph David Abernathy IV missed seven weeks of action due to a sprained ankle. But the team held serve without him and he returned with a bang, running rampant over arch-rivals Lovett for 224 yards. However, he was held to 47 in the season-ending loss to nemesis Buford, who beat the Wildcats twice by a combined score of 75-10. Westminster plays North Oconee in round one.
Mays could be a Cinderella candidate this season. The talented bunch finished the year at 7-3 with a resounding 54-0 win over Chamblee and seem to be flying under the radar heading into the postseason. But they must travel to Athens to face a stout Clarke Central team, and have never won a road playoff game in school history.
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