Class AAAAAA Round 2 preview

Before the playoffs began, many high school football experts predicted that Georgia’s postseason would be the most competitive out of any state in the country. The first round did not disappoint and once again we are faced with mammoth matchups with one of the deepest fields of playoff teams the state has seen. In Class AAAAAA, Colquitt County is the projected favorite to win the state championship and is playing just its fifth home playoff game in its last 23 postseason games. The Packers smashed Rockdale County 62-12 last week but they’ll face a Dacula team that is disciplined, well-coached and very opportunistic on the defensive side of the ball. Dacula has over 30 sacks, more than 70 tackles for loss and 17 interceptions this season

DOWN IN THE TRENCHES…

Alpharetta has the lowest odds of the remaining 16 teams in Class AAAAAA to win the state title according to the Maxwell Projections,but this is a dangerous Raiders team that is capable of challenging McEachern. Alpharetta’s pass rush is led by Tennessee-commit Andrew Butcher and he’ll face a McEachern offensive line that features Louisville-commit ChandlerJones and USC-commit Chuma Edoga. The winner of McEachern and Alpharetta will take on the winner of Grayson at Tucker in the quarterfinals. Grayson lost a coin flip after tying for the Region 8 championship and earned the No. 3 seed. Tucker is the top seed out of Region 3 and comes off a 31-29 first round victory over Tift County. Grayson dominated Mill Creek 24-7 in the opening round.

The matchup we thought we were going to see with Valdosta and North Gwinnett in the second round was spoiled by Newton and Central Gwinnett upsets. Newton dominated Valdosta 27-14 as junior quarterback Romario Johnson increased his season total to 2,358 passing yards, despite two of Newton’s games being called off for lightning storms earlier in the year.

Central Gwinnett held North Gwinnett to 160 total yards of offense and won 12-9. Central Gwinnett posted five total sacks and shutdown what many thought was the top passing offense in the state, so Johnson and the Newton offense will have their hands full buying time in the pocket.

Roswell at Hillgrove sets up a fantastic second round matchup and the winner faces the winner of Lee County at Archer. Roswell sophomore Sheldon Evans ran in 16 of the Hornets’ 22 rushing touchdowns in the regular season and the offense continued rolling in last week’s 36-13 win over Lambert. Hillgrove’s potent offense features Sonny Harris,who racked up 314 yards on 28 carries and ran in eight touchdowns in the Hawks’ 72-46 win over North Paulding this season.

YOU’RE NEXT…

Archer toppled two-time defending champion Norcross 38-22 last Friday and quarterback Gabe Tiller finished 18-of-26 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown. Randy Nails had six receptions for 173 yards and a score to go along with 75 yards rushing and a touchdown while Jamyest Williams added 62 yards receiving and 30 yards rushing for Archer. The Tigers host LeeCounty, which thrashed Lovejoy 44-6 in its Class AAAAAA postseason debut last Friday.

Etowah at Westlake features a potent Eagles rushing attack that will look for running room against a Westlake defense that has allowed just 8.7 points per game this year. Etowah RB Tyray Devezin rushed for 204 yards on 25 carries in the first round in a 48-22 win against South Forsyth. Devezin has unofficially rushed for 1,126 yards this year after filling in for his older brother Raishod, who rushed for over 1,000 yards through seven games this year but suffered a season-ending injury.

The most mysterious matchup could be Hughes at Milton. These two teams have the size and strength to play with anybody in the state but they both lack playoff experience. Milton has made the playoffs five of the past six seasons but won its first playoff game since 1953 last week and first region title since 1952 the week before. Hughes opened in 2009. The Panthers have advanced one round each of the past two seasons but never made a quarterfinals. Milton beat Northview 37-0 in the first round and Hughes topped North Cobb 42-28.