With its 44-21 win over Fitzgerald on Friday, Buford will have a rare chance to pull off a wire-to-wire year as Class 2A’s No. 1 team. But the Wolves are just one of nine football teams which will be playing at the Georgia Dome next weekend. Here are the highlights from the state’s semifinal matchups.
In Class 5A, Peachtree Ridge hosted the Grayson Rams, last Friday’s darling due to defeating defending champ Lowndes. In what will go down as one of the classic semifinal games in recent memory, Peachtree survived two overtimes to defeat Grayson, 13-10. It was a defensive battle between two of the most talented, hard-hitting units in the entire state, and Grayson should be proud of what its team accomplished this season, advancing farther than it ever has. Peachtree, meanwhile, has a chance to make it two titles in three years. … Camden County made the trip up to undefeated Newnan, just one week after the Wildcats barely survived at home against an 8-4 Woodstock club. Apparently Jeff Herron’s club was scared straight, as Camden cruised to victory against the Cougars. Newnan had trouble figuring out Camden’s wing-T attack all night, and fell 27-7 to the now 14-0 Wildcats.
As in 5A, 4A featured a blowout and a thriller. Marist and Rome provided the thriller, as the War Eagles scored on the final play of the night to hold on at home, 19-17. … And Alan Chadwick’s team will meet a very, very familiar opponent next Friday night at approximately 8 p.m. at the Georgia Dome, as Tucker cruised to victory over a surprising Griffin team, 34-0. The Region 6 rivals met earlier in the year, with Marist catching the Tigers off-guard with a 38-0 shellacking. The Dome will be absolutely rockin’ for this one, folks.
The tables were turned on Carver-Columbus this year, as the Tigers fell to Cairo, 42-13. These two squads met in the 3A championship game last year, but it was a whole lot closer; Carver took that one 16-13 to win the school’s first-ever title. Cairo, on the other hand, will be going for its third title (1946, 1990). … The Syrupmakers will have their work cut out for them with a surging Flowery Branch team, whose offense has been clicking the entire playoffs despite having to go head-to-head with some of the fastest, most talented defenses, and defenders, in the state. Both Baldwin (which The Branch defeated last Friday) and LaGrange (which fell 28-0 to the Falcons) boast ‘D’s that are stocked with Division I talent, but QB Connor Shaw and Company just keep winning. They will seek their first title against Cairo this Saturday at 5 p.m.
I and many others thought that Fitzgerald would have a shot at Buford … Instead, the Wolves took it to the Purple Hurricanes, winning 44-21 in a game that stayed close throughout the first half but was blown open in the second. … Calhoun has parlayed its late regular season run into a playoff surge, getting past Brooks County in perhaps the best game of the night. The Yellow Jackets stopped Brooks County on the goal line as time expired to preserve the 38-35 victory. These two teams will meet in the first title match of the weekend, at 5 p.m. on Friday.
And finally, in Class A, Emanuel County Institute yet again found a way to win a close game, this time by the score of 15-7 over a very game Wilkinson County crew. The Bulldogs are looking for a repeat title; if they win, it will certainly have been hard-fought. This playoff run doesn’t quite mirror last year’s march to the title in which ECI blasted all comers. … And Wesleyan completes this year’s state finals participants, getting by state-power Lincoln County at home, 20-12. The other Wolves from northern Gwinnett County will compete for their first state title.
It’s been an incredible year for football so far, and it’s not quite over. Next weekend, the Georgia Dome will host fans and teams from all corners of the state, but they all will have one common goal: to go home with the hardware.
See you at the Dome.
Ewalt can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.
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