CLASS 5A (by Brian Jones)
It’s on to the Round of 16 of the Georgia high school football playoffs. If you though that the first round was exciting, then Friday should have some classic games. One game everyone will be watching is Northside-Warner Robins at Camden County. Greg Baker will see if he can run over a very good Northside defense. … Another game that should be interesting is Lassiter taking on North Gwinnett. Both teams have prolific offenses so there should be a lot of points on the board. … Peachtree Ridge is one of the hottest teams in the state and will have its hands full when it hosts Harrison. But the Lions know how to defeat the Hoyas, as they beat them 13-3 early in the season. … Newnan is quietly undefeated and will put it on the line against Tift County, which is coming off a big win over M.L. King last week. Lowndes cruised past Luella last week and will try to keep it going against Bradwell Institute. … The other two games in the second round are Woodstock, which is looking to keep its Cinderella season going against Norcross, and Chapel Hill hosting Coffee, which is coming off an overtime win over Stephenson.
CLASS 4A (by Ricky Dimon)
Spots in the last eight are on the line this Friday as the high school football playoffs surge onward and upward. Class 4A action is highlighted by a Top 10 battle between Sequoyah and Marist, which has home-field advantage. Both teams are 10-1 after coming off round-one blowout wins. … A similarly enticing duel is expected between Statesboro (10-1), the No. 2 seed from Region 2, and host North Clayton (10-1), the Region 4 champion. … Another high-powered affair features Rome (9-2) visiting Sandy Creek. The Fighting Patriots (11-0) endured a home scare last week, but battled past Chamblee 14-7. … One other undefeated team remains in the wake of Evans’ first-round upset loss to Mt. Zion, Jonesboro. Top-ranked Westside-Macon (11-0) welcomes Jonesboro (7-4) to town. Mt. Zion, Jonesboro (7-4), meanwhile, will visit 2007 runner-up Ware County (6-5), which pulled off a surprise of its own last Friday over Thomas County Central in a rematch of last year’s semifinal. … Speaking of surprises, two other No. 4 seeds (in addition to Mt. Zion) are still alive. Cedar Shoals (7-4) knocked off Sprayberry in its opener and will next take on Southwest DeKalb (8-3). Hillgrove (8-3) stunned Loganville (9-2) and will meet Tucker (10-1) for a place in the quarterfinals.
CLASS 3A (by Fletcher Proctor)
As Round 2 of the Class 3A playoffs nears, the favorites must be focused on the game at hand and not look down the road. Baldwin and Corico Hawkins will face a Shaw squad that, despite a losing record, is still dangerous. Shaw knocked off Peach County on the road in the first round and has been tested over the season against top-notch competition. … Meanwhile, Flowery Branch defense will have to get off the field against Ridgeland or else Connor Shaw and the offense won’t get a chance to put up many points. Another performance from the defense like it gave against Stephens County and the Region 7 No. 3 will be sent home. … Dunwoody did enough to advance against Central-Carroll but now faces North Hall, which squeezed out a one-point win against Hart County. … The marquee matchup of the week will be Cartersville at Gainesville. Donavan Tate’s three scores helped upset St. Pius X in the biggest upset of round one, but Gainesville’s QB is nothing at which to sneeze. The Red Elephants, behind its leader Blake Sims, pulled away from Oconee County in the second half en route to a 49-21 win. The Sims/Tate battle could be the best of the entire postseason.
CLASS 2A (by Corey Mitchell)
Class 2A has a number of interesting playoff contests coming up on Friday including the battle of the surprise first-round winners. The only No. 4 seed to win last week, the Cook Hornets from Region 1, will face a Toombs County Bulldog team that has won its last six games. The other matchup in the quadrant pits Calhoun against Westminster, with both teams coming off of convincing wins in their opening playoff games. … Fitzgerald ended its brief two-game defensive slide in blowout fashion last week against Charlton County. For their next trick, the Purple Hurricanes will try to top the 10-1 Warhawks of Henry County. The winner of this game will have its hands full in the quarterfinals with the Callaway/Pepperell victor. Both Pepperell and Callaway are 10-1 on the season, making this quadrant the toughest road to the Georgia Dome. … The Class 2A unbeatens will meet in the championship game if they can stay that way over the next few weeks. Buford will face North Oconee on Friday while Jefferson will face an upset-minded Lovett team. While both perfect teams are on a collision course, the chances of the red-hot Brooks County Trojans can’t be discounted. Brooks faces a very good Jefferson County team, with the winner facing the Lovett/Jefferson winner.
CLASS A (by Derek Wiley)
In a second-round game that could easily stand as the Class A championship, Emanuel County Institute will meet a familiar foe in Clinch County. The Bulldogs and Panthers played each other last season in the semifinals at the Georgia Dome with ECI prevailing 35-14 on its way to the state championship. Clinch County, which was ranked third in the Score Prep/GPB poll until its loss to Miller County in the last week of the regular season, will be looking for revenge when it travels to play the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs. … The other second-round matchup between regions 1 and 2 should be just as interesting as Savannah Christian meets Miller County for the first time in the schools’ history. Savannah Christian’s only loss of the season came to ECI, 28-21, on Sept. 5. Miller County’s only blemish was a one-point loss to Seminole County back on Oct. 17. … Since losing to Holy Innocents’ 7-6 on Sept. 12, the Wesleyan Wolves have won eight straight, outscoring their opponents 296-71 on their way to winning Region 8. Now the Wolves get another shot at the Golden Bears when it really counts.
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