The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
High school football playoff primer
Second-round upsets create wide-open title races.
The season has reached the quarterfinals, with 32 playoff games set for today. Get caught up on the facts, figures and storylines.
The high school football season has reached the quarterfinals, with 32 playoff games scheduled for today. Here are some facts, figures and storylines entering the third round:
Didn’t see that coming: There were two whopper-sized upsets in the second round last week when No. 1 Lowndes (Class AAAAAAA) and No. 1 Cartersville (AAAA) lost in dramatic finishes. Blessed Trinity — a 31-point underdog according to the computer Maxwell Ratings — ended Cartersville’s 41-game winning streak with a 21-17 victory. Jake Smith threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Davis with 12 seconds remaining. McEachern — a 24-point underdog — won 36-31 after trailing 21-0 late in the first half and 31-14 in the final four minutes. Carlos Del Rio, a freshman who was told he would start just before the game, threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Genuine Potts for the winner with 54 seconds left.
More wild arrivals: Allatoona beat Dalton 14-13 after blocking a late extra-point attempt. Jenkins beat Cook 35-34, and Mitchell County beat Schley County 22-21 by preserving one-point leads, each by stopping 2-point conversions in the final seconds. Warner Robins beat Eagle’s Landing
by scoring on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on the last play of overtime.
Best games ahead: No. 1 Benedictine is host to No. 2 Hapeville Charter in a Class AA game that will be the first No. 1-vs.-No. 2 matchup played in Savannah. No. 2 Marist plays at No. 3 Burke County in a game between the highest-ranked teams remaining in AAAA. Mays at Lee County (AAAAAA) and Buford at Stockbridge (AAAAA) also match teams ranked No. 2 and No. 3. But the most followed game probably will be No. 8 Colquitt County’s visit to No. 2 Archer in AAAAAAA. Archer (12-0) is the highest- ranked and only unbeaten team in the highest class. Colquitt County has a history of 10 playoff road victories against No. 1-seeded teams under coach Rush Propst since 2009.
B est story line: With Lowndes out, the highest classification is without clear favorites at this point for the first time since probably 2010. The highest-ranked teams remaining — No. 2 Archer and No. 4 Nor th Gwinnett — have never won state titles. No. 6 Tift County hasn’t won one in 34 years. Archer and Marietta had losing records last season. Tift County and North Gwinnett were just 6-5.
New to the quarters: Lee County and Pike County are in the quarterfinals for the fifirst time. Both coincidentally started varsity football in 1971. Alpharetta, opened in 2004, also is in its fifirst. Jenkins has made it this far for the fifirst time since 1966 and is the first Savannah public school in the quarters since 1979. Marietta last made it in 1994. Others that haven’t been in an elite-eight game in the past 10 years are Mitchell County (1999), Harrison (2002), Savannah Country Day (2005), Ti ft County (2006) and Carver-Atlanta (2007). Of the 64 quarterfinal teams, 35 were in last season.
Old to the quarters: Buford has made its 18th consecutive quarterfinal, a state record, and has won the past 10. Calhoun is in the quarterfinals for the 10th consecutive year. Colquitt County has made it nine consecutive times, a state record for the highest classification.
Top players: The state player of the year is taking new applications now that Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence and Lowndes’ Michael Barrett are finished playing. That leaves a crack for defensive standouts, including Adam Anderson of Rome, Otis Reese of Lee County and Brenton Cox of Stockbridge. All are major college recruits on highly ranked teams. Bailey Fisher of undefeated Rabun County has thrown for 105 career touchdowns. Pike County running back C’Bo Flemister has rushed for 2,348 yards this season. Two-way starters Anthony Grant of Buford, Kyler McMichael of Greater Atlanta Christian and Jadon Haselwood of Cedar Grove, all blue-chip prospects, are factors on almost every play.
Underdogs: Marietta is the fifirst No. 4 seed (technically an at-large qualifier) to reach the quarterfinals of the highest classification since Colquitt Count y in 2012. The Blue Devils (8-4) are a 24-point underdog against
fififth- ranked North Gwinnett. Colquitt County (AAAAAAA), Westminster (AAA) and Pike County (AAA) have made it as No. 3 seeds, although only Pike County, among those, is surprising. The Pirates had never won a playoffff game until this season. Then last week, Pike County got its fifirst victory against a ranked opponent. It had been 0-38 against the Top 10.
Unranked: Nine unranked teams made the quarterfinals. They are Parkview, McEachern and Marietta in AAAAAAA, Allatoona in AAAAAA, Jefferson in AA AA, Pike County in AAA and Darlington, Savannah Country Day and Mitchell County in A. Only Marietta, Pike, Savannah County Day and Mitchell Count y have not been ranked at any point this season.
Highly ranked: Six No. 1-ranked teams are still alive. They are Tucker (AAAAAA), Rome (AAAAA), Cedar Grove (AAA), Benedictine (AA), Eagle’s Landing Christian (A-public) and Manchester (A-public).
What’s next: The semifinals are next week. The eight state finals are Dec. 8-9 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.