AAAAA Roundup: Woodstock stuns top-seeded Walton

The Walton Raiders can say they have won the Region 6-AAAAA championship two straight years, but the Woodstock Wolverines will be the ones talking next week, as they prepare to meet Norcross in the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.

The visiting Wolverines advanced in the state playoffs by thoroughly manhandling the 8th-ranked Raiders 28-7 Friday.

By the time Walton (9-2) got to Woodstock’s defense with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Rayburn to Dylan Tante, the Wolverines had already built a 21-0 lead.

It was 14-0 Wolverines at halftime on Taylor Trotter’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Jake Garland and Justin Thompson’s 13-yard touchdown run. Woodstock’s major highlight of the third quarter was Drew Yeargin’s fumble recovery and Thompson’s second touchdown.

Trotter’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Thompson came at 7:33 of the third quarter.

“Woodstock outplayed us from beginning to end,” Walton coach Ed Dudley said. “At the same time, we could never get anything going.”

Walton’s initial first down came on a 13-yard pass from Rayburn to Price Garrett at 4:32 of the second quarter.

It did not help that Walton’s opening series began with Michael Boydston standing on the sideline nursing a sprained ankle suffered in last week’s win over Pope.

Boydston, who gained only eight yards on four rushes against Woodstock, set a single season school record this season with 1,852 yards rushing before the injury.

To literally add insult to injury, Rayburn had thrown 197 consecutive passes without an interception before Shawn Haley picked him off to set up led to Trotter’s 31-yard touchdown run, which closed out the scoring.

Woodstock (7-4) entered the Class AAAAA state playoffs as the fourth seed in Region 5-AAAAA.

— Andrew Adler

• Peachtree Ridge 17, Dacula 0: In a defensive struggle that seemed appropriate in the the wet and foggy conditions, Peachtree Ridge survived the elements and a gritty upset bid by Dacula before prevailing 17-0 in Suwanee.

Peachtree Ridge, riding the momentum of an 8-game winning streak and their first Region championship, made it look easy early. The Lions took the opening kickoff and marched 60 yards before Ed Hicks capped the drive with a 23-yard field goal for an early 3-0 Lions lead.

When Lions defensive tackle Erik Mitchell drilled Dacula quarterback Hunter Watts on the Falcons’ first drive, forcing a fumble recovered by Chris Carroll, it appeared Peachtree Ridge would cruise to victory.

However, thoughts of a Peachtree Ridge romp were quickly extinguished. Dacula forced a punt on the ensuing possession, and the game turned into a grinding punting contest as the defenses of both teams took over.

Trailing 3-0 midway through the 3rd quarter, Dacula’s Donovan Mahone pounced on an errant pitch by Nick Lombardo to give the Falcons a golden opportunity at the Peachtree Ridge 7-yard line.

The Lions defense then bared their fangs 2 plays later, recovering a fumble by Taylor Roberts at the 11-yard to snuff the Dacula threat. The Falcons would never get closer.

Peachtree Ridge finally put the game away midway through the 4th quarter when Nick Lombardo went 8 yards on a quarterback keeper to extend the lead to 10-0 with 8:15 remaining. Ronnie Smith scored on a 3-yard run with 4:08 left for the final margin of victory for the Lions, who improved to 9-2 on the season.

Peachtree Ridge will host the winner of the Harrison-Kell game next Friday night in Suwanee.

— David Brock

• Lowndes 41, Luella 13: Greg Reid scored on a 50-yard run and finished with 72 yard rushing and 24 receiving for the No. 1-ranked Vikings (11-0), who won their 25th straight game. Gerald Demps added five carries for 70 yards as Lowndes outgained Luella 433-110.

• Newnan 55, Johnson-Savannah 0: No. 3 Newnan (11-0) rolled to a 55-0 halftime lead and ran just 11 plays in the second half. The Cougars, who posted their fifth straight shutout and seventh in the last eight games, got interception returns from brothers Alec Ogletree (35 yards) and Alexander Ogletree (20) and two special teams scores to key the rout. Alec Ogletree blocked a punt and returned it for one score, and Alan Bonner returned a punt 51 yards for another. Keandreas Wynn rushed six times for 56 yards and a touchdown, while Nick Hill scored two rushing touchdown.

• Northside-Warner Robins 24, Union Grove 7: No. 5 Northside (10-1) reached 10 wins for the 11th straight year behind the running of Xavier Bacon. Bacon, who started the scoring with a 54-yard run in the first period, finished with 28 carries for 175 yards and three scores, pushing his season totals to 1,509 yards and 21 TDs.

Northside, which earned a matchup with second-ranked Camden County, compiled 295 yards of offense to the Wolverines’ 83. Union Grove (8-3) got a 2-yard run from Donovan Johnson in the second quarter and trailed 14-7 at intermission, but managed just 22 yards of total offense in the second half.

• Bradwell Institute 19, East Coweta 7: East Coweta (7-4) managed just 31 yards of total offense in the first half and Bradwell (8-3) intercepted four passes to advance. Demario Day scored two first-half touchdowns for the Tigers, who advance to play No. 1 Lowndes next week.

East Coweta cut the lead to 12-7 on Cody Davis’ 10-yard run in the third period, but Bradwell’s Sheldon Barnes, who finished with 169 rushing yards, closed the win with a 26-yard touchdown midway through the fourth.

— Compiled by Jay Stone