A first-time meeting between two of the three undefeated programs in the classification will highlight the quarterfinal round of the playoffs when Monroe Area (12-0, 6-0) travels to Pierce County (12-0, 5-0) on Friday night.
Monroe Area, located 40 miles east of Atlanta, is 220 miles north of Pierce County, which is just north of Waycross and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Monroe Area has never started 12-0 in school history and has not appeared in a semifinal game since 2012. Pierce County, which is vying for its first-ever semifinal berth, has been 12-0 before, but that was in 1982 when it lost to Lincoln County in the quarterfinals.
Monroe Area quarterback Chandler Byron, a 6-foot, 160-pound senior, has completed 54 of 94 passes for 1,221 yards and 16 touchdowns, with just three interceptions. Byron also earns his keep running. He leads Monroe Area with 2,615 yards and 36 touchdowns on 242 carries. Jakia Thompson has added 1,096 yards and nine touchdowns on 130 carries.
Pierce County quarterback Jermaine Brewton has completed 105 of 156 passes for 1,628 yards and 21 touchdowns with six interceptions. His favorite receivers are Dee Bethea and Parker Peagler, both seniors, who each have seven touchdowns and around 600 receiving yards.
The Maxwell Ratings has Monroe Area a 15-point favorite.
-- Westminster (8-4, 4-2) at Peach County (10-2, 6-0): The teams have met twice, both times in the quarterfinals, and Peach has won both of them. In 2016, Peach County traveled to Westminster for a 27-17 victory. Last year, Westminster visited Fort Valley and was blown out, 45-15. This year, Westminster will again travel to Peach County for the third installment of this playoff rivalry.
Peach County quarterback Jaydon Gibson has completed 143 of 197 passes for for 1,704 yards and 17 touchdowns with five interceptions. Gibson has rushed for 325 yards on 94 carries with eight touchdowns. TiJay Woolfolk, a 5-11 junior, scored four touchdowns in Peach's 47-8 victory against Liberty County last week. Clemson commitment Sergio Allen is the Trojans' leading tackler.
Westminster is coming off its second victory against Greater Atlanta Christian this season. Parks Harber, a UGA baseball commitment, has passed for 2,255 yards following his 261-yard performance last week. According to GHSFD's newsletter, Westminster's 12 road playoff victories in the past eight seasons easily leads the state in that time-frame.
The Maxwell Ratings have Peach County as a nine-point favorite.
-- The top two programs in the state will travel to Savannah -- No. 2 Cedar Grove (11-1, 6-0) will face No. 5 Benedictine (11-1, 8-0), and top-ranked Calhoun (12-0, 8-0) will travel to unranked Jenkins (9-3, 6-2). On paper, Calhoun and Cedar Grove are both favorites: The Maxwell Ratings has Calhoun over Jenkins by 31 points and Cedar Grove over Benedictine by 16 points.
And in case you had not noticed, if Peach County and Calhoun both win Friday, the state is in store for one heck of a title-game rematch from 2017, this time in the semifinals, without any memories of a controversial call in last season's game, any drama, any sore feelings or ... well, anything.
Nope, not one bit.
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