When it comes to bragging rights, two regions in AAA earned them on Friday night.
Two regions swept their four first-round playoff games. This rare accomplishment occurred on Friday in Region 1-AAA and Region 8-AAA.
Region 8-AAA didn’t come as a real shock. That league, made up of teams from Northeast Georgia, has been considered the strongest and deepest region in the classification all season. Plus, they were matched against Region 7, which many felt was the weakest football region in the state.
But Region 1’s success may have caught a few people off guard. While that league (specifically the subregion from which those teams emerged) has great respect, they were paired against Region 2, which contained two state-ranked teams. But Region 1 showed that rankings mean very little this time of year as they swept their way through.
Region 1 champion Cook (9-2) won its ninth straight game with a 42-14 victory over Central Macon (5-6), while second-seeded Pierce County (9-2) took a 49-21 win over Jackson (7-4).
The surprises came from Dodge County (9-3), which broke a two-game losing streak with a 14-3 win over 10th-ranked Westside-Macon, and Appling County (9-3), which produced a 14-7 win over No. 4 Peach County (10-1).
The fun can't continue for both regions next week: They play each other in the second round.
At Macon, Dodge County's mighty running attack produced only 54 yards, but the Indians were helped when Westside turned the ball over five times. Dodge scored twice in the second half on a 53-yard pass from Landon Martin to Roscoe Wilcox and won it on a 20-yard interception and return by Cameron Young in the final period. Westside's Gerimie Mitchell caught six passes for 117 yards.
At Fort Valley, Appling County took advantage of seven Peach County turnovers in the upset. Appling County scored when Devon Moore recovered a poorly snapped punt in the end zone and won it on a 22-yard pass from Jason Dhaliwal to Brandon Jones in the second quarter. Peach County opened the scoring on a 3-yard run by James Jackson.
At Adel, Cook had three different backs run for 100 yards and amassed 490 rushing yards against Central Macon. Jay Smith (178 yards), Tavian Allen (149) and Corey McCall (100) helped fuel Cook's wing-T attack.
At Blackshear, Pierce County advanced to the second round for the third straight season. The Bears are 37-9 over the last four seasons after their win over Jackson.
Region 8 vs. Region 7
The Region 8 sweep began when league champion No. 5 Jefferson (11-0) pounded Franklin County 38-7 and No. 8 Hart County (10-1) slowed down East Hall 42-14. The sweep continued when Elbert County (8-3) went on the road and beat Lumpkin County 28-18, while fourth-seeded Oconee County (8-3) stunned Region 7 champion West Hall 42-38.
At Oakwood, Oconee had lost its final three games of the season and was paired against a West Hall team known for its defense. But the Warriors got a stellar effort from quarterback Zeb Noland, who threw for 270 yards and three touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 44 seconds left.
Oconee had a commanding 35-14 lead at halftime when West Hall (9-2) staged its comeback by scoring three unanswered touchdowns. Kicker Brad Hodgson kicked a 32-yard field goal with 3:41 left to give the Spartans a 38-35 lead.
Oconee answered by driving the length of the field, with Noland hooking up with Roques Dowdy with 59 seconds left for the winning points. He had earlier thrown TD passes to Dylan Phillips and Chase Major, and scored on a 1-yard run.
At Hart County, Bulldogs quarterback Cameron Fouch passed for three touchdowns and ran for another. Fouch threw touchdown passes to Anthony Turner (9 yards), Zach Maldonado (10 yards) and Tyrondrick Thomas (33 yards). His 1-yard touchdown run gave Hart a 21-0 halftime lead. Hart County also got a 20-yard touchdown run from Keenan Dillion and a 25-yard interception return from Joshua Gaines.
At Jefferson, quarterback Ben Shirreffs threw touchdowns of 31 and 20 yards to T.J. Skelton to spark the rout. The Dragons also got a pair of touchdowns from Colby Wood on runs of 10 and 11 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run from Sammy Williams.
At Dahlonega, Elbert County quarterback Mecole Hardman ran for 213 yards and three touchdowns and Boochie Reed rushed for 89 yards to spoil Lumpkin County's first home playoff game. Zach Matthews ran for 77 yards and threw for 59 to lead Lumpkin.
Region 4 vs. Region 3
Westminster 35, Laney 12: Keller Harper ran in two rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass to Neil Kimble to give No. 6-ranked Westminster a 21-0 lead. Harper's second touchdown run was set up by a Zay Malcome kickoff return that was downed at the Laney 5-yard line. Malcome scored on a 60-yard touchdown run, and Merrick Sims added 3-yard run. It was the second time this season that Westminster (10-1) has beaten Laney (7-4) this season.
Washington County 73, Jackson-Atlanta 28: A.J. Gray ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and intercepted a pass to lead No. 1 Washington County (11-0). Darius Tucker rushed for 142 yards and one touchdown for the Golden Hawks. Jackson (7-4) got 153 yards passing and 98 yards rushing from quarterback Quentavious Monday, but were unable to overcome four interceptions.
Blessed Trinity 48, Hephzibah 13: No. 3 Blessed Trinity scored 41 points in the first half thanks to a running attack that totaled 342 yards. Joe Anderson ran for a game-high 141 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Davis completed 7 of 9 for 79 yards. The Titans defense allowed just 141 total yards while forcing four turnovers, including a pick-six by Colin Davis.
Region 5 vs. Region 6
Adairsville 52, Cedartown 14: No. 9 Adairsville forced five turnovers in the first-round win. Quarterback Marcus Childers threw a pair of touchdown passes to Blaine Bishop and running back Sidnee Ford scored on runs of 51 and 31 yards. Cedartown (3-8) got touchdown runs of 34 and 1 yard from Kaelen Glover.
Calhoun 43, Rockmart 14: No. 2 Calhoun only played its starters for the first half of the game. Quarterback Kaelen Riley completed 7 of 10 for 105 yards and two touchdowns and Cole Jackson ran five times for 102 yards and two touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets (11-0).
Central Carroll 42, Sonoraville 14: No. 7 Central (11-0) rushed for 362 yards and got touchdowns from five players in the win. Kyle Terrell rushed for 106 yards and one score and Damarius Owensby rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions.
Callaway 35, Ringgold 7: The Cavaliers (7-4) advance to the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year and for the sixth time in seven seasons.
Second-round games
Callaway at Washington County
Oconee County at Pierce County
Adairsville at Blessed Trinity
Dodge County at Jefferson
Westside-Cedar Grove winner at Calhoun
Appling County at Elbert County
Westminster at Central Carroll
Hart County at Cook
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