Christian Heritage pulls the upset; A better plan for Class A?

We’ll go over what went down in the first round of the playoffs. But first let’s revisit a bit of a hot topic from last week – the reclassification of the Class A school population cap to 520, which will increase the number of football-playing schools in the classification to a total of 89, 53 public and 36 private.

This puts the public schools at a disadvantage next season, if the plan is approved by the Georgia High Schools Association, because there will be 53 teams vying for just 24 playoff spots. However, Dooly County head coach Jimmy Hughes has a novel idea:

He wants to rejoin all of the Class A schools but here's the rub. Class A would be divided into two groups -- schools with enrollments from 301 to 520 would be in Class A, Division I. Those schools with enrollments of 300 or below would be in Class A, Division II, with an option to play up in Division I if the school choses. This would be the best of both worlds. Publics and privates back competing against each other, but those with similar enrollments would face each other.

Feel free to discuss Hughes’ plan. In the meantime, here are the updated brackets.

PRIVATE

Upper Bracket

No. 1 Prince Avenue Christian 41, No. 16 First Presbyterian Day 7

No. 8 Savannah Christian 24, No. 9 Landmark Christian 14

Demetris Robertson scored on a 57-yard run early and Ben Haeussler caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Grant late to put the game away for the Raiders (9-2).

No. 5 Mount Paran Christian 56, No. 12 St. Anne-Pacell 34

No. 4 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 47, No. 13 Mount Pisgah Christian 7

ELCA moved to 8-3 as Trevor Gear ran for three touchdowns.

Upper Bracket Quarterfinals:

No. 1 Prince Avenue Christian vs. No. 8 Savannah Christian

No. 4 ELCA vs. No. 5 Mt. Paran

Lower Bracket

No. 3 Aquinas 42, No. 14 Brookstone 7

Senior quarterback Liam Welch scored on touchdown runs of 36 and seven yards, and tossed two touchdown passes to lead the Irish (10-1) into Round 2.

No. 11 Christian Heritage 22, No. 6 Athens Academy 14

The Lions from Dalton (6-5) pulled off the upset by keeping the ball away from the Spartans (9-2) and capitalizing on their mistakes. Athens Academy ran just 13 plays in the first half, and then lost a 14-7 lead in the second half, as Will Correy’s nine-yard touchdown run provided the winning margin for Christian Heritage in the first GHSA playoff win in school history.

No. 10 Stratford Academy 14, No. 7 Calvary Day 7

O’Showen Williams’ fourth quarter interception and subsequent four-yard touchdown run provided the winning margin for the Eagles (8-3).

No. 2 Pinecrest Academy 20, No. 15 Athens Christian 7

Athens Christian (6-5) fought but couldn’t pull off the upset. Pinecrest scored two fourth quarter touchdowns put the game away and move into Round 2.

Lower Bracket Quarterfinals:

No. 3 Aquinas (10-1)  vs. No. 11 Christian Heritage (6-5)

No. 2 Pinecrest Academy (10-1) vs. No. 10 Stratford Academy (8-3)

PUBLIC

Upper Bracket

No. 1 Marion County 22, No. 16 Twiggs County 20

Twiggs County (4-7) nearly pulled off the improbable upset but a two-point conversion attempt by the Cobras to tie the game at 22 midway through the fourth quarter was thwarted by the Eagles (10-1).

No. 9 Commerce 31, No. 8 Charlton County 29

No. 5 Clinch County 30, No. 12 Dooly County 8

No. 13 Johnson County 21, No. 4 Randolph-Clay 8

Upper Bracket Quarterfinals:

No. 1 Marion County (10-1) vs. No. 9 Commerce (8-3)

No. 5 Clinch County (10-1) vs. No. 13 Johnson County (7-4)

Lower Bracket

No. 3 Irwin County 30, No. 14 Wilkinson County 13

Senior DJ Pollard rolled up 231 yards rushing on 13 carries, with three touchdowns to lead Irwin County (8-2-1) into the second round.

No. 11 Trion 40, No. 6 Turner County 6

No. 10 Mt. Zion-Carroll 10, No. 7 Lincoln County 7