The Elite 8 is set and it is comprised of five No. 1 seeds (Woodward Academy, Cartersville, West Laurens, Blessed Trinity and Oconee County), two No. 2 seeds (Sandy Creek, Marist) and No. 4 seed Madison County. Here’s a look back at the second round results.
For the first time in program history, the Madison County Red Raiders will move on to the third round of the playoffs with a 38-14 win over the Mary Persons Bulldogs. Madison County’s Colby Smith helped to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 first-quarter lead by connecting with Martavian Cooper for a 72-yard touchdown and taking it to the end zone himself from 21 yards out. Mary Persons’ first touchdown came on a pass from Logan Hickman to Andre Jackson before Cooper had his second touchdown of the night to give Madison County a 21-7 lead at the half. An 8-yard touchdown rush by Mary Persons’ Enrico Harden cut the deficit to 14 to end the third quarter, but Madison County outscored Mary Persons 17-0 in the fourth quarter with two rushing touchdowns from Dayton Gresham and a field goal from Camden Jordan.
Top-ranked Cartersville is another step closer to claiming its third state championship since 2015 after scoring a 35-0 win over Thomson. Quante Jennings scored Cartersville’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run less than two minutes into the game. Next, Tee Webb connected with Devonte Ross for a 40-yard touchdown pass on 4th down in the final seconds of the first quarter. Harrison Allen added a 2-yard rushing touchdown early in the second quarter to give the Canes a 21-0 lead at halftime. Jennings scored his second touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run midway through the third quarter. Later in the period, Evan Slocum, who wore #7 for an injured teammate, scored Cartersville’s final touchdown on a 40-yard touchdown run consisting of multiple broken tackles. Cartersville hosts Woodward in the quarterfinals next week.
Americus-Sumter opened up a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter before host Sandy Creek poured on 56 unanswered points to run away with the 56-7 victory. Quarterback Matt Williams threw three touchdown passes to Brian Branch (23, 26 and 25 yards) and two to Ahmad Jackson (65 and 16 yards) and also became the first quarterback in school history to surpass 3,000 passing yards in a single season. Branch also had a historic night, complementing his trio of touchdown receptions with three interceptions and becoming the school’s all-time leader in career interceptions (15) in the process. Sandy Creek running back Rashad Amos rushed for a 3-yard touchdown in the second quarter that put the Patriots up 14-7 and Dorien Graham scored on a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the 56-7 final.
Oconee County quarterback Max Johnson threw five touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 39-7 home win against Perry on Friday night. Johnson’s three first-half touchdown passes went to receiver Ben Noland for 29, 4 and 15 yards. Oconee County linebacker Justin Coleman added a pick-six for the Warriors in the first quarter as well, and Oconee County took a commanding 26-0 lead into halftime. Johnson picked up where he left off in the second half, tossing two touchdown passes to Jake Johnson on plays of 10 and 16 yards. Oconee County hosts Marist in the quarterfinals next week.
Woodward Academy put on an offensive exhibition through the air as it advanced past St. Pius X and into the quarterfinals with the 41-0 victory. Woodward led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 14-0 at the break before it tacked on 27 second-half points to put the game out of reach. Quarterback Mike Wright finished 13-of-19 passing for 162 yards and four touchdowns and led all rushers with nine carries for 78 yards and one touchdown. Wright connected with Ambe Caldwell on touchdown passes of 41 and 21 yards, Chase Marshall on a 20-yard touchdown pass and Jacorrei Turner on a 16-yarder. James Mayfield kicked field goals of 30 and 27 yards, and Caldwell finished the game with three receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Marist stopped Carver-Columbus on its opening drive and went up 7-0 two plays later with a 78-yard touchdown pass from Connor Cigelski to James Wise. The War Eagles increased the lead to 10-0 with a 31-yard Richard Bowed field goal. Later in the second quarter, Carver-Columbus forced a punt that was blocked and returned for a Tigers’ touchdown, and a successful 2-point conversion cut the deficit to 10-8 at the half. Cigelski grew back the Marist lead with a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:42 left in the third quarter. Carver-Columbus running back Khiari McCoy fumbled on the Tigers’ next possession, but the loose ball was picked up and advanced for a touchdown to shrink Marist’s lead to 17-14 with 6:50 left in the frame. Marist went up 24-14 on a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Lincoln Parker, but Carver-Columbus made it 24-20 heading into the final quarter following a 24-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Riles to Richard Nelson. Marist’s final touchdown came on a 28-yard run by Parker with 5:42 left in the game to secure the 30-20 win.
West Laurens defeated North Oconee 34-17. Also, Blessed Trinity scored a 36-3 win over Baldwin.
Quarterfinals schedule
R4 #1 Woodward Academy at R5 #1 Cartersville
R2 #1 West Laurens at R7 #1 Blessed Trinity
R7 #2 Marist at R8 #1 Oconee County
R8 #4 Madison County at R5 #2 Sandy Creek
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