Eleven out of the 16 opening round games saw the home team advance to the second round and Madison County’s 27-20 win over Ridgeland and Americus-Sumter’s 13-6 win over Burke County makes the Red Raiders and the Panthers the lone No. 4 seed survivors. Madison County’s upset over Ridgeland marks the first playoff victory in program history. Elsewhere in the classification, No. 3 seed Baldwin stunned Cairo in a 38-30 victory. Here are some other big takeaways from the first round action.
Marist senior quarterback Connor Cigelski scored all six touchdowns on the ground to give the War Eagles a 42-22 win over the Cedartown Bulldogs. After Cigelski’s first score in the opening minute and second at the end of the first bookended a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Cedartown’s CJ Washington for a 14-7 Marist lead heading into the second. A field goal from Cedartown’s Jorge Pineda cut the Marist lead to four, but a 32-yard rushing score by Cigelski made it a 21-10 game at the half. Following a scoreless third quarter, Cigelski found the end zone right away in the final frame. Cedartown’s Jayden Johnson then found Chadriq Neal for a touchdown, and with a failed two-point conversion the score was 28-16. Cigelski soon scored again, then Cedartown’s Johnson found his brother Jeremiah Johnson for a touchdown. Cedartown again tried for two but were unable to convert. Cigelski’s final touchdown brought the score to its final tally.
Kyler Johnson hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Tee Webb to give No. 1 seed Cartersville a first-quarter lead in their 14-6 win over Flowery Branch. Flowery Branch capped off a scoring drive aided by two personal fouls called on the Canes’ defense with a 5-yard Jaizen Ellingham touchdown run, but a failed PAT kept the Falcons trailing 7-6 at the half. Cartersville’s Devonte Ross recovered a fumble to set up his 49-yard touchdown reception from Webb for the 14-6 Canes lead. Ross’ fumble recovery was the first of five turnovers forced by Cartersville’s defense in the second half to close out the victory and keep its perfect season alive. Marko Dudley intercepted Flowery Branch in the end zone, teammate La’Kwayme Jupiter recovered a Flowery Branch fumble and then Koble Benham forced a fumble that was recovered by Marquail Coaxum for the team’s fourth. The exclamation point and final turnover came with 1:18 left when Benham iced the game with an interception.
Undefeated Woodward Academy coasted on a 40-0 halftime lead for a dominating 40-14 first-round win over Upson-Lee. Mike Wright got Woodward going on a 41-yard pass to Alan Wright just over a minute into the game and added a 5-yard touchdown run three minutes later to put the War Eagles up 14-0. Wright, who was 6-of-11 passing for 128 yards and three touchdowns, found Ambe Caldwell (87 yards on five receptions) twice in the second quarter for touchdowns of 13 and 7 yards. Damari Alston, who scored on a 37-yard touchdown run with 5:32 left in the second quarter, finished with 13 carries for 90 yards, and James Mayfield went 4-for-4 on extra points and added a 26-yard field goal in the victory. Upson scored on a 67-yard run by Demek Colbert in the third quarter and a 52-yard pass from Jake Davis to Millique Smith in the fourth, and Brady Puckett was 2-for-2 on PATs. Woodward will host St. Pius X, the Region 8 No. 3-seed, in the second round.
Senior running back Rashad Amos rushed 12 yards into the end zone to give Sandy Creek a 7-0 second-quarter lead in its 42-7 runaway win over Denmark. The Fighting Patriots capitalized on an interception with a 23-yard touchdown from Matt Williams to Brian Branch, who stripped the ball from a defender’s hand to make the play. Denmark’s lone touchdown of the night, a 3-yard rush from Aaron McLaughlin, was set up by a turnover as well. The Patriots ended the first half with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Amos to go up 21-7, and Amos added two third-quarter touchdowns on the opening drive of the second half and later in the frame following a pick-six by Branch. Sandy Creek will face Americus-Sumter in the second round.
The North Oconee Titans defeated the Pickens Dragons 45-24 to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Two touchdowns from Adam Weynand for the Titans and a 35-yard Picken field goal made it a 14-3 game at the end of the first. A touchdown by Pickens’ Alex Snelgrove off a pass from CJ Streicher cut the North Oconee lead to four, but a touchdown off a kickoff return from Parker Herndon and another Dragons touchdown by Eli Warrington made it a 28-10 game at the break. North Oconee got a field goal from Thomas Dowis and a touchdown by Titans’ Gavin Bloom before another touchdown by Snelgrove brought the score to 38-17. Each team added a touchdown in the fourth.
First Round scores
R8 #3 St. Pius X 42, R6 #2 Heritage-Catoosa 14
R4 #1 Woodward Academy 40, R2 #4 Upson-Lee 14
R3 #2 Thomson 34, R1 #3 Hardaway 0
R5 #1 Cartersville 14, R7 #4 Flowery Branch 6
R8 #2 North Oconee 45, R6 #3 Pickens 24
R2 #1 West Laurens 37, R4 #4 Luella 6
R3 #3 Baldwin 38, R1 #2 Cairo 30
R7 #1 Blessed Trinity 40, R5 #4 Troup 14
R2 #2 Perry 38, R4 #3 Hampton 0
R8 #1 Oconee County 41, R6 #4 Northwest Whitfield 14
R7 #2 Marist 42, R5 #3 Cedartown 22
R1 #1 Carver-Columbus 52, R3 #4 Richmond Academy 7
R2 #3 Mary Persons 28, R4 #2 Eastside 21
R8 #4 Madison County 27, R6 #1 Ridgeland 20
R5 #2 Sandy Creek 42, R7 #3 Denmark 7
R1 #4 Americus-Sumter 13, R3 #1 Burke County 6
Second Round schedule
R8 #3 St. Pius at R4 #1 Woodward Academy
R3 #2 Thomson at R5 #1 Cartersville
R8 #2 North Oconee at R2 #1 West Laurens
R3 #3 Baldwin at R7 #1 Blessed Trinity
R2 #2 Perry at R8 #1 Oconee County
R7 #2 Marist at R1 #1 Carver-Columbus
R8 #4 Madison County at R2 #3 Mary Persons
R1 #4 Americus-Sumter at R5 #2 Sandy Creek
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