Every team ranked in the top 10 and seven of the eight region champions are still standing after a first round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs that went mostly as expected.
The big winner Friday was Region 1, which was the only AAAAAA region to go 4-0 in the first round, putting all four of its playoff teams in the second round for the second consecutive season. Region 1 members won the state championship the past three years and four of the past five.
Two-time defending state champion Lee County, No. 2 seed Valdosta, No. 3 seed Coffee and No. 4 seed Houston County beat their Region 3 opponents by a combined scored of 186-30. All four Region 1 teams had been projected as favorites of 19 points or more by the computer Maxwell Ratings.
The only game of the four that was relatively close was Houston County’s 31-21 victory over Evans. Houston County trailed 21-14 at halftime but dominated in the second half, getting two touchdown passes from Max Rigby to Isaia Harris and a 27-yard from Luke Rigby. Houston County is the only No. 4 seed remaining, and Evans became the first region champion eliminated. Evans’ Region 3 lost all four of its first-round games for the third time in four seasons.
- Eighth-ranked Lanier, the No. 2 seed from Region 8, survived the biggest scare of the night when it beat Sprayberry 15-14. Sprayberry had cut Lanier’s lead to a point with a touchdown with 6:02 remaining, but Nahil Perkins blocked the Yellow Jackets’ extra-point attempt to preserve the lead. Lanier’s Ford Reasons put the game away with a fumble recovery with 2:23 to play on Sprayberry’s final possession, allowing Lanier to run out the clock. Lanier is one of two Region 8 teams remaining, joining top-ranked Dacula, which beat Dalton 49-18.
- The biggest defensive performance came from Allatoona’s Brett Blomquist in a 49-7 victory over Region 8’s Gainesville. Blomquist had an interception that set up a touchdown, returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown and scored on a 36-yard interception to turn a 14-0 lead into a 35-0 advantage. All three of his takeaways came in a three-minute span late in the first half. Allatoona held Gainesville, which had averaged 44.8 points in its previous four games, to 20 yards in the first half and 72 overall. Allatoona and No. 2-ranked Harrison, which beat Winder-Barrow 45-25, are the remaining teams from Region 6.
High School Sports
- Creekside of Region 5 was the only team considered an underdog by the Maxwell Ratings to advance to the second round. The Seminoles, projected as three-point underdogs went to Alpharetta and won 28-0. Creekside was the region champion last year but settled for the No. 3 seed this season. Creekside is one of three Region 5 teams still alive. Top-seeded Mays beat Northview 39-7, and runner-up South Paulding beat North Atlanta 41-27. Johns Creek is the only Region 7 left in the field. South Paulding will be the only No. 2 seed playing at home next week, when Houston County visits.
- Region 2 has three teams left after No. 1 seed Richmond Hill, No. 2 Glynn Academy and No. 3 seed Brunswick won against opponents from Region 4. Brunswick’s victory, 34-13 over Morrow, was its first in the playoffs since 2010. Morrow was making its first playoff appearance since 1998. Stephenson helped Region 4 avoid a sweep when it beat Bradwell Institute 47-20. Stephenson is in the playoffs for the 20th consecutive season but had lost in the first round in seven of its previous 12 trips.
-Here are the first-round scores and the matchups for Round 2:
First round
Allatoona 49, Gainesville 7
Stephenson 47, Bradwell Institute 20
Coffee 60, Heritage-Conyers 0
Mays 39, Northview 7
Lanier 15, Sprayberry 14
Richmond Hill 28, M.L. King 12
Valdosta 45, Lakeside-Evans 9
Johns Creek 59, Alexander 34
Glynn Academy 31, Tucker 7
Dacula 49, Dalton 18
Creekside 28, Alpharetta 0
Lee County 50, Greenbrier 0
Brunswick 34, Morrow 13
Harrison 45, Winder-Barrow 25
South Paulding 41, North Atlanta 27
Houston County 31, Evans 21
Second round
(R6 #2) Allatoona at (R4 #1) Stephenson
(R1 #3) Coffee at (R5 #1) Mays
(R8 #2) Lanier at (R2 #1) Richmond Hill
(R1 #2) Valdosta at (R7 #1) Johns Creek
(R2 #2) Glynn Academy at (R8 #1) Dacula
(R5 #3) Creekside at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R2 #3) Brunswick at (R6 #1) Harrison
(R1 #4) Houston County at (R5 #2) South Paulding
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