The 278.51-mile distance between Class AA semifinal opponents Brooks County and Rabun County will be the 16th-longest out of 4,811 state-playoff games since the start of the statewide all-class playoffs in 1948, according to the estimates of Loren Maxwell, math expert and founder of the GHSFHA.
The Brooks-Rabun game will be the 19th playoff game this season between two schools at least 200 miles apart. Brooks County's driving route to Rabun County in the northeast Georgia mountains will be closer to 325 miles, but for objective and practical reasons, Maxwell used distances between schools using latitude and longitude coordinates to estimate road trips.
Below are lists of the 20 longest state-playoff trips of all-time and the 19 this season longer than 200 miles. The winning teams are noted by asterisks. The measurements account for off-campus venues such as Pooler Stadium or Savannah State. The prevalence of recent games is a function of expanding the state playoffs and adding classifications. There will be 232 state-playoff games this year. In 1989, there were only 28, although another 90 region-playoff games were played.
Twenty longest of all-time:
322.48 - Glynn Academy* at Dalton (2015 2R)
311.74 - Rossville at Waycross* (1961 Final)
305.49 - Charlton County* at Calhoun (2005 Final)
304.56 - Coosa at Charlton County* (2004 QF)
303.45 - Rossville at Wayne County* (1959 Final)
291.73 - Christian Heritage at Calvary Day* (2014 1R)
290.33 - Dalton at Waycross* (1977 Final)
288.69 - Cherokee at Camden County* (2004 QF)
287.37 - Valdosta* at Dalton (2016 SF)
283.07 - North Cobb at Camden County* (2011 1R)
282.65 - Woodstock at Camden County* (2008 QF)
281.83 - Calhoun at Benedictine* (2013 QF)
281.39 - Charlton County* at Cartersville (2000 QF)
281.39 - Charlton County at Cartersville* (2001 QF)
280.37 - Pepperell at Benedictine* (2016 QF)
278.51 - Brooks County at Rabun County* (2017 SF)
277.75 - Hillgrove* at Camden County (2010 2R)
277.75 - Hillgrove at Camden County* (2012 1R)
277.75 - Hillgrove* at Camden County (2013 2R)
277.75 - Hillgrove at Camden County* (2015 1R)
More than 200 miles this season:
278.51 - Brooks County at Rabun County* (SF)
269.22 - Harrison at Glynn Academy* (QF)
269.19 - Calhoun* at Liberty County (QF)
264.95 - Towns County at Pelham* (1R)
246.99 - Charlton County* at Commerce (2R)
230.51 - Savannah Country Day* at Mount Pisgah Christian (2R)
228.14 - Brookstone at Savannah Country Day* (1R)
227.21 - Heritage (Conyers) at Glynn Academy* (2R)
225.56 - McEachern* at Lowndes (2R)
225.27 - Mount Zion (Carroll) at Clinch County* (SF)
225.09 - Calvary Day* at Wesleyan (2R)
222.18 - Campbell at Lowndes* (1R)
213.90 - Hapeville Charter* at Benedictine (QF)
209.54 - Greater Atlanta Christian* at Jenkins (QF)
206.41 - Calvary Day at Eagle's Landing Christian* (QF)
203.55 - New Hampstead at Bainbridge* (1R)
202.15 - Hebron Christian at Savannah Christian* (1R)
201.60 - Savannah Christian at Eagle's Landing Christian* (2R)
200.37 - Cairo at Burke County* (2R)
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