Sixteen teams advanced Friday to the second round of the Class AAAAAA football playoffs, and 12 of them came from three regions.
Regions 1, 2 and 6 swept their games in a first round in which 10 of the 16 games were decided by 22 or more points.
Region 1 teams Lee County, Valdosta, Northside-Warner Robins and Coffee proved their strength with a sweep of Region 4. Northside and Coffee went on the road to beat two of DeKalb County’s best teams, with Northside beating Tucker 43-21 and Coffee beating Region 4 champion Stephenson 45-17. Stephenson was ranked No. 4, and Tucker was No. 9. Valdosta routed Lovejoy 70-29, and Lee County beat Mundy’s Mill 48-13.
All four of Region 1’s playoff teams have reached the semifinals in the past two seasons, and two – Valdosta in 2016 and Lee County last year – won state titles.
Another region made up of south Georgia teams, 2-AAAAAA, had a 4-0 night when champion Glynn Academy, Effingham County, Richmond Hill and Bradwell Institute won their games against Region 3 opponents. Glynn Academy had little trouble with Evans in a 42-7 victory. The other three Region 2 teams won by a touchdown or less.
The best showing by metro Atlanta teams came from Region 6, which got victories from champion Creekview, Sequoyah, Allatoona and Harrison against Region 7 teams. Two Region 6 teams had close calls – No. 4 seed Harrison rallied for a 23-20 victory over Region 7 champ Johns Creek, and No. 2 Sequoyah beat Alpharetta 34-30. Creekview and Allatoona won easily.
There would have been a fourth sweep, but Creekside kept Region 5 alive with a 47-12 victory over Gainesville of Region 8. The other teams from Region 5 – Douglas County, Mays and Northgate – were knocked out. Mays’ 20-12 loss to Lanier was the Raiders’ earliest exit from the playoffs since 2011.
- Although seven lower-seeded teams, which had to play on the road, were first-round winners, it would be a reach to say that any of those wins were major upsets. Fifteen of the 16 teams that won were projected as favorites by the computer Maxwell Ratings. The only underdog to win, according to Maxwell, was Habersham Central. The Raiders were pegged as 10-point underdogs against Douglas County.
- Four teams broke long playoff droughts with their first-round victories. Bradwell Institute got its first playoff win since 2008. Habersham Central won in the playoffs for the first time since 2007, when the Raiders reached the quarterfinals. They had made only one other playoff appearance since then, a first-round loss to Chattahoochee in 2011. Effingham County got its first playoff victory since its 1987 team reached the state final. The Rebels had been 0-12 in first-round games since. And Creekview recorded the first playoff win in the program’s 13-year history. The Grizzlies had been 0-6 in playoff games.
-Here are the first-round scores and the matchups for Round 2:
First round
Valdosta 70, Lovejoy 29
Glynn Academy 42, Evans 7
Allatoona 38, Centennial 7
Dacula 28, Northgate 0
Northside-Warner Robins 43, Tucker 21
Bradwell Institute 28, Grovetown 21
Sequoyah 34, Alpharetta 30
Creekside 47, Gainesville 12
Richmond Hill 19, Greenbrier 14
Coffee 45, Stephenson 17
Lanier 20, Mays 12
Harrison 23, Johns Creek 20
Effingham County 16, Lakeside-Evans 10
Lee County 48, Mundy’s Mill 13
Habersham Central 35, Douglas County 0
Creekview 38, Pope 14
Second round
(R1 #2) Valdosta at (R2 #1) Glynn Academy
(R6 #3) Allatoona at (R8 #1) Dacula
(R2 #4) Bradwell Institute at (R1 #3) Northside-Warner Robins
(R6 #2) Sequoyah at (R5 #1) Creekside
(R1 #4) Coffee at (R2 #3) Richmond Hill
(R6 #4) Harrison at (R8 #2) Lanier
(R2 #2) Effingham County at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R8 #3) Habersham Central at (R6 #1) Creekview
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