Region 1 flexed its muscles again in the second round of the Class AAAAAA football playoffs Friday night.
Lee County, Valdosta, Northside-Warner Robins and Coffee swept their games for the second consecutive week, this time by an average margin of 28.3 points against Region 2 competition, and will make up half the field for next weekend’s quarterfinals.
Last week, they beat four teams from Region 4 by an average margin of 31.5 points, and none of their eight games in the playoffs has been closer than 11 points.
Top-ranked Lee County (12-0), the defending state champion, built a 33-0 lead in the first half and went on to a 54-0 victory over Effingham County. It was the fifth shutout of the season for the Trojans, who are allowing just 4.2 points per game.
No. 3 Valdosta (8-4) avenged a first-round loss to Region 2 champion Glynn Academy last year with a 35-24 victory. Wildcats quarterback Tate Rodemaker broke the school single-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Valdosta won the state title in 2016.
Fifth-ranked Northside (7-5) got three rushing touchdowns from Zikhyree Hill and beat Bradwell Institute 35-0. Northside was a semifinalist in 2016 and won a state championship in 2014.
Coffee (9-3), unranked and the region’s No. 4 seed, built a 14-0 first-lead and held on for a 20-7 victory over Richmond Hill. The Trojans were the state runners-up last year and will be playing in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
Lee County will be the only Region 1 team playing at home next weekend.
The rest of the quarterfinal field will come from Region 6 (Creekview, Sequoyah) and Region 8 (Dacula, Lanier).
Sequoyah (10-2), a No. 2 seed, had the most dramatic victory of the night, rallying from 35-21 and 42-35 deficits in the fourth quarter to beat Region 5 champion Creekside 50-49 in overtime. Creekside scored on its overtime possession, but Sequoyah then scored and got a successful two-point conversion on a run by quarterback Collier Pecht for the win. The Chiefs are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.
Creekview (12-0), the Region 6 champion, won a shootout with Habersham Central 65-48 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in the program’s 13-year history.
Gwinnett County’s Dacula and Lanier beat Cobb County’s Allatoona and Harrison to advance to the quarterfinals. Region 8 champion Dacula beat Allatoona 28-21 and is in the quarters for the first time since 2013, when it played in the highest classification. Lanier (9-3) beat Harrison 35-23 and is in the quarterfinals for the first time in its nine-year history.
- Here are the second-round scores and the matchups for quarterfinals:
Second round
Valdosta 35, Glynn Academy 24
Dacula 28, Allatoona 21
Northside-Warner Robins 35, Bradwell Institute 0
Sequoyah 50, Creekside 49
Coffee 20, Richmond Hill 7
Lanier 35, Harrison 23
Lee County 54, Effingham County 0
Creekview 65, Habersham Central 48
Quarterfinals
(R1 #2) Valdosta at (R8 #1) Dacula
(R1 #3) Northside-Warner Robins at (R6 #2) Sequoyah
(R1 #4) Coffee at (R8 #2) Lanier
(R6 #1) Creekview at (R1 #1) Lee County
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