After Round 1 of the playoffs Region 7 took the biggest hit while Region 5 was unscathed.
Region 7 had six teams total in the playoffs (Mount de Sales, Tattnall Square, Stratford Academy, Aquinas, Greene County, and Hancock County) but lost four of them after Round 1 as Mt. de Sales, Stratford, Tattnall and Hancock County all were bounced.
Regions 4 and 6 also took heavy losses as well. Region 4 had seven teams in the post season (Brookstone, Macon County, Manchester, Schley County, Marion County, Taylor County and Dooly County) but lost four (Macon County, Manchester and Taylor County) after Round 1, while Region 6 had the most teams in, eight (North Cobb Christian, Fellowship Christian, Christian Heritage, Mount Paran Christian, Darlington, Whitefield Academy, Trion and Mount Zion-Carroll), but lost three (Christian Heritage, Mt. Paran Christian and Whitefield Academy).
Meanwhile, Region 5 began the playoffs with five teams in and still has that same number going into Round 2. The all-private school region won all four of its games in Round 1 (Holy Innocents, Wesleyan, Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Trinity Christian) while Eagles Landing Christian Academy received a first round bye as a No. 3 seed.
A closer look at the upsets
There were five “upsets” in the first round of the playoffs as four lower seeds came out victorious in the private division while one lower seed came out with a win on the private side. All five wins were by at least 10 points.
Here’s a closer look at each:
Private
No. 24 Holy Innocents 44, No. 9 Mount de Sales 21
The Bears are moving on largely on the strength of underclassmen. Junior RB/LB Michael Cox had four touchdowns. He now has 24 on the season, which is a school record. Also, junior QB Matt Davis scored a touchdown and ran the Bears’ triple option offense to near perfection, while sophomore scatback Tyquann Alexander had a touchdown and several explosive runs on the night. Defensively, LB Hunter Hawk, DB Leighton Dickson and DB Jack Felton, all juniors, had interceptions. Hawk had a fumble recovery as well. Junior DB Ronny Williams and senior LB Graham Collins were the leading tacklers for the Bears.
No. 21 Brookstone 28, No. 12 Christian Heritage 7
The Cougars shredded a Lion defense that had yielded an average of just 16 points per game. Brookstone’s wing-T offense rolled up 388 yards of total offense, most coming on the ground. Senior running back Jeremiah Burgess had 21 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns, junior Clark Smith had 13 carries for 71 yards and one touchdown, sophomore Rylan Cowart had 18 carries for 86 yards, and senior Chris Edmonds had four catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile the defense held Christian Heritage to just 128 yards, with more than half of it coming on one play – a 65-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Neff to Zach Gentry.
No. 23 Riverside Military Academy 24, George Walton Academy 14
The Eagles are one of the most talented teams that no one talks about. QB/DB Isaac Teasley (6-3, 180), WR/RB/DB Khalid Duke (6-4, 210), and RB/DB Jordan Battle (5-8, 170), all seniors, and sophomore WR/DB Jashod Dabney (5-11, 175) are four of the state’s best athletes regardless of classification. Battle had 191 yards rushing, including a 61-yard touchdown run. Teasley had a 1-yard touchdown run and threw a 54-yarder to Dabney, and Duke had a 26-yard run on fourth-and-seven with less than five minutes to play to put the game away. LB Harry Kim (6-3, 220) led the Eagle defense with 15 tackles.
No. 18 Hebron Christian 20, Mount Paran Christian 10
Hebron Christian used three fourth-quarter turnovers to turn a 10-3 deficit into the Lions’ first post-season win in program history. Former NFL all-pro center Jeff Saturday took over the program in January. His son, senior WR Jeffrey Saturday (6-0, 185), and sophomore QB Colten Gauthier (6-3, 185) are one of the state’s most lethal pitch-and-catch tandems. Their 48-yard hook up early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 10-10.
Public
No. 18 Montgomery County 37, No. 15 Claxton 12
The Eagles threw dirt all over the old axiom that it’s hard to beat a good team twice in one season, as they defeated the Tigers for the third time in 2018. The teams competed on opposite sides of Region 3, but Claxton received the higher seed due to its higher power rating score. Still, Montgomery County blasted the Tigers 41-0 on September 14, and 15-14 in the region crossover game on November 2.
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