The second round of the high school playoffs is tonight with 64 games, and No. 1-ranked teams should beware. It was the second round last season in which two No. 1-ranked teams - Lowndes and Cartersville - went down in upsets that few saw coming.
Both were 11-0 and favored by 24 points or more by the computer Maxwell Ratings, but Lowndes lost to McEachern 36-31 while Cartersville lost to Blessed Trinity 21-17. The latter marked the stunning end to a 41-game winning streak and the high school career of the state's all-time leading passer, Trevor Lawrence. Defending Class AAAAAAA Grayson also went down in last year's second round.
This year, the most likely upsets of No. 1 teams come in classes AAA and AA. Calhoun is a 14-point favorite over Lovett while Hapeville Charter is an eight-point favorite over Callaway, according to Maxwell. The other No. 1 teams are favored by 24 points or more. But that didn't help Lowndes or Cartersville.
Here are some other things to know about round two:
*Top teams: All eight No. 1-ranked teams are still in business, strong as ever. They are Colquitt County (AAAAAAA), Lee County (AAAAAA), Rome (AAAAA), Blessed Trinity (AAAA), Calhoun (AAA), Hapeville Charter (AA), Eagle's Landing Christian (A private) and Irwin County (A public). Only Colquitt and Irwin among those are not defending champions, and both were runners-up in 2017. Defending champs North Gwinnett (AAAAAAA) and Clinch County (A public) can't be counted out, either. Things look good for all those teams, but remember that only two teams (Rome and Eagle's Landing Christian) repeated last season, so don't underrate the field.
*Top players: Nine of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's preseason Super 11 are still suiting up. They are Walton WR Dominick Blaylock, Archer CB Andrew Booth, Marist WR/DB Kyle Hamilton, Cedar Grove WR/DB Jadon Haselwood, Greater Atlanta Christian DL Chris Hinton, Clinch County RB/LB Trezmen Marshall, Buford OL Harry Miller, Dacula DB/WR Jalen Perry and Grayson LB Owen Pappoe. All play for top-10 teams. Others to watch are Rome RB Jamious Griffin and Monroe Area QB Chandler Byron, who have more than 2,000 yards rushing, and Warner Robins QB Dylan Fromm and Valdosta QB Tate Rodemaker, who have more than 3,000 yards passing.
*State record in danger: Warner Robins WR Marcayll Jones has 1,627 yards receiving after a 120-yard effort in the first round. He needs only 29 yards to break the state record of 1,655 set in 2010 by Demarco Robinson of M.L. King. Warner Robins plays Ware County.
*Best game: That's a tossup between No. 5 Walton at No. 4 Hillgrove in Class AAAAAAA and No. 6 Marist at No. 4 St. Pius in AAAA. Walton (10-1) and Hillgrove (11-0) are Cobb County teams that have played each other only once, with Hillgrove winning 47-35 in the 2013 regular season. Both made the second round last year, but Hillgrove hasn't made the quarterfinals since 2014, and Walton hasn't been there since 2011. But throw in the rivalry factor and the choice must be St. Pius-Marist, a game between familiar DeKalb County Catholic schools. It's a rematch of the regular-season game won by St. Pius 17-0, but also the state semifinal game played in 2017 won by Marist 35-14. St. Pius (10-1) and Marist (9-2) have lost only to No. 1-ranked Blessed Trinity when not playing each other this season.
*More good games: Thirteen of this week's 64 games pit top-10 teams. Here's a look at those with projected margins of victory provided by the Maxwell Ratings (projected winner of the left):
Class AAAAAAA
No. 4 Hillgrove vs. No. 5 Walton -5
No. 3 Parkview vs. No. 9 Archer -11
Class AAAAA
No. 2 Buford vs. No. 9 Kell -8
Class AAAA
No. 2 Cartersville vs. No. 10 Ridgeland -22
No. 4 St. Pius vs. No. 6 Marist -5
No. 9 Troup at No. 7 Pickens -4
Class AAA
No. 6 GAC vs. No. 10 Westminster -6
No. 3 Monroe Area vs. No. 7 Dawson Co. -11
Class AA
No. 5 Brooks Co. vs. No. 10 Washington Co. -4
No. 1 Hapeville Charter vs. No. 4 Callaway -8
No. 2 Rockmart vs. No. 7 Bremen -19
Class A
No. 2 Clinch Co. vs. No. 6 Charlton Co. -24
No. 10 Mitchell Co. vs. No. 9 Commerce -6
*Year of the underdog: Eight of 56 region champions and 11 ranked teams were ousted in the first round. Road teams were 32-80 (.286) last week. They were 13-99 (.116) in the first round last year. The eight victories by No. 4 seeds (including at-large team Tift County) are the most since 2008.
*Exceeding expectations: Eight ousted region champions also means that eight No. 4 seeds survived the first round. That's a big improvement over last season, when No. 4 seeds went 3-45. The winners were Tift County, Bradwell Institute, Coffee, Harrison, New Hampstead, Loganville, East Paulding and Pike County. Tift County, the fourth-place finisher in Region 1-AAAAAAA, technically was an at-large playoff team that filled a No. 4 spot in the bracket.
*Long-time coming: Four teams won playoff games for the first time last week. Those were Creekview (Class AAAAAA), New Hampstead (AAAAA), Pickens (AAAA) and Hebron Christian (A). Trinity Christian and Riverside Military advanced for the first time in the GHSA playoffs, although they had won rounds as members of the Georgia Independent School Association. North Cobb Christian can pick up its first playoff victory when it faces Brookstone tonight. The Eagles, in the postseason for the first time in the program's 13-year history, advanced with a bye last week. Columbus won a playoff game for the first time since 1974 last week. Montgomery County (1985) and Effingham County (1987) also broke long droughts.
*Still raining here: Three games have been moved to other stadiums because of heavy rainfall and saturated fields. Those are Burke County at Eastside (moved to Social Circle High School), Trinity Christian at Eagle's Landing Christian (to Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta) and Brookstone at North Cobb Christian (to Harrison High). The alternate venues have artificial-turf fields.
*Looking ahead: Next week is the quarterfinals, the first playoff round in which region champions and other same-seeded teams can meet. Home-field advantage will go to the team that is positioned higher on the draw sheet. That was determined by a universal coin flip conducted in the GHSA offices earlier this week, and video evidence is on the football page of the GHSA's Web site. That means North Gwinnett would travel to Colquitt County next week in the event of a rematch of their 2017 state final, for example. Another flip will be held for the semifinals on Tuesday.
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