Sequoyah’s Ethan Riggle kicked a 20-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining Friday to lead the Chiefs to a 24-21 victory over fifth-ranked Lanier in the biggest shocker in the first round of the Class AAAAA playoffs.
Sequoyah took an early 14-0 lead but trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter before Trey Mitchell’s touchdown run tied the game with 7:05 left. Sequoyah is the only team remaining in the AAAAA field that didn’t win at least seven games during the regular season.
The loss brought an early end to the season for Lanier, which won a region championship (8-AAAAA) and went 10-0 during the regular season for the first time in program history. Lanier began its program in 2010 and played a full varsity schedule for the first time in 2012. The Longhorns were the only region champions to lose in the first round.
Sequoyah (6-5) is the No. 4 seed out of Region 7-AAAAA. The Chiefs have won four consecutive games after starting the season 2-5. Included in that streak was a 42-28 upset of Sprayberry in a region play-in game last week that gave Sequoyah its berth in the state playoffs.
Elsewhere in the Class AAAAA first round:
- Sequoyah wasn’t the only team to win in the final seconds. Mays scored the go-ahead points with three minutes remaining and made a goal-line stand in the closing seconds to beat South Paulding 26-19. Harris County took a two-point lead with 1:31 to play and blocked a 44-yard field-goal attempt with 13 seconds left to beat Warner Robins 33-31. Scott Churchwell’s extra point in overtime gave Glynn Academy a 35-34 victory over Drew. Glynn trailed 28-13 in the fourth quarter but scored the tying touchdown and two-point conversion with a minute left, then blocked Drew’s extra-point try after the Titans scored on the first possession of overtime.
- No region swept its first-round games, but four regions went 3-1. Creekside, Stephenson and Mays of Region 6 won their games in a big showdown with Region 5. Top seed Allatoona was the only Region 5 team to come away with a victory, dominating Carver-Atlanta in a 35-7 win. Other regions that went 3-1 in the first round were Region 2 (Northside-Warner Robins, Houston County and Jones County were winners), Region 3 (Ware County, Coffee and Glynn Academy) and Region 7 (Kell, Dalton and Sequoyah).
Second-round matchups:
Looking ahead to next weekend, the highest-profile game in the second round matches second-ranked Coffee against No. 4 Allatoona in Acworth. Here are the pairings for Round 2:
Mays at Ware County
Jones County at Kell
Stephenson at Stockbridge
Sequoyah at Houston County
Glynn Academy at Creekside
Dalton at Northside, Warner Robins
Coffee at Allatoona
Gainesville at Harris County
