It was a great first round for upsets in Class AAAAA, as three No. 1-seeded teams were eliminated on Friday night.T
Region 3 champion Starr’s Mill, Region 5 champion Southwest DeKalb and Region 6 champion Banneker were all ousted on the cold, wet night.
It was a bad night all around for tams from Region 5 and Region 6, with each of their playoff qualifiers going down. In Region 5, SWD, Lithonia and Miller Grove were eliminated. In Region 6, Banneker, Riverwood, Carver and Maynard Jackson were all ousted.
Arabia Mountain can still salvage a little pride for Region 5 if the Rams can turn back Clarke Central on Saturday night.
Here’s a look at the biggest upsets:
Loganville 14, Southwest DeKalb 13: Loganville (5-6) got into the playoffs on the last week when it defeated Johnson Gainesville. The Red Devils' record looks worse than it probably is because of losses to Class AAA No. 3 Monroe and Class AAAA No. St. Pius.
Southwest DeKalb (10-1) had a 13-0 lead, but lost the momentum when Loganville’s D’errius Hart returned a kickoff for a touchdown. The Red Devils scored on their first possession of the second half on a 20-yard pass from Tanner Greene to Trevon Williams. Yovanny Martinez kicked both extra points and Loganville had advanced to the second round for the first time since 2016.
East Paulding 28, Banneker 26: East Paulding (7-4) won its fifth straight game and advances to the second round for the first time since 2013. A late field goal gave the Raiders the lead after Banneker had driven for a touchdown. Banneker had won seven straight games and claimed its first region championship.
New Hampstead 21, Starr's Mill 10: Ryan Lawson, Sam Brown and Donte Wallace each scored touchdowns for New Hampstead (5-5) to knock off the Panthers. Starr's Mill's only touchdown came on a 50-yard scoop-and-score by Ryan Smith and it added a field goal from Michael Lantz. It was the first playoff win for New Hampstead, which began playing in 2014.
The other upset: The outcome wasn't totally unexpected, but the margin of victory was surprising as Bainbridge overpowered No. 8 Jones County 40-13. Caleb McDowell ran for three touchdowns for the Bearcats.
Next week’s second-round schedule:
Bainbridge at Wayne County
Kell at Buford
New Hampstead at Stockbridge
Loganville at Carrollton
Griffin at Dutchtown
Cedar Shoals at Rome
Ware County at Warner Robins
East Paulding at Clarke Central/Arabia Mountain winner
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