Playoffs primer: Best game, history-seekers, plus Gainesville-Hughes (finally)

The high school football playoffs resume Friday with 14 semifinals and the long-awaited Gainesville-Hughes game.

Gainesville-Hughes is the quarterfinal the GHSA postponed last week while sorting out the matter of 38 suspended Gainesville players.

After getting a court injunction and the GHSA’s concession that it did not handle all fight-related suspensions consistently this season, Gainesville will play on, with 34 of the original 38 suiting up, against the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A.

Peachtree Sports Network will be at Hughes to televise it.

The semifinals won’t be upstaged by one famous quarterfinal, though. The semifinals winners are going to the Benz, the Falcons’ home field. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the reward and the site of the Dec. 15-17 championship games.

Here are some things to know about the GHSA’s football final fours.

Teams to beat

Only one No. 1-ranked team is out, and that’s Grayson. The Rams of Class 6A were ranked No. 1 in three national polls, and their demise is proof that no one is ever safe in Georgia. Carrollton, the team that beat Grayson, now has a No. 1 national ranking of its own (MaxPreps). The other No. 1 teams in Georgia are Hughes (5A), Creekside (4A), Sandy Creek (3A), Carver-Columbus (2A), Worth County (A Division I), Lincoln County (A Division II) and Hebron Christian (3A-A Private).

Best matchup

If we’re talking semifinals, it might be Creekside vs. Kell. Creekside is 13-0 and 25 points from setting the state record for points in a season. The Seminoles’ average score is 59-6, and they’ve reached 70 points five times and 69 another. But these two played last season, with Creekside winning narrowly, 42-35. Kell is coming off a 48-21 victory over second-ranked Cartersville.

Other good ones

• Valdosta and Buford rank 1-2 in state titles won (24 and 14, respectively). They’ll meet for only the second time, in Valdosta.
• Carrollton vs. North Gwinnett, the other Class 6A semifinal, is the No. 1 game nationally, according to MaxPreps. GPB Sports will televise that one.
• Marist and Benedictine, Catholic schools that rank sixth and seventh in Georgia football victories over the past 10 seasons, play in Class 4A. It’s the only game the Maxwell Ratings pegs as a tossup.
• Bowdon’s Rich Fendley, whose team has won three straight state titles, travels to Clinch County, where Jim Dickerson is the only active Class A coach with more titles than Fendley (5).

Top players

Only two AJC Super 11 players are in the semifinals — Bowdon’s Kaiden Prothro and Buford’s Tyriq Green. Gainesville’s Xavier Griffin can join them if his team beats Hughes. A few players that didn’t make Super 11 seem to be protesting their omissions. Sandy Creek’s Amari Latimer, who made news with his recruiting flip to West Virginia from Wisconsin this week, has rushed for 2,171 yards for a 13-0 team. West Laurens’ Ty Cummings, who signed with Georgia Southern this week, has rushed for 2,611 yards. Kell’s Brayden Rouse, a top-100 national recruit who signed with Tennessee on Wednesday, was the GHSF Daily/AJC Varsity player of the week for his 12 tackles and two TD receptions in the victory against Cartersville.

Regulars, newcomers, history-seekers

Bowdon is in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. Creekside, Carver-Columbus, Jefferson and Marist are in for the third straight time.