The Georgia high school football playoffs enter the semifinal round this weekend, and expect more history to be made. Here are 10 questions to set the stage:
1. Four 2012 state champions are still alive — Norcross, Gainesville, Buford and Eagle’s Landing Christian. What is the highest number of repeat champions in one season?
The most repeat champs in one season is three. That occurred in 2006, when Peach County (Class AAA), Charlton County (AA) and Lincoln County (A) won back-to-back. The chance of any team repeating historically is one-in-five (61 of 300, to be exact). It has happened once that the champions from the two highest classifications repeated in the same season, as Norcross and Gainesville are attempting. Valdosta (AAA) and Waycross (AA) did it in 1961.
2. North Gwinnett and Norcross are Region 7-AAAAAA and Gwinnett County rivals and could play each other for the title if each wins Friday. How many times have two teams from the same county played for a state title?
Seven times. The most recent was Tucker’s 15-3 victory against Marist in 2008. It happened twice in 2002, when Parkview defeated Brookwood and Buford defeated Greater Atlanta Christian.
3. Hawkinsville and Charlton County, who made the Class A semifinals, had losing records last season. Has a team ever won a state championship after a losing season?
Only eight times has a team made that kind of turnaround. The most recent was Chattahoochee in 2010 after a 4-6 finish in 2009. Charlton County was 5-6 last season. Hawkinsville was 4-6.
4. Mount Pisgah Christian and Aquinas have first-year head coaches. Has a Georgia coach ever won a state title in his first season?
The last Georgia rookie head coaches to win state titles were Bryan Way of Warner Robins and Jim Dickerson of Clinch County. They won (or tied in the case of Dickerson) in 2004. It has happened 17 times in history, but only three times in the past 45 years. Mount Pisgah Christian’s Mike Forest and Aquinas’ James Leonard could become the first first-time Georgia head coaches to complete an unbeaten, untied season since the 1950s.
5. Marist and Carrollton have more tradition than any two schools facing each other in the semifinals, if not anybody, period. How do their histories compare?
Both rank among the top five in all-time playoff victories. Carrollton (85-46-1) ranks third behind Lincoln County (116) and Valdosta (115). Marist (82-39) trails those two and Buford (83). Carrollton has won seven state titles and 29 region titles. Marist has won two and 23.
6. McEachern and Kell made the semifinals this year. When is the last time that Cobb County sent two teams to the semifinals?
It happened in 2011, when Lassiter and Walton made it, and it has happened five times. This is the first time in history that we’ve seen a Cobb presence in the semifinals for three years in a row, as North Cobb made the semis in 2012. Only 23 Cobb teams have made the semifinals through history. Only one, Marietta in 1967, won the title.
7. Lamar County coach Franklin Stephens won state titles at Tucker in 2008 and 2011. How many coaches have won state titles at two Georgia schools?
T. McFerrin became the 14th last season at Jefferson. He also won at Elbert County (1995).
8. Lovett won its 11th playoff game on the road last week since Mike Muschamp became head coach in 2005. Has any school won more than that?
The school with the most road playoff wins in that time is Colquitt County with 13, all since 2009 under coach Rush Propst. But Lovett ranks second, and not many other schools are close. Cook and Flowery Branch are next with eight.
9. Benedictine and Lovett could meet in the AA championship game. Have two private-school teams ever met for a state championship except in the lowest classification?
Only twice. In 1970, Lovett beat Savannah Country Day. In 1980, Woodward Academy beat Marist. Two other all-private title games have taken place, but both in Class A.
10. Colquitt County, Washington County and Buford have beaten their first three playoff opponents by 25 points or more. Is this unusual?
It used to be. Only 16 teams have done it since 1996, when the GHSA expanded the playoffs to 32 teams in each classification. This is the first time that as many as three teams in one season have been this dominant to the semifinals.
