Boys soccer blog: A look at the first round of the A-5A playoffs

The first round of the boys GHSA state soccer championship begins Wednesday with 128 teams trying to advance to the state championship games on May 2-5.

We previewed opening matches for classes 6A-7A last week, so here’s how the ranked teams from the lower classifications landed in the brackets:

Class 5A

In the top-right quadrant, top-ranked McIntosh will face Cross Keys in the first round, and No. 3 Clarke Central will face Woodland-Cartersville. No. 4 Midtown will face Kell.

If McIntosh and Clark Central advance, we will face to face a top-5 matchup in the second round.

In the top-left quadrant, No. 2 Dalton will play Jefferson before a possible meeting with No. 7 Chapel Hill (vs. Chattahoochee in Round 1) in the second round. No. 5-ranked Greenbrier will face Eagle’s Landing to open the tournament.

Two ranked teams – No. 6 Villa Rica (vs. Cambridge in Round 1) and No. 10 Union Grove (vs. Ware County) are in the bottom-left quadrant. In the bottom-right, No. 8 Tucker (vs. Drew) and No. 9 Centennial (vs. Tri-Cities) begin play.

Class 4A

No. 1 Johnson-Gainesville (vs. Central-Carroll) is in the bottom-left quadrant with No. 8 Perry (vs. Hardaway). In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 2 Westminster will play Stockbridge, and No. 3 Southeast Whitfield will begin its tournament against No. 6 Chestatee. In the top-right quadrant, No. 4 Lovett (vs. Clarkston) and No. 5 East Hall (vs. Cedartown) will play a top-5 matchup in the second round if each advances.

Class 3A

Top-ranked Columbus (vs. Mary Persons) joins No. 4 Bremen (vs. Douglass) and No. 5 Wesleyan (vs. Hart County) in the stacked top-left quadrant. If Bremen and Wesleyan win, they will face each other in a top-5 matchup in the second round.

In the bottom-left quadrant, No. 2 Oconee County (vs. Gilmer), No. 8 Pike County (vs. Monroe) and No. 9 Savannah Christian (vs. Richmond Academy) will battle to advance.

In the top-right quadrant, No. 6 Hebron Christian (vs. Lumpkin County) and No. 7 Savannah Country Day (vs. Hephzibah) could have easier paths to later rounds.

In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 3 Coahulla Creek (vs. Carver-Atlanta) and No. 10 West Hall (vs. Franklin County) could meet in the second round.

Class 2A

Top-ranked Landmark Christian (vs. North Cobb Christian) begins the tournament in the top-right quadrant with No. 8 Fellowship (vs. Murray County) and No. 7 Tattnall County (vs. Thomson).

In the top-left quadrant, No. 3 Fitzgerald (vs. Jordan) and No. 5 Model (vs. East Jackson) would meet in the quarterfinals if each advance.

In the bottom-left quadrant, No. 2 Providence Christian (vs. Gordon Central) is the only ranked team in the quadrant.

In the bottom-right quadrant, four ranked teams will compete, highlighted by No. 6 Putnam playing No. 10 Toombs County. Also in the quadrant are No. 4 Walker (vs. ELCA) and No. 9 North Murray (vs. Union County).

Class A Division I

No. 5 Bleckley County and No. 7 Woodville Tompkins each enjoy BYEs in the first round. Top-ranked Tallulah Falls (vs. Darlington) is in the bottom-left quadrant with Bleckley County.

In the top-left quadrant, No. 3 Atlanta International (vs. Prince Ave.), No. 4 Bacon County (vs. Dublin) and No. 10 Dalton Academy (vs. Rabun County) headline the field.

In the top-right quadrant, Woodville-Tompkins (BYE) is the only ranked team. In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 2 Paideia (vs. Jasper County) and No. 9 Trion (vs. Barrow) could meet in the second round.

Class A Division II

Twelve teams received byes in the first round – No. 8 Aquinas, McIntosh County Academy, No. 2 Atkinson County, No. 3 Lake Oconee Academy, No. 4 Christian Heritage, Washington-Wilkes, No. 6 Echols County, Macon County, No. 5 Portal, No. 9 Chattahoochee County, Fugees Academy and top-ranked Georgia Military.

By virtue of the byes, four second-round matchups are set – No. 8 Aquinas vs. McIntosh County Academy, No. 4 Christian Heritage vs. Washington-Wilkes, No. 9 Chattahoochee County vs. Fugees Academy and No. 5 Portal vs. Macon County.

Boys soccer championships

First-round pairings

Class 7A

R5 #3 Kennesaw Mountain at R6 #2 South Forsyth

R8 #4 Buford at R7 #1 Norcross

R3 #3 McEachern at R4 #2 Archer

R2 #4 East Coweta at R1 #1 Colquitt County

R6 #3 Milton at R5 #2 Walton

R7 #4 Berkmar at R8 #1 Mill Creek

R4 #3 Parkview at R3 #2 Harrison

R1 #4 Lowndes at R2 #1 Pebblebrook

R1 #3 Camden County at R2 #2 Campbell

R4 #4 South Gwinnett at R3 #1 Hillgrove

R7 #3 North Gwinnett at R8 #2 Collins Hillgrove

R6 #4 Denmark at R5 #1 Osborne

R2 #3 Carrollton at R1 #2 Richmond Hill

R3 #4 North Paulding at R4 #1 Brookwood

R8 #3 Mountain View at R7 #2 Peachtree Ridge

R5 #4 Wheeler at R6 #1 Lambert

Class 6A

R5 #3 Douglas County at R6 #2 Rome

R8 #4 Habersham Central at R7 #1 Lassiter

R3 #3 Lovejoy at R4 #2 St. Pius X

R2 #4 Evans at R1 #1 Veterans

R6 #3 Etowah at R5 #2 Alexander

R7 #4 Johns Creek at R8 #1 Lanier

R4 #3 Dunwoody at R3 #2 Forest Park

R1 #4 Lee County at R2 #1 Glynn Academy

R1 #3 Thomas County Central at R2 #2 South Effingham

R4 #4 Lakeside-DeKalb at R3 #1 Woodward Academy

R7 #3 Blessed Trinity at R8 #2 Gainesville

R6 #4 Allatoona at R5 #1 South Paulding

R2 #3 Grovetown at R1 #2 Houston County

R3 #4 Morrow at R4 #1 Riverwood

R8 #3 North Forsyth at R7 #2 Sprayberry

R5 #4 Newnan at R6 #1 River Ridge