There were a few close calls, but no upsets in the first round of the 5A playoffs. All ten teams in the state rankings advanced to the second round. And in the other six games played, the higher seeded team prevailed.
That means all No. 1 seeded teams advanced. Only two No. 3 seeds moved on – both those emerging from the two regions considered the toughest in the state. No fourth-seeded teams won, but one-win Hiram and three-win Wayne County caused a few heart palpitations.
Here are the matchups for the second-round games: No. 3 Ware County at Creekside; No. 4 Cartersville at No. 8 St. Pius; No. 7 at No. 9 Clarke Central; No. 5 Coffee at No. 6 Starr’s Mill; Decatur at No. 1 Blessed Trinity; Woodward Academy at No. 2 Warner Robins; Griffin at No. 10 Jones County, and Eastside at New Manchester.
Highlights from the first round:
Eastside 3, Southwest DeKalb 0: In the only game played Saturday, Eastside (9-2) forced a fumble inside the red zone midway in the fourth quarter, then won it on junior Jaydon Fain’s 19-yard field goal as time expired. It was the 50th career victory for Eastside coach Troy Hoff.
Ware County 24, Dutchtown 0: The Gators (10-1), best known for their high-powered offense, picked up their first shutout of the season. Ware Cunty got an interception from Dexter Carradine, a forced fumble from Romello Jones, a blocked punt by Jeremy Butler and sacks from Trey Hargrove, Michael Mincey and Prince Alston. On offense, quarterback Thomas Castellanos ran for a touchdown and threw to Jalen Melvin for a score and Cartevious Norton scored on a 30-yard run. The underrated and very reliable Henry Bates kicked a 44-yard field goal.
Creekside 47, Harris County 28: The Seminoles (7-2) outscored Harris County 33-7 in the second half for the come-from-behind win.
Cartersville 56, Maynard Jackson 6: Quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson completed 8 of 9 passes for 160 yards, threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Hurricanes (9-1). Devonte Ross caught two passes for 72 yards and scored three touchdowns, one on a throw from Wilson, another on a pass from Stratton Tripp and another on a punt return.
St. Pius 31, Loganville 6: Quarterback Dennis O’Shea ran for two touchdowns and threw touchdown passes to Carson Harlan and Paul Quigley and Ryan Kirschner kicked a field goal to lead the Golden Lions (9-1).
Calhoun 46, Lithia Springs 21: The Yellow Jackets (8-3) advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the 20th straight year. Calhoun had its hands full with the gritty Lions and led only 29-21 at halftime. Calhoun got two touchdown runs from Jerrian Hames, two touchdown passes from Christian Lewis – one to Cole Speer and one to Carson Griffin – and two touchdown throws from Dylan Faulkner – one to Speer and one to Cooper Harmon. A pair of field goals from Sergio Sanchez helped keep the Lions at bay. Lithia Springs (4-7) had a big game from Lydell Daniel, who scored on a 5-yard run and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Clarke Central 41, King 20: The Gladiators (8-2) used their mighty running game to roll up 308 yards and put away pesky King. Will Richardson ran for 96 yards and one touchdown, Felix Braddy ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns and receiver Jairus Mack ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns, one of them for 79 yards.
Coffee 31, Ola 7: Coffee (8-2) got three touchdown runs from Maurice Turner and broke open a 7-7 game with 24 points in the final quarter. Noah Saylor kicked a field goal and the Trojans put it away on a 29-yard run by Antwain McDuffie.
Starr’s Mill 63, Mundy’s Mill 6: The Panthers scored the first four touchdowns of the game and led 35-6 after the first quarter. Devin Barnett scored two touchdowns and Will Yarbrough threw two touchdown passes and ran for another.
Decatur 51, Greenbrier 31: The Bulldogs (7-1) got two touchdowns from Justin Weaver, one of them on a punt return. Also scoring for Decatur were Marquis Hood, Kenric Lane, Nashon Smith and Harrison Hannah.
Blessed Trinity 49, Chapel Hill 14: Justice Haynes ran for three first-half touchdowns to pace the Titans. Komari Frye ran for a touchdown and threw for another to lead Chapel Hill.
Woodward Academy 35, Whitewater 14: The War Eagles (7-4) needed two four-quarter scores to pull away for the win. Woodward accumulated 453 total yards and Damari Alston scored three touchdowns and Errington Truesdale scored twice for the War Eagles.
Warner Robins 49, Union Grove 7: The Demons (9-1), led by Vic Burley’s seven tackles, three for loss and one sack, limited Union Grove to 6 yards passing and 114 yards rushing. Deuce Petty and Chaz Sturn each came up with interceptions and JaFredrick Perry had a jarring sack. Warner Robins got two touchdown runs from Malcom Brown and two touchdown passes from Jalen Addie and put it away with a 28-point second quarter.
Griffin 49, Jonesboro 0: Griffin (7-4) produced a season-high point total and won for the sixth time in seven games. The Bears produced numerous big plays, starting with an 82-yard kickoff return from Jordan Favors to open the game. Griffin also had a 30-yard pick-six from R.J. Johnson and a 50-yard pick-six from Prince Green. Quamari Favors threw a pair of touchdown passes, a 45-yarder to Green and a 13-yarder to Jaleel Chambliss. Jeff Davis threw two touchdown passes, hooking up with Chambliss for 22 and Gerrod Pope for 7.
Jones County 27, Wayne County 25: Evan West kicked a 25-yard field goal with three minutes left to gives Jones County (8-3) the lead. But it looked like Wayne County had pulled the upset, only to have a potential game-winning touchdown ruled a fumble that Jones County recovered in the end zone. Wayne County, down 11 starters, got an epic effort from Trevin Wallace, who ran 28 times for 382 yards and three touchdowns and played every snap at outside linebacker.
New Manchester 21, Hiram 17: New Manchester (6-3) needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to avoid an upset bid from Hiram.
About the Author
