For the second straight week there were no surprises in the Class 5A playoffs.
Of the eight teams that were victorious in the second round, all are ranked except Eastside, which played an unranked opponent. And when two ranked teams played each other, the higher ranked team came away on top. Through two rounds there have been no legitimate upsets.
It makes for some pretty amazing third-round pairings.
Here is the lineup for the quarterfinals: No. 4 Cartersville at No. 3 Ware County, No. 6 Coffee at No. 7 Calhoun, No. 2 Warner Robins at No. 1 Blessed Trinity, and Eastside at No. 10 Jones County.
Here’s what happened in the second round:
Ware County survives scare: The No. 3 Gators started the game with a 21-0 lead, but had to survive a second-half rally to beat Creekside 49-25. Thomas Castellanos ran for three touchdowns and threw for two others to lead Ware County.
Creekside battled back with a pair of touchdown runs from Nyqua Lett and a 15-yard run from Kamauri Davis after the Seminoles recovered a fumble. A pair of safeties allowed Creekside to close the margin to 28-25 and it missed a 25-yard field goal to tie the game with 11 minutes left.
That’s when Castellanos took over. He threw a long pass to Orion Robinson, then completed the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Mills. He ran for a 3-yard score with seven minutes left and iced it with a touchdown pass to Jerry Wilkins.
Cartersville’s big second half ousts St. Pius: Quante Jennings scored three touchdowns and No. 4 Cartersville defeated No. 8 St. Pius 31-19. The Purple Hurricanes also scored on a run by quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and got a field goal from Oscar Hernandez. St. Pius scored on runs from Luke Jacobellis, Mason Benefield and a pass from Dennis O’Shea to Casey Vermeulen.
Calhoun comes back to beat Clarke Central: No. 7 Calhoun scored 26 straight points to overcome a 14-7 deficit and eliminated No. 9 Clarke Central 33-14. Calhoun quarterback Christian Lewis threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Quin Smith, a 15-yarder to Will Seamons and a 26-yarder to Cole Speer. Running back Jerrian Hames scored on a pair of runs. Clarke Central scored twice on passes from Will Robinson, who hit Jarius “Nono” Mack for touchdowns of 15 and 73 yards.
Coffee advances with big second half: The No. 5 Trojans erased a 9-0 halftime deficit and defeated Starr’s Mill 24-9, as quarterback A.J. Wilkerson ran for one touchdown and threw for two others. Starr’s Mill took the lead on a safety – Wilkerson was tackled in the end zone after bobbling the snap – and quarterback William Yarbrough scored on a 12-yard run.
Blessed Trinty keeps rolling: Justice Haynes ran 25 times for 314 yards and three touchdowns and the No. 1-ranked Titans defeated Decatur 44-0. Haynes scored on runs of 12, 34 and 28 yards – an 80-yarder was negated because of a penalty -- and did not play the fourth quarter. Blessed Trinity also got a pair of touchdown runs from Englan Williams a scored on a pass from J.C. French to Ryan Dupot. The Titans got an interception from Mackay Butler, a blocked punt from Jackson Hamilton and tacked on a safety.
Warner Robins breaks it open: The No. 2 Demons spotted Woodward Academy a touchdown and rolled to a 30-7 win. Ahmad Walker ran for two touchdowns, while quarterback Jalen Addie and Malcom Brown each added one. Cary Payne kicked a field goal for Warner Robins.
Jones County outlasts Griffin: The No. 10 Greyhounds scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to beat Griffin 34-13. Andrew Carner ran for three touchdowns, John Alan Richter threw a touchdown pass to Javious Bonds and Evan West kicked a pair of field goals for Jones County.
Eastside ends New Manchester’s dream season: The Eagles broke it open in the second half and rolled to a 37-7 win over New Manchester, which had won its first region title and was in the second round for the first time. Kenai Grier scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and the Eagles got a touchdown run from Dallas Johnson and Sincere Johnson.
