Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, which will be played Friday and cut the field to the final eight teams.
*13-3 – First-round record of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, who played at home last weekend. The eight region champions all advanced and will host again in the second round. The No. 2 seeds went 5-3. The surviving No. 3 seeds were Sprayberry, which defeated Region 7 runner-up Creekview 34-14, Brunswick, which beat Region 3′s Alcovy 41-6, and Cambridge, which beat Region 6′s Kell 36-14.
*30.6 – Average margin of victory for the 16 winners in the first round. Only one game – River Ridge’s 35-34 overtime win against Kennesaw Mountain – was decided by fewer than 20 points, and eight were decided by 30 or more. The computer Maxwell Ratings expect things to be more competitive in Round 2, projecting that five of the eight games will have margins of nine points or less.
*3-1 – Record for Region 2 in the first round in its matchup with Region 3. That makes Region 2 the only one in Class 6A with three teams left standing. No. 1 seed Glynn Academy defeated Grovetown 42-3; No. 2 seed Richmond Hill beat Lakeside-Evans 56-0; and No. 3 Brunswick beat Alcovy 41-6. The only surviving team from Region 3 is champion Evans, which defeated Statesboro 42-21.
*2 – Undefeated teams remaining in the field. Fourth-ranked Allatoona and No. 5 River Ridge were the only teams to make it through the regular season without a loss, and both survived Round 1 to reach 10-0. Last year, Dacula and Harrison were the only undefeated teams left in the second round. Dacula eventually lost in the semifinals to Harrison, which won the state title the following weekend.
*40.7 – Points per game scored by Westlake, the most of any team in Class 6A. The Lions have scored at least 21 points in every game, including their only loss, a 42-21 setback against Hillgrove in early October. Since then, Westlake has averaged 48.3 points during its current seven-game winning streak. This week, the Lions face a Richmond Hill team that’s giving up just 12.9 per game.
*5.8 – Points per game given up by Buford, the lowest of any team in Class 6A. The Wolves surrendered 28 points in a loss to North Cobb (No. 8 in 7A) in the season opener but have given up just 30 more over the past 10 games. Buford has recorded five shutouts, including a 48-0 victory over Douglas County in the first round, and not allowed any team other than North Cobb more than 10 points.
*1,463 – Rushing yards for Richmond Hill’s Ashaud Roberson, who asked to take over after the graduation of Jalen Rouse, a first-team all-state selection last season. Roberson has answered the call, breaking the school’s regular-season record with 1,407 yards. He has had at least 100 yard in every game except for last week, when he rushed for 56 on a season-low nine carries in a blowout victory.
*38 – Years since Sprayberry last played in the quarterfinals (1982). That’s the longest quarterfinal drought among the 16 remaining teams, but it’s a streak that will end if the Yellow Jackets beat Carrollton this week. The next-longest droughts belong to Evans (1987) and Brunswick (1999). Hughes (opened in 2009), River Ridge (2009) and Cambridge (2012) have never reached the quarterfinals.
*2 – Previous meetings between Dacula and Allatoona in the second round of the playoffs. They’ll make it three this week when Dacula travels to Allatoona for the first time. Allatoona won the first matchup 14-13 in 2017 and then lost to Tucker in the quarterfinals. Dacula won 28-21 in 2018 and eventually reached the semifinals, where it lost to Northside-Warner Robins 14-7.
*14-1 – Top-ranked Lee County’s record in the playoffs since the start of the 2017 postseason. The Trojans had five-game runs to the championship in both 2017 and 2018, then beat Greenbrier and Creekside in 2019 before losing to Dacula in the quarterfinals. Lee County beat Tucker 49-17 last week. All 15 games were in Leesburg except the 2018 championship game (Mercedes-Benz Stadium).
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