Class 6A blog: Historic wins for River Ridge, Hughes on a night of blowouts

River Ridge and Hughes, two metro Atlanta schools that opened in 2009, reached the high school football state quarterfinals for the first time Friday with lopsided victories on a night that was full of them in Class 6A.

River Ridge became the second team in Cherokee County history to start a season 11-0 when it beat Rome 42-10. The Knights are a region champion for the first time, and their 11 wins are the most in school history (the 2011 team went 8-2 playing a non-region schedule).

River Ridge led 21-0 after the first quarter and finished with a 410-171 advantage in total offense. Amehre Morrison had 116 yards rushing and 56 yards receiving, while quarterback Carson Lathem was 12-of-22 passing for 221 yards, according to the Cherokee Tribune. River Ridge will host top-ranked Lee County next week in the quarterfinals.

“I’ve been challenging them all year, telling them it’s time to peak,” Knights coach Michael Collins told the Tribune. “They answered the bell and found their ‘A’ game tonight.”

Hughes, which had a school-worst record of 2-8 last season, set a school record for victories when it beat Region 2 No. 1 seed Glynn Academy 35-0 to improve to 11-1. The Panthers made six consecutive playoff appearances from 2012 to 2017 but never advanced beyond the second round.

Hughes led 14-0 at halftime but broke the game open with three third-quarter touchdowns – a 32-yard fumble return, an 88-yard run and a touchdown five plays after a Glynn Academy fumble.

Hughes will travel to second-ranked Buford next week.

- River Ridge and Hughes were just two of the blowout winners in the second round. The average margin of victory for the eight winners was a whopping 32.4 points, even higher than the 30.6 from the first round. The closest game was fourth-ranked Allatoona’s 31-6 victory over No. 8 Dacula, and the most lopsided was No. 3 Westlake’s 55-13 win over No. 9 Richmond Hill.

- Hughes is one of two No. 2 seeds remaining in the Class 6A field that will join six region champions in the quarterfinals. The other is No. 6 Valdosta, which beat Region 3 winner Evans 44-7. Hughes and Westlake will represent Region 4 in the quarterfinals, and Valdosta and Lee County will represent Region 1, making those the only two regions with two teams left. Regions 2 and 3 are out.

- All three of the No. 3 seeds that made it to the second round were eliminated Friday night. Cambridge of Region 7 lost to Buford 42-7, Sprayberry of Region 6 lost to Carrollton 39-13, and Brunswick of Region 2 lost to Lee County 48-21. Brunswick finished in a tie for first place with Glynn Academy and Richmond Hill but took the No. 3 seed on tiebreakers. Those three have now been eliminated.

- Seven of the eight winners were projected as favorites by the computer Maxwell Ratings, and the River Ridge-Rome game was considered a tossup, so there were no true upsets in the second round. Buford, Lee County and Valdosta were favored by at least 32 points and won by at least 27. Allatoona, Carrollton, Hughes and Westlake far exceeded their projected margins of nine points or less.

- Here are the second-round scores and the matchups for quarterfinals:

Second round

Valdosta 44, Evans 7

Carrollton 39, Sprayberry 13

Buford 42, Cambridge 7

Hughes 35, Glynn Academy 0

River Ridge 42, Rome 10

Lee County 48, Brunswick 21

Westlake 55, Richmond Hill 13

Allatoona 31, Dacula 6

Quarterfinals

(R1 #2) Valdosta at (R5 #1) Carrollton