Two of the state’s best football regions were playing get-back games Saturday night, each eliminating the other’s region champion in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
The ironic outcome occurred when Region 5′s fourth seed, Douglas County, beat Region 7′s champion, Riverwood, 24-17 while Region 7′s fourth seed, Johns Creek, beat Region 5′s champion, Rome, 31-27.
For the past 26 seasons, the GHSA’s first-round format is to pair four teams from one region against four from another, and this marked the first time since 2008 that the No. 4 teams from one region beat the champions from the other.
Douglas County and Johns Creek have been ranked at times this season, so they were prime candidates to make history. That’s no consolation to No. 6 Rome and No. 9 Riverwood. They’re finished.
The same two regions produced one game between two top-10 teams. In that one, No. 7 Carrollton beat No. 10 Creekview 47-28 in 6A. In the fourth game between these regions, No. 9 Cambridge beat South Paulding 50-29.
The most surprising result of Saturday’s completion of the first round was Warren County’s 42-7 victory over No. 7 Chattahoochee County in Class A Public. Warren County (8-3) was a 31-point underdog despite making the quarterfinals the past two seasons, each while unranked.
One other top-10 team lost Saturday when No. 9 Georgia Military, the champion of Warren County’s Region 7, lost to Manchester 20-8.
For the entire first round, most of which was played Friday, top-five teams went 40-0. The rest of the top 10 suffered 11 casualties, including four region champions and one team ranked No. 1 just three weeks ago.
That latter would be Jefferson, the most conspicuous team eliminated, beaten by Hapeville Charter 12-10. Jefferson the preseason No. 1 team in Class 4A.
Other unranked teams that beat a top-10 opponents Friday were Dawson County (over No. 7 Sandy Creek) and Stephens County (over No. 9 Rockmart), both in Class 3A.
The second of five rounds begins Friday.
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