First Round Primer

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!

Today, we look at Class AAAA's loaded slate of first round matchups. Also, we give you the first-round pairing for all eight playoff fields. CLICK HERE for updated brackets for each classification.

In This Issue

Class AAAA Blog

First Round Pairings

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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

CLASS AAAA BLOG

By Craig Sager II

Class AAAA First-Round Breakdown

Before Friday, we will look at all 16 first-round matchups in Class AAAA. But Today, we get started with the left side of the bracket and breakdown each of the eight matchups.

R8 #3 Oconee County at R6 #2 Northwest Whitfield

Northwest Whitfield rebounded from three-straight losses in September to close the season with five straight victories and home field in the first round. The Bruins have used an explosive 39.8 points per game on offense the past five games to help a leaky defense that has surrendered 22.6 points per game this season. Oconee County comes in battle tested out of the top-heavy Region 8 with Jefferson and Stephens County. Oconee County has had a strong season at 7-3, but will need to get the taste of a 31-7 loss to Jefferson in the season finale out of its mouth and return to form.

R2 #4 Upson-Lee at R4 #1 Woodward Academy

Upson-Lee faces No. 3 ranked Woodward Academy for the third time in school history on Friday. The Knights won the last matchup 6-3 in 2011, but this Woodward offense has the explosiveness to light up the scoreboard at a record pace, while keeping opponents to the same single-digit standard defensively that Upson-Lee saw five years ago. The War Eagles have held their last eight opponents to single digits, including four shutouts and a 3 points per game average.

R1 #3 Northside-Columbus at R3 #2 Burke County

Burke County boasts a solid defense, that was good enough to be the only team that held No. 2 Thomson to less than 35 points this season (20-7). Veteran coach Eric Parker is in his 20th season as a head coach and is in the playoffs for the 17th consecutive year. Northside-Columbus has posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in school history and will look for its first playoff win since a 41-32 win over Monroe in November of 2005.

R7 #4 Chestatee at R5 #1 Cartersville

After plowing through the first nine games of the regular season, Cartersville faced Troup last Friday night with the Region 5 No. 1 seed up for grabs. With the stakes high, the Purple Hurricanes looked more dominant than ever, cruising to a 68-0 victory, the largest margin of victory in school history for a school-record 25th straight win. Trey Creamer punched in six touchdowns, five rushing and one receiving, while the defense forced five turnovers in the shutout.

R6 #3 Heritage-Catoosa at R8 #2 Stephens County

Heritage-Catoosa is one win away from posting a school-record eight victories and makes its first-ever playoff appearance. The Generals closed the season with their biggest win, traveling to Pickens to defeat the Dragons 48-35. This is the first meeting between the two schools, but Stephens County head coach Frank Barden has led his teams into the playoffs 15 times over his impressive 23-year career. Junior Bell Jackson is an athletic two-sport athlete that Stephens County will look to spark plays under center.

R4 #4 North Clayton at R2 #1 Mary Persons

Mary Persons and North Clayton is another first-time matchup slated in the opening round. North Clayton sits at 5-5 which marks its largest win total since a 7-4 finish in 2011. The Eagles are led by first-year head coach Cap Burnett, who will need his team to regain its footing after a 34-0 blowout loss against Eastside to close the regular season. Mary Persons went 5-0 in Region 2 to take the top seed and hasn't lost to a Class 4A opponent this season. The Bulldogs defense has held five offenses scoreless this season if you include the 14-2 victory over West Laurens.

R3 #3 Cross Creek at R1 #2 Carver-Columbus

From 2006-2013, Carver-Columbus won 96 games over that eight-year span. The Tigers have failed to advance past the first round in the two seasons since, and enter this postseason with a 6-4 record. Carver-Columbus earned the No. 2 seed out of Region 1, which is the biggest region in the classification and was the most competitive region this season. A competitive 35-28 loss at region champion Cairo proved the Tigers are not far from picking up a stride that could lead to playoff success. Cross Creek was dominated by Burke County and Thomson in Region 3, but so were the other three region opponents. As a result, the Razorbacks put together victories over Hephzibah, Richmond Academy and Baldwin in region play to clinch the school's first playoff appearance since 2007. Cross Creek posted back-to-back 1-9 seasons and eight straight years without a winning record before this year's turnaround.

R5 #4 Chapel Hill at R7 #1 Blessed Trinity

After going 2-18 the past two seasons, Justin DeShon leads the Panthers into the playoffs with a 5-4-1 record. Chapel Hill has already faced Starr's Mill, Troup, Sandy Creek and Cartersville this season, so the Panthers know what type of challenge they face with a talented team like Blessed Trinity. The Titans are back in the playoffs and motivated to make another run to the Dome after last year's last second heartbreaker to Westminster. The Titans' two losses this season came in Tennessee and Dublin, Ireland and they have compiled an 8-0 record against Georgia opponents. A 28-26 win at Marist on Oct. 21 already gave this year's Titans a taste of a playoff atmosphere.

FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS

Football State Playoff First Round Pairings 2016

Class AAAAAAA

R8 #3 Archer at R6 #2 Peachtree Ridge

R2 #4 Pebblebrook at R4 #1 Roswell

R1 #3 Tift County at R3 #2 North Cobb

R7 #4 Central Gwinnett at R5 #1 Lambert

R6 #3 North Gwinnett at R8 #2 South Gwinnett

R4 #4 Etowah at R2 #1 Westlake

R3 #3 Hillgrove at R1 #2 Lowndes

R5 #4 Milton at R7 #1 Norcross

R4 #3 Woodstock at R2 #2 East Coweta

R6 #4 Mountain View at R8 #1 Grayson

R5 #3 West Forsyth at R7 #2 Brookwood

R3 #4 North Paulding at R1 #1 Colquitt County

R2 #3 Wheeler at R4 #2 Cherokee

R8 #4 Newton at R6 #1 Mill Creek

R7 #3 Parkview at R5 #2 South Forsyth

At Large Lassiter at R3 #1 McEachern

Class AAAAAA

R8 #3 Gainesville at R6 #2 Harrison

R2 #4 Bradwell Institute at R4 #1 Tucker

R1 #3 Lee County at R3 #2 Evans

R7 #4 Cambridge at R5 #1 Mays

R6 #3 Allatoona at R8 #2 Lanier

R4 #4 Jonesboro at R2 #1 Glynn Academy

R3 #3 Grovetown at R1 #2 Northside-Warner Robins

R5 #4 Langston Hughes at R7 #1 Johns Creek

R4 #3 Stephenson at R2 #2 Effingham County

R6 #4 Sequoyah at R8 #1 Dacula

R5 #3 Northgate at R7 #2 Centennial

R3 #4 Lakeside-Evans at R1 #1 Valdosta

R2 #3 Richmond Hill at R4 #2 Lovejoy

R8 #4 Winder-Barrow at R6 #1 Dalton

R7 #3 Alpharetta at R5 #2 Alexander

R1 #4 Coffee at R3 #1 Heritage-Conyers

Class AAAAA

R8 #3 Clarke Central at R6 #2 Carver-Atlanta

R2 #4 South Effingham at R4 #1 Stockbridge

R1 #3 Warner Robins at R3 #2 Griffin

R7 #4 Villa Rica at R5 #1 Arabia Mountain

R6 #3 Riverwood at R8 #2 Loganville

R4 #4 Ola at R2 #1 Ware County

R3 #3 Whitewater at R1 #2 Bainbridge

R5 #4 Miller Grove at R7 #1 Rome

R4 #3 Jones County at R2 #2 Wayne County

R6 #4 Banneker at R8 #1 Buford

R5 #3 at R7 #2 Carrollton

R3 #4 Riverdale at R1 #1 Thomas County Cenral

R2 #3 New Hampstead at R4 #2 Woodland-Stockbridge

R8 #4 Walnut Grove at R6 #1 Grady

R7 #3 Kell at R5 #2 Southwest DeKalb

R1 #4 Veterans at R3 #1 Starr's Mill

Class AAAA

R8 #3 Oconee County at R6 #2 Northwest Whitfield

R2 #4 Upson-Lee at R4 #1 Woodward Academy

R1 #3 Northside-Columbus at R3 #2 Burke County

R7 #4 Chestatee at R5 #1 Cartersville

R6 #3 Heritage-Catoosa at R8 #2 Stephens County

R4 #4 North Clayton at R2 #1 Mary Persons

R3 #3 Cross Creek at R1 #2 Carver-Columbus

R5 #4 Chapel Hill at R7 #1 Blessed Trinity

R4 #3 Luella at R2 #2 West Laurens

R6 #4 Pickens at R8 #1 Jefferson

R5 #3 Sandy Creek at R7 #2 Marist

R3 #4 Baldwin at R1 #1 Cairo

R2 #3 Spalding at R4 #2 Eastside

R8 #4 St. Pius at R6 #1 Oconee County

R7 #3 West Hall at R5 #2 Troup

R1 #4 Americus-Sumter at R3 #1 Thomson

Class AAA

R8 #3 Jackson at R6 #2 Ringgold

R2 #4 Tattnall County at R4 #1 Peach County

R1 #3 Cooks at R3 #2 Savannah

R7 #4 North Hall at R5 #1 Westminster

R6 #3 Sonoraville at R8 #2 Franklin County

R4 #4 Pike County at R2 #1 Liberty County

R3 #3 Southeast Bulloch at R1 #2 Worth County

R5 #4 Pace Academy at R7 #1 Greater Atlanta Christian

R4 #3 Westside-Macon at R2 #2 Pierce County

R6 #4 Murray County at R8 #1 Morgan County

R5 #3 Lovett at R7 #2 Dawson County

R3 #4 Islands at R1 #1 Crisp County

R2 #3 Brantley County at R4 #2 Jackson

R8 #4 Monroe Area at R6 #1 Calhoun

R7 #3 Union County at R5 #2 Cedar Grove

R1 #4 Dougherty at R3 #1 Jenkins

Class AA

R8 #3 Elbert County at R6 #2 Douglass

R2 #4 Toombs County at R4 #1 Screven County

R1 #3 Brooks County at R3 #2 Southwest

R7 #4 Model at R5 #1 Callaway

R6 #3 K.I.P.P. Atlanta at R8 #2 Banks County

R4 #4 Josey at R2 #1 Benedictine

R3 #3 Dodge County at R1 #2 Thomasville

R5 #4 Spencer at R7 #1 Pepperell

R4 #3 Laney at R2 #2 Vidalia

R6 #4 Washington at R8 #1 Rabun County

R5 #3 Heard County at R7 #2 Rockmart

R3 #4 Dublin at R1 #1 Fitzgerald

R2 #3 Swainsboro at R4 #2 Jefferson County

R8 #4 Monticello at R6 #1 Hapeville Charter

R7 #3 Chattooga at R5 #2 Lamar County

R1 #4 Berrien at R3 #1 Washington County

Class A-Public

#24 Marion County at #9 Twiggs County

#8 Manchester BYE

#17 Turner County at #16 Terrell County

#1 Macon County BYE

#21 Irwin County at #12 Dooly County

#5 Mt. Zion BYE

#20 Bowdon at #13 Miller County

#4 Emanuel County Institute BYE

#23 Trion at #10 Taylor County

#7 Commerce BYE

#18 Randolph-Clay at #15 Mitchell County

#2 Clinch County BYE

#22 Washington-Wilkes at #11 Lincoln County

#6 McIntosh County BYE

#19 Wheeler County at #14 Greene County

#3 Pelham BYE

Class A-Private

#24 Brookstone at #9 Pinecrest Academy

#8 Wesleyan BYE

#17 First Presbyterian Day at #16 Aquinas

#1 Eagle's Landing Christian BYE

#21 Holy Innocents' at #12 Stratford Academy

#20 Hebron Christian at #13 Savannah Christian

#4 Calvary Day BYE

#23 Walker at #10 Darlington

#7 Landmark Christian BYE

#18 Mt. Pisgah at #15 Athens Christian

#2 Prince Avenue Christian BYE

#22 Savannah Country Day at #11 Athens Academy

#6 Mt. Paran BYE

#19 Mt. Vernon at #14 George Walton Academy

#3 Fellowship Christian BYE

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