First Round Top Games & Schedule

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TOP GAMES: FIRST ROUND

Today, we preview the top games of the first round of the state playoffs. Follow tonight's live scores HERE and CLICK HERE to access the brackets.

IMPORTANT: Registration deadline for Elite Classic coming soon

If you have received an invitation to play in one of the seven Georgia Elite Classic All-Star Games, you must register by next Friday at 5 p.m. Click here to register if you are a middle school invitee; click here if you are a high school invitee; and click here if you are a Brain Bowl invitee. The Classic is still looking for more players to play in The Brain Bowl, which will feature the top sophomore, junior and senior academic football players from across the state. The Brain Bowl is expected to receive a lot of attention from the top academic FCS conferences, such as the Ivy and Patriot Leagues, as well as top D-III academic conferences, like the NESCAC, NEWMAC and Centennial. Also, schools such as Berry, Centre and Rhodes and other schools from the Southern Athletic Association are expected to be at practices and the games. You can make a request to play in the game by e-mailing Rusty Mansell of 247Sports. You can also click here to submit a nomination for the Brain Bowl.

For more information on the seven All-Star Games, go to GeorgiaEliteClassic.com

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Friday, November 9, 2018

IN THIS ISSUE

FIRST ROUND TOP GAMES

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FOOTBALL FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS

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TOP GAMES

By Seth Ellerbee

Etowah at Colquitt County

Top-ranked Colquitt County begins its trek into the 2018 playoffs with a chip on its shoulder about the size of a late-game penalty flag and a North Gwinnett game-winning field goal in the title game last year.

The Packers suffered through the runner-up appearance, spent time in the offseason cultivating new talent within the ranks and opened its 2018 season with a blowout victory over McEachern (41-7) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the MetroPCS Corky Kell Classic. Since then, nine wins later, Rush Propst’s Packers are set to face Etowah in the first round.

On paper, and likely in reality, Colquitt should have little trouble against Etowah. Etowah, which split its four wins between region and non-region play, and only scored over thirty points once this year, in a 32-27 victory over Woodstock. Colquitt, which has been a scoring machine all season, scored 30 points midway through the third quarter of its opener and has only scored less that 30 points once this season, in a 26-14 victory over Grayson on Sept. 21. If Colquitt wins, it will likely have a rematch against McEachern in the next round.

Camden County at Walton

This is the GPB game of the week and it will be broadcast on the station at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The No. 6 Raiders have only lost two games in the past two years – last year in the second round of the playoffs to runner-up Colquitt (28-21), and this year against Roswell (42-41) on Oct. 19. Entering its first-round matchup against Camden, the Raiders should be confident.

The combination of quarterback Austin Kirksey (72-of-122, 1250-yards, eight TD’s) and receivers Dominick Blaylock (46 catches, 869 yards, seven touchdowns) and Kendall Alford (52 catches, 859 yards, seven TD’s), is potent and will likely cause fits for the Camden defense.

Camden County, which lost to Colquitt (38-9) and Lowndes (28-27), is coming off a 28-24 victory over Tift County in the final game of the regular season. Camden passes more than it has traditionally with quarterback Logan Watson throwing for 1,714 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Northside-Warner Robins at Tucker

Tucker holds the 3-2 margin in a series that’s highlighted by playoff games in the past 11 seasons. Northside’s Jadin Daniels is 108-of-174 passing for 1,387 yards and 14 touchdowns. Receiver Daniel Neal has 31 catches for 556 yards and seven touchdowns. Daniels leads in rushing with 142 carries and 1,102 yards with 12 touchdowns. Northside averages 213 rushing yards to 138.7 receiving yards. Tucker is run heavy as it averages 271 rushing yards led by seniors Tyler Hughey (79, 785, nine touchdowns) and Donny Harris (91, 770, seven touchdowns).

Cedartown at St. Pius

St. Pius is on a 9-game winning streak after dropping its opener to Blessed Trinity 35-13. While both sides of the football have been playing well, it is the upward trending St. Pius offense that has really been the difference. After a disappointing 2016 season that saw the program net just 12.45 ppg, St. Pius carried a 30.1 ppg effort to last year’s semis and have posted a decade-high 34.9 ppg so far this season. Cedartown will be a dangerous opponent, however, and could be the toughest No. 4 seed in this year’s bracket. The Bulldogs are 5-5 and all five losses have been decided by a touchdown or less. This game should be highly competitive, and both teams are capable of using it to propel the start of a playoff run.

Pace Academy at Monroe Area

A rematch of a closer-than-expected regular-season game highlights one of the 16 Class AAA first round games. Third-ranked Monroe Area (10-0, 6-0) will be hosting a Pace Academy (6-4, 4-2) team that has spent this season either ranked or on the bubble. Monroe Area defeated Pace 36-15 on Aug. 31, but Pace’s defensive effort held Monroe Area to the third-lowest points total of the season for the Purple Hurricanes.

Pace enters the playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Cedar Grove’s Region 5. The Purple Hurricanes, under coach Kevin Reach in his second season, stormed -- Boy! What a pun -- flawlessly through the regular season and Region 8 to win its first region title since back-to-back titles under coach Matt Fligg in 2012-13.

Chris Slade’s Pace team runs twice as much as it passes, averaging 207 yards rushing and 105 yards passing. But its offense cannot be the only focus this week. For Pace, the goal, the desire, the plan, the necessity and the only way it can win is to find a way to stop Monroe Area’s passing game, led by quarterback Chandler Byron.

Behind Byron, the Monroe offense has averaged 357 passing, with just 105 rushing yards. He is 46-of-73 passing for 1,063 yards and 14 touchdowns. The offensive prowess, coupled with a lock-down defense, allowed Monroe Area to shut out its first four opponents in Region 8 competition.

2018 GHSA FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 9

CLASS AAAAAAA

R4#3 Cherokee @ R1#2 Lowndes

R3#4 North Paulding @ R2#1 Westlake

R6#3 Mountain View @ R7#2 Norcross

R5#4 South Forsyth @ R8#1 Grayson

R1#3 Camden County @ R4#2 Walton

R2#4 Pebblebrook @ R3#1 Hillgrove

R7#3 Brookwood @R6#2 Mill Creek

R8#4 South Gwinnett @ R5#1 Milton

R2#3 East Coweta @ R3#2 Marietta

At Large Tift County @ R4#1 Roswell

R5#3 Forsyth County @ R8#2 Archer

R6#4 Collins Hill @ R7#1 Parkview

R3#3 McEachern @ R2#2 Newnan

R4#4 Etowah @ R1#1 Colquitt County

R8#3 Newton @ R5#2 West Forsyth

R7#4 Central Gwinnett @ R6#1 North Gwinnett

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AAAAAAA BRACKETS

CLASS AAAAAA

R4#3 Lovejoy @ R1#2 Valdosta

R3#4 Evans @ R2#1 Glynn Academy

R6#3 Allatoona @ R7#2 Centennial

R5#4 Northgate @ R8#1 Dacula

R1#3 Northside-Warner Robins @ R4#2 Tucker

R2#4 Bradwell Institute @ R3#1 Grovetown

R7#3 Alpharetta @ R6#2 Sequoyah

R8#4 Gainesville @ R5#1 Creekside

R2#3 Richmond Hill @ R3#2 Greenbrier

R1#4 Coffee @ R4#1 Stephenson

R5#3 Mays @ R8#2 Lanier

R6#4 Harrison@ R7#1 Johns Creek

R3#3 Lakeside-Evans @ R2#2 Effingham County

R4#4 Mundy’s Mill @ R1#1 Lee County

R8#3 Habersham Central @ R5#2 Douglas County

R7#4 Pope @ R6#1 Creekview

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AAAAAA BRACKETS

CLASS AAAAA

R4#3 Jones County @ R1#2 Bainbridge

R3#4 Jonesboro @ R2#1 Wayne County

R6#3 Carver-Atlanta @ R7#2 Kell

R5#4 Miller Grove @ R8#1 Buford

R1#3 Veterans @ R4#2 Stockbridge

R2#4 New Hampstead @ R3#1 Starr’s Mill

R7#3 Carrollton @ R6#2 Riverwood

R8#4 Loganville @ R5#1 Southwest DeKalb

R2#3 Statesboro @ R3#2 Griffin

R1#4 Harris County @ R4#1 Dutchtown

R5#3 Lithonia @ R8#2 Cedar Shoals

R6#4 Jackson @ R7#1 Rome

R3#3 Riverdale @ R2#2 Ware County

R4#4 Locust Grove @ R1#1 Warner Robins

R8#3 Clarke Central @ R5#2 Arabia Mountain

R7#4 East Paulding @ R6#1 Banneker

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AAAAA BRACKETS

CLASS AAAA

R4#3 Woodward Academy @ R1#2 Carver-Columbus

R3#4 Richmond Academy @ R2#1 Mary Persons

R6#3 Heritage-Catoosa @ R7#2 Marist

R5#4 Cedartown @ R8#1 St. Pius

R1#3 Columbus @ R4#2 Salem

R2#4 Perry @ R3#1 Baldwin

R7#3 Flowery Branch @ R6#2 Ridgeland

R8#4 Stephens County @ R5#1 Cartersville

R2#3 Howard @ R3#2 Burke County

R1#4 Hardaway @ R4#1 Eastside

R5#3 Sandy Creek @ R8#2 North Oconee

R6#4 Northwest Whitfield @ R7#1 Blessed Trinity

R3#3 Thomson @ R2#2 Upson-Lee

R4#4 Henry County @ R1#1 Cairo

R8#3 Oconee County @ R5#2 Troup

R7#4 White County @ R6#1 Pickens

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AAAA BRACKETS

CLASS AAA

R4#3 Jackson @ R1#2 Monroe

R3#4 Windsor Forest @ R2#1 Pierce County

R6#3 Haralson County @ R7#2 Dawson County

R5#4 Pace Academy @ R8#1 Monroe Area

R1#3 Cook @ R4#2 Westside-Macon

R2#4 Tattnall County @ R3#1 Benedictine

R7#3 North Hall @ R6#2 Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe

R8#4 Hart County @ R5#1 Cedar Grove

R2#3 Liberty County @ R3#2 Southeast Bulloch

At Large Ringgold @ R4#1 Peach County

R5#3 Westminster @ R8#2 Jefferson

R6#4 North Murray @ R7#1 Greater Atlanta Christian

R3#3 Jenkins @ R2#2 Appling County

R4#4 Pike County @ R1#1 Crisp County

R8#3 Morgan County @ R5#2 Lovett

R7#4 Fannin County @ R6#1 Calhoun

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AAA BRACKETS

CLASS AA

R4#3 Harlem @ R1#2 Fitzgerald

R3#4 Northeast-Macon @ R2#1 Swainsboro

R6#3 Washington @ R7#2 Chattooga

R5#4 Spencer @ R8#1 Rabun County

R1#3 Thomasville @ R4#2 Hephzibah

R2#4 Toombs County @ R3#1 Dublin

R7#3 Pepperell @ R6#2 Douglass

R8#4 Monticello @ R5#1 Heard County

R2#3 Jeff Davis @ R3#2 Dodge County

R1#4 Early County @ R4#1 Jefferson County

R5#3 Bremen @ R8#2 Union County

R6#4 South Atlanta @ R7#1 Rockmart

R3#3 Washington County @ R2#2 Vidalia

R4#4 Screven County @ R1#1 Brooks County

R8#3 Elbert County @ R5#2 Callaway

R7#4 Coosa @ R6#1 Hapeville Charter

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS AA BRACKETS

Class A-Private

#24 Holy Innocents' at #9 Mt. de Sales

#8 Calvary Day BYE

#17 Savannah County Day at #16 Mount Vernon

#1 Athens Academy BYE

#21 Brookstone at #12 Christian Heritage

#5 North Cobb Christian BYE

#20 Tattnall Sqaure at #13 Wesleyan

#4 Prince Avenue Christian BYE

#23 Riverside Military at #10 George Walton

#7 Fellowship Christian BYE

#18 Hebron Christian at #15 Mount Paran

#2 Savannah Christian BYE

#22 Stratford Academy at #11 Aquinas

#6 Darlington BYE

#19 Whitefield Academy at #14 Trinity Christian

#3 Eagle's Landing Christian BYE

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS A-PRIVATE BRACKETS

Class A-Public

#24 Seminole County at #9 Commerce

#8 Mitchell County BYE

#17 Turner County at #16 Miller County

#1 Irwin County BYE

#21 Macon County at #12 Chattahoochee County

#5 Greene County BYE

#20 Manchester at #13 Emanuel County Institute

#4 Pelham BYE

#23 Wilcox County at #10 Trion

#7 Schley County BYE

#18 Montgomery County at #15 Claxton

#2 Marion County BYE

#22 Taylor County at #11 Chartlon County

#6 Clinch County BYE

#19 Hancock Central at #14 Dooly County

#3 Mt. Zion BYE

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLASS A-PUBLIC BRACKETS

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