Dominating good teams such as Rabun County and making deep playoff runs were parts of the plan when Brandon Haywood became Pepperell's coach in 2024. He just didn't know it would be so soon. So last week’s 34-0 victory in the quarterfinals and the resulting advancement to the semifinals – the Dragons' first final four since 1998 – almost caught him by surprise.

Kell was already one of the Georgia's best teams, and Brayden Rouse one of the nation's best players. Now, there's just no hiding those facts. Kell beat No. 2 Cartersville 48-21 in the Class 4A quarterfinals Friday. Rouse, a top-100 national senior recruit committed to Tennessee, made a team-leading 12 tackles, intercepted a pass, caught four passes for 78 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Pace Academy senior Kiyah Burrell is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Burrell has been an all-around athlete, playing quarterback, running back, receiver, blocker, rusher, linebacker and cornerback this season for Pace Academy, which will take a 12-6 record into the Division 4 playoffs that begin Thursday.

Jackson County has made history in a number of ways this season – first region title, first 10-win season, first playoff victory. But last week's accomplishments – a 24-19 victory over Milton and a first trip to the quarterfinals – made Jackson County something bigger than just a good regional story. Milton was a two-time reigning state champion.

Rome put the game in the hands of Aidan McPherson last week, and he took care of it. Playing in a downpour most of the game, the junior quarterback was 19-of-31 passing for 316 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards on 25 carries. Rome beat Houston County 38-28 in a Class 5A game between top-10 teams.

Harmony Franklin, a junior quarterback and defensive back at Columbus, is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Franklin has thrown for 2,251 yards and 43 touchdowns, rushed for 686 yards and five touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns for a 16-1 team. She has made 25 flag pulls and intercepted 10 passes.

It’s not how you start, or Walton would be at home this week. The Raiders – 5-5 in the regular season and facing their first losing season since 2016 – upset fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten McEachern 28-24 last week, coming from 21-9 down starting late in the third quarter. Walton had lost to McEachern 50-17 in the opener in August.

Harrison knows about dual-threat quarterbacks. Justin Fields is a former Hoya. And while the New York Jets’ quarterback had multiple games of 200 yards rushing or 200 yards passing in high school, he never produced more than 400 total yards in a single game. So, Aiden Watson can feel pretty good about what he did Friday night.

Harmony Franklin, a junior quarterback and defensive back at Columbus, is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Franklin has thrown for 2,251 yards and 43 touchdowns, rushed for 686 yards and five touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns for a 16-1 team. She has made 25 flag pulls and intercepted 10 passes.

Emma Cate Barron, a junior quarterback and safety at Southeast Bulloch, is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Barron led Southeast Bulloch, the defending Division 1 champion, to a 5-0 record last week while passing for 628 yards and 10 touchdowns, pulling nine flags and intercepting two passes.

Tucker Rhodes, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior tight end, defensive end and long snapper at Athens Academy, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Rhodes has a weighted GPA of 4.0 and an SAT score of 1430. He is a three-year starter on defense and a two-year starter on offense and helped the 9-1 Spartans win their second consecutive region title.

Roswell beat its archrival and won a region championship on a last-minute field goal last week. It's not clear which of those details was the most exciting in the moment. “The most memorable big part was watching the refs put the sign up saying it’s good and hearing the crowd go crazy and everyone cheering,” said Roswell kicker Balint Vorosmarty

Sandy Creek’s Amari Latimer is a four-star prospect committed to Wisconsin but only the fourth-highest senior running back prospect in Georgia. His production, especially in big games, is challenging that modest assessment. Latimer rushed for 228 yards and scored his team’s six touchdowns, one a 25-yard reception, in a 42-17 victory over Troup last week.

Ava Couzens, a senior at McEachern, is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Couzens plays quarterback, wide receiver and safety for an 8-0 team on a 37-game winning streak. For the season, she is 41-of-71 passing for 345 yards and nine touchdowns. She has rushed for 131 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries and caught 28 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns.

Rocco Xerogeanes, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior defensive end at Woodward Academy, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Xerogeanes has a 4.2 GPA. Woodward Academy is 7-2 and has clinched the Region 4-5A championship. “Rocco Xerogeanes is a true leader whose impact goes far beyond the field,” said Ryan Davis, Woodward Academy’s co-defensive coordinator.

Win or lose, Cairo was going for it last week against No. 2 Peach County in a game for first place in Region 1-3A. The Syrupmakers started the game by recovering an onside kick. Then on fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line, Cairo went for it again, and Bryian Duncan scored the first of his five touchdowns in a 38-31 victory.

It was the third time this season that Keyon Standifer scored five touchdowns in a game. The previous two came in one half, as Athens Academy won easily with backup players and running clocks in the second half. On Friday night against Rabun County, the Spartans needed all five.

Jada Batten, a senior back on offense and a rusher/linebacker or defense at Telfair County, is GSHF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Batten has run for 495 yards and seven touchdowns, caught 18 passes for 163 yards and made 35 flag pulls and 19 sacks for an 8-0 team that is No. 1 in MaxPreps’ Division I rankings.

Wyatt Stewart, a senior offensive lineman at Milton, has been named the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Stewart ranks No. 20 in his class of 492 with a weighted GPA of 101.136 and No. 35 unweighted at 95.409. On the field, he has made an immediate impact as a first-year starter at center.

Powder Springs isn’t called Winnersville. That’s Valdosta’s title. But it was a city with two undefeated top-10 teams last week, and only one could remain that way. That turned out to be McEachern, a 35-14 winner over Hillgrove. “We understood what we wanted to get done, what the mission was, and we came over here and executed,” McEachern coach Kareem Reid said after the game.