Two defending state champions knocked out in second round
Jackson County and Douglass ousted defending champions in the second round of the football playoffs Friday, eliminating Milton and Calhoun, respectively, while Sumter County, Wheeler County and Whitfield Academy, along with Jackson County, made history by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time.
The three No. 1-ranked teams that faced ranked opponents came out alive, as Grayson beat No. 9 Colquitt County 31-10 in Class 6A, Hughes beat No. 8 Lee County 49-31 in 5A and Worth County beat No. 10 Bleckley County 38-35 in A Division I. The winners remained undefeated.
And Gainesville, the No. 4 team in Class 6A, beat Brunswick 42-0 in a game stopped late in the third quarter because of fighting. The GHSA is expected to rule as early as today on possible player suspensions.
Jackson County’s 24-19 victory over sixth-ranked Milton, a nationally prominent program that entered this season on a 25-game winning streak, set off the loudest bells, however, even if the game was judged a near toss-up by the computer Maxwell Ratings.
Jackson County, 11-1 but unranked in Class 5A, was in control most of the way and recovered an onside kick in the final minute to end things.
Jackson County had never won a region championship or a playoff game until this season. Milton won 5A last season and 6A the season before.
In Class 3A, Douglass beat second-ranked Calhoun 12-0 in the only other second-round game in which an unranked team beat a ranked one. Douglass (9-3) was pegged a four-point underdog, as the Astros were the runner-up to Stephenson in Region 5. Calhoun entered averaging 38.4 points per game and hadn’t been held to less than 28 points this season.
South Georgia programs Sumter County and Wheeler County reached new heights. Sumter County, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, beat North Murray 28-11 and reached the quarters for the first time. Sumter County opened in 2004.
In Class A Division II, No. 6 Wheeler County beat Warren County 28-20 and made its first quarterfinal. Wheeler County played its first varsity season in 1966 and also won its first region title this season.
Whitefield Academy, a Cobb County private school that fielded its first football team in 2002, beat Aquinas 48-21 in 3A-A Private to make its first final eight.
The second round was largely free of upsets, as the computer Maxwell Ratings were wrong on just seven of the 64 games. Three of those involved 1-point favorites, including Milton.
Winning underdogs - besides Jackson County and Douglass – were West Forsyth over Hillgrove in 6A; Cairo over Troup in 3A; Northeast over Swainsboro and Pepperell over Jasper County in A Division I; and Brooks County over Johnson County in A Division II.