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.
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.
Monday’s question: Fulton County, with eight teams, and Gwinnett, with five, have the most quarterfinal teams. Which county ranks third: Carroll, Chatham, Cobb, DeKalb, Floyd or Oconee? (Answer Tuesday)
Answer to Friday’s question: The only active coaches who have beaten Buford twice are Rome’s John Reid (2-0) and Carrollton’s Joey King (2-2). One of King’s victories came while at Cartersville.
