Five top-10 teams fall in first round of playoffs

Unranked Collins Hill, Camden County, Cass, Dalton and Monroe Area defeated top-10 teams, reigning champion Sandy Creek lost, and Bryan County and Lumpkin County won their first playoff games in history in the first round of the GHSA playoffs.

Cass, Jenkins, Gilmer and Lovejoy beat No. 1 seeds, and Savannah Christian won in four overtimes, the last one with controversy.

Collins Hill, a Class 7A school only two years removed from a state championship, dominated No. 9 North Cobb 45-14 on the road. A 19-point first-round underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, Collins Hill (4-6 during the regular season) advanced to play No. 10 Milton, the team it beat for that 2021 title.

Camden County, also from 7A, beat No. 7 Newton 29-15 as a 21-point underdog. Camden has reached the round of 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2012-13.

Cass and Dalton, Northwest Georgia teams, led a sweep for Region 7-5A.

Cass (6-5) beat No. 6 Kell 28-14 for its second major first-round upset in two seasons, both on the road. In 2022, the Colonels knocked out No. 4 Jefferson. Dalton (8-3) beat No. 8 Greater Atlanta Christian 39-17. Cartersville and Hiram also won from Region 7.

Only one other region swept, also from Class 5A. Region 1 teams Coffee, Ware County, Statesboro and Jenkins went 4-0. Jenkins beat Region 4 champion Arabia Mountain 14-13.

In Class 3A, Monroe Area (7-4) defeated Sandy Creek 24-21 as Ricky Vladivanos kicked a 39-yard on the game’s final play after missing from 49 and 44 but moving closer each time after Sandy Creek penalties.

The team that Sandy Creek beat in last year’s final, second-ranked Cedar Grove, barely survived with a 30-27 victory against Hebron Christian. It was Cedar Grove’s 11th consecutive first-round playoff victory.

Another 3A school, Lumpkin County, made more history for itself. Already 11-0 for the first time, the Indians won their first playoff game with a 52-6 victory against Gordon Lee. Lumpkin County, ranked No. 5, has been playing since 1961.

Bryan County (10-1) got its historic victory by beating East Laurens 55-14. Bryan, ranked No. 10 in Class A Division II, played its first season in 1976.

Lovejoy and Gilmer joined Cass and Jenkins as No. 4 seeds that beat region champions. Lovejoy of Region 3-6A beat Effingham County 47-14, while Gilmer of Region 7-3A beat Adairsville 35-28.

In perhaps the most riveting game, Savannah Christian beat Peach County 48-46. In the fourth extra period, Peach County celebrated a fourth-down stop inside the 1-yard line, but officials met and ruled that Savannah Christian had called a timeout before the snap. The Raiders tried again and scored.

Upsets were rare Friday, as they typically are in the first round, as ranked teams went 72-6. The Maxwell Ratings missed only 17 of 127 predictions.