No. 1 teams survive first two rounds, but challenges await in quarterfinals

The Georgia high school football playoffs are down to 64 teams playing for eight state championships.

The quarterfinals were the round of wreckage a year ago, when Mill Creek, Buford, Colquitt County and Carrollton – all ranked in the top 25 of USA Today’s and MaxPreps’ national polls at the time – were taken out.

Their conquerors were Camden County, Grayson, Milton and Walton, respectively.

What will happen this year? Here’s a primer on the best teams, players, games and storylines in the quarterfinals.

*Teams to beat: For the first time since 2000, all eight No. 1 teams survived the first two rounds. They are Carrollton (Class 6A), Milton (5A), Marist (4A), Peach County (3A), Carver-Columbus (2A), Toombs County (A Division I), Manchester (A Division II) and Savannah Christian (3A-A private).

*Top players: Eight of the AJC's Super 11 are still playing, a much higher number than normal. Three of them will be on the same field together when Houston County, with Antwann Hill, plays at Milton, with C.J. Wiley and Luke Nickel. The other surviving Super 11s are Julian Lewis of Carrollton, Ousmane Kromah of Lee County, Kendarius Reddick of Thomas County Central, Justus Terry of Manchester and Elijah Griffin of Savannah Christian.

*Newcomers: Cherokee Bluff and Cambridge are in the quarters for the first time in history.

*Drought breakers: Jenkins County hasn't advanced this far in the playoffs since 1960. Others breaking long quarterfinal droughts are Southeast Bulloch (1974), Sprayberry (1982), Morgan County (1990) and Worth County (1997).

*Regulars: Irwin County is in the quarterfinals for the 12th consecutive season. Other long elite-eight streaks belong to Carrollton (nine), Marist (eight), Grayson (seven) and Fellowship Christian (seven).

*Missing: Callaway’s streak of eight quarterfinals ended in a 35-33 loss to Stephens County last week. Defending state champions Perry and Cedar Grove are out. Perry lost to Eastside 21-10 last week in Class 4A. Cedar Grove went out the previous week, ending the Saints’ streak of nine quarterfinals. Rabun County, another first-round victim, also had made nine straight.

*Best region: Region 2-5A has sent all four of its playoff qualifiers to the quarterfinals. They are Lee County, Coffee, Thomas County Central and Houston County.

*Best games: There are two Gwinnett County showdowns in Class 6A. No. 3 North Gwinnett plays at No. 2 Buford while No. 5 Collins Hill plays at No. 6 Grayson. North Gwinnett hasn’t played Buford in 25 years. Collins Hill defeated Grayson by one point in August. ... No. 3 Thomas County Central, the 2023 Class 6A champion, plays at No. 4 Hughes. Both are 11-1. ... Blessed Trinity and Benedictine have won five of the past seven Class 4A championships, with Benedictine on top in 2021 and 2022 and Blessed Trinity in 2017, 2018 and 2019. They play each other at Blessed Trinity. ... In Class 4A, Cartersville (12-0) is playing at North Oconee (12-0) in the only quarterfinal in any class between undefeated teams. ... Calhoun is playing at Peach County, the No. 1 Class 3A team, in their third meeting since their ultra-controversial 2017 state final that Calhoun won 10-6. Video replay, which was inadmissible at the time, appeared to show a Peach County scoring a touchdown on a play ruled an incomplete pass. Peach has won the past two meetings. … Pierce County is the defending Class 2A champion and is playing at No. 1 Carver-Columbus. ... Class A Division II’s No. 1 team, Manchester, is playing at No. 6 Lincoln County, the only undefeated team in the class, while defending A Division II champion Bowdon, ranked No. 2, is at home against No. 5 Clinch County.

*Road trip: Irwin County High School is closer to Disney World than its second-round opponent, but the Indians’ Magic Kingdom this week is in Trion, which is 281 driving miles in the other direction. Other long road trips this week are Benedictine of Savannah to Blessed Trinity (278 miles), Clinch County to Bowdon (275) and North Cobb Christian to Savannah Christian’s home field, Pooler Stadium (273).

*What's next: As a result of the GHSA's universal coin toss on Monday, the team placed lower on the bracket will be the home team for next week's semifinals if both teams are equal seeds. That could mean No. 1 Carrollton going to No. 2 Buford or No. 3 North Gwinnett in Class 6A, or No. 2 Lee County going to No. 1 Milton in Class 5A. Otherwise, the higher seed plays at home. Coin flips apply only to classes 6A, 5A, 4A and A Division II. The finals are Dec. 16-18 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.