Quarterfinal preview: Classes A Division I, A Division II and 3A-A private
Class A Division I
*Northeast (10-2) at Fannin County (12-0): Northeast, which opened in 1970, had not reached the quarterfinals until getting there in 2021. Now the eighth-seeded Raiders, with 10 wins for the first time in program history, are back for the second time in four seasons after a 21-10 victory over Lamar County last week. Nick Woodford rushed for 159 yards, putting him just short of 1,800 for the season, and two touchdowns, including a 13-yarder with 3:30 remaining to put the game away. The Raiders trailed 10-7 before taking the lead for good on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Reginald Glover to Zahkie Denson on the first play of the fourth quarter. No. 1 seed Fannin County tied the school record for wins when it beat Jeff Davis 28-21 last week to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2020 and third time overall. The Rebels trailed 21-7 in the first half but pulled even midway through the third quarter and won it on touchdown run by Lawson Sullivan early in the fourth. Sullivan rushed for 156 yards, passed for 99 yards and accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns. He has 1,920 passing yards, 1,473 rushing yards and 38 combined touchdowns for the season. Carson Callihan ran for 98 yards and has 1,725 yards rushing for the year.
*Fitzgerald (9-3) at Worth County (9-3): This is a rematch of the teams’ Sept. 20 game that Fitzgerald won 28-21 in their Region 1-A Division I opener. The loss was part of Worth County’s 2-3 start, but the Rams haven’t lost since, winning the final five games of the regular season to claim the region championship and then beating Coosa (54-14) and Dodge County (63-23) in the playoffs. Sophomore Lyndon Worthy passed for 253 yards and four touchdowns against Dodge County last week and has 2,989 yards and 34 touchdowns for the season. Tre’shaun Jones ran for 147 yards, Khalijah Thomas had 93 and Kaden Chester had 74. Worth County, seeded No. 4, is a region champion for the first time since 1989 and a quarterfinalist for the first time since 1997. Fitzgerald went on to finish in third place in the region and is seeded No. 12 in the playoffs. Fitzgerald has beaten Rabun County and Bleckley County in the playoffs. Cam Johnson’s 11-yard touchdown run with 2:59 left lifted Fitzgerald to a 28-24 victory last week. Victor Copeland ran for 101 yards and passed for 46. In the first game against Worth County, Copeland rushed for 128 yards and scored on a 25-yard run to break a 21-21 tie with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
*Elbert County (7-5) at Toombs County (10-1): Elbert County, at No. 19 the lowest seed remaining in Class A Division I, is in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season, but the Blue Devils have had to do it the hard way. Sitting at 2-4 overall after a region loss to Commerce on Sept. 28, the Blue Devils have since won five of six games, including road playoff games against Gordon Lee (28-13) and Heard County (26-24). Elbert County trailed Heard 17-13 late in the third quarter but scored the next 13 points and held on despite giving up a late touchdown. Tight end Brady Dickerson had 11 catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns. He is the team’s leading receiver with 829 yards and 14 touchdowns. Toombs County is the top-ranked team but the No. 6 seed. Its only loss came against Class 3A-A private No. 1 Savannah Christian, 14-7 in the game that decided the Region 3 championship and bumped Toombs down in the seeding order. The Bulldogs beat Commerce 49-21 last week to reach the quarterfinals for the second straight year. T.J. Stanley passed for 174 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 102 yards. Dabvn Wadley ran for 109 yards two TDs. Stanley has passed for 1,915 yards and run for 414 this season.
*Thomasville (10-2) at Dublin (12-0): No. 7 seed Thomasville is in the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight seasons after playoff victories over Bacon County (48-6) and Temple (42-10). Cam Hill was 13-of-15 passing for 228 yards and three touchdowns and Ant Anderson rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries against Temple last week. Hill has passed for 1,598 and 19 touchdowns this season. Anderson has run for a team-leading 736 yards, but Hill has 537 and Lavonte Cole has 529 in an offense that gets about 57% of its yards on the ground. Dublin, on the other hand, relies almost exclusively on the running game, averaging 374.3 yards rushing and 47.1 passing. Xavier Bostic (1,205 yards for the season) and Willie Batts (1,148) lead the way. The Fighting Irish, seeded No. 2, reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019 with a 42-7 victory over Jasper County last week. Micah O’Neal ran for 89 yards, followed by Batts (85) and Bostic (84). These teams last met in 2019, when Dublin beat Thomasville 55-45 in the semifinals on its way to the Class 2A championship.
Class A Division II
*Irwin County (11-1) at Trion (10-2): Irwin County, ranked No. 3, is in the quarterfinals for the 12th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the state. Irwin also is seeded No. 3 from its region behind Brooks County and Clinch County, so this is the Indians’ third straight road game. Irwin County beat Early County 28-20 in the second round. Irwin was 1-for-10 passing, but QB Luke Snyder scored on a 39-yard run for the final 28-20 lead with 1:14 left after Early County had gotten within 21-20 on a 62-yard TD pass. Shane Marshall rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall, who is committed to Minnesota, has rushed for 1,617 yards this season. Trion, ranked No. 7, is in its first quarterfinal since 2015. The Bulldogs’ last semifinal was in 2003. Trion beat Telfair County 17-6 in the second round. Trion was held to a season-low 189 total yards but led throughout and took a 17-0 lead in the fourth quarter. Trion allowed 201 total yards and forced three turnovers. Kade Smith, the Class A Division II passing leader in the regular season, has thrown for 2,431 yards. Ethan Willingham has 66 receptions for 1,141 yards. These teams have played each other three times, most recently in 2015, when Irwin County won 21-0 in the quarterfinals.
*Clinch County (11-1) at Bowdon (10-2): This game matches head coaches who have won state titles one-third of the time in their careers. Bowdon’s Richard Findley has won two of six, including the past two in Class A Division II. Jim Dickerson has won five of 15. He returned for his 16th season this year after a five-year retirement. Clinch County, ranked No. 5, beat Johnson County 28-6 last week while allowing 129 total yards. Johnson County’s touchdown came on a fumble return. Clinch County’s Aaron Bryant rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns. He has 1,527 rushing yards and 986 passing yards with 37 total touchdowns this season. Bowdon, ranked No. 2, beat Metter 42-14 in the second round. Nathan Bhony rushed for 130 yards and a season-high three touchdowns on 18 carries. Bhony has rushed for 1,130 yards this season and gone over 100 in each of the past four games. Charles Maxell was 9-of-13 passing for a season-low 94 yards. In these teams’ only previous meeting, in 1991, Clinch County won 10-7 in a semifinal on the way to the Class A title.
*Jenkins County (10-2) at Brooks County (8-4): These teams survived hairy moments in the second round. Jenkins County, ranked No. 10, beat Macon County 35-21 after trailing 21-7 at halftime. The Eagles rushed for 361 yards, 288 of those in the second half. Four backs finished with more than 85 yards rushing, and Tyler Williams intercepted two passes. Jenkins County is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1960, or technically ever, since the Eagles’ 1960 Class B runner-up team was part of a four-team state playoff. The 10 victories match last season’s total and represent the only 10-win seasons in school history. Brooks County, ranked No. 4, beat Miller County 12-10 last week after blocking a punt out of the end zone for a safety with 1:32 left, breaking a 10-10 tie. Brooks held Miller to 94 total yards. Chris Cole rushed for 113 yards, giving him 1,607 on the season. Junior Burrus passed for 154 yards, giving him 2,122 on the season. George Lamons had five receptions for 108 yards, putting him at 1,253 with 17 touchdowns. Brooks has been in the semifinals or better four of the past five seasons.
*Manchester (9-1) at Lincoln County (11-0): Lincoln County is the only unbeaten team in Clas A Division II but is ranked only No. 6. The Red Devils’ chance for validation is here, as Manchester, the 2023 A Division II runner-up, is ranked No. 1. Lincoln County is 11-0 for the first time since 2011. Except for a 31-28 victory over Class A Division I quarterfinalist Elbert County in August, the Red Devils have won each game by 23 points or more. They’ve scored 49 in both runaway playoff wins. Their top players are QB Mekhi Wade (733 yards passing, 485 rushing), RB/LB Kelby Glaze (843 rushing, 10 sacks), WB/CB Jonathan Norman (671 rushing, 39 tackles) and WR/MLB C.J. Crite (439 receiving, team-leading 106 tackles). Only Crite, who is committed to Cincinnati, is a senior among those. Manchester, unbeaten since its opening loss to Class 4A Harris County, beat Wilcox County 26-14 last week. Manchester led 375-42 in total yards, but Wilcox returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns and led 14-12 into the fourth quarter. Darrius Favoris rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Manchester was 0-for-1 passing. Justus Terry, an uncommitted consensus top-10 national recruit and AJC Super 11 pick, had seven tackles, one tackle for a loss and a forced and recovered fumble. He missed almost all of the regular season with an injury. These teams have met once before, in 1997, and Manchester won 6-3 in a Georgia Dome semifinal on the way to the Class A championship.
Class 3A-A private
*North Cobb Christian (10-1) at Savannah Christian (10-0): No. 8 seed North Cobb Christian beat Cobb County rival Whitefield Academy 40-6 last week in the only game in the state matching teams that had first-round byes. Sophomore Teddy Jarrard was 25-of-32 passing for a season-high 308 yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to D.J. Huggins, who finished with 12 catches for 193 yards. Jarrard has 2,320 yards and 28 TDs passing for the season. Denim Stevens ran for 100 yards on 14 carries. The Eagles are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 and second time in the program’s 18-year history. Savannah Christian, the No. 1-ranked team and No. 1 seed, beat Region 3-A Division I rival Savannah Country Day for the second time this year to reach the quarterfinals for the sixth time in seven seasons. The Raiders lost to Cedar Grove in last year’s Class 3A final. Kenry Wall rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries and had 70 receiving yards on four catches in last week’s 31-3 win. Defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, a five-recruit committed to Georgia who is ranked No. 1 at his position and No. 2 overall nationally, had three tackles for losses and a sack. He has 27 tackles for losses and 8.5 sacks for the season.
*Prince Avenue Christian (8-3) at Calvary Day (10-1): Prince Avenue Christian is ranked No. 2 but seeded fifth, while Calvary Day is ranked sixth but seeded fourth. Prince Avenue won three state titles in the past four seasons and is in the quarterfinals for the 13th time in 14 years. The Wolverines advanced with a 55-7 victory over Providence Christian last week. Ben Musser and Jake Bobo, who typically share time at quarterback, were a combined 14-of-21 passing for 252 yards and five touchdowns. Both have passed for more than 1,000 yards this season (Bobo with 1,162, Musser with 1,017). Andrew Beard, who leads the team in rushing with 1,507 yards, was held to 56 but had just eight carries as the Wolverines used 10 ball carriers. Calvary Day, which gets about 58% of its offense from its passing game, was perfectly balanced in a 48-7 victory over Mount Paran Christian in the second round, passing and rushing for 147 yards each. James Mobley completed 10 of 12 passes and threw for four touchdowns. He has 2,285 yards and 32 touchdowns for the season. The Cavaliers are in the quarterfinals for the 10th time in 12 seasons.
*Aquinas (8-4) at Hebron Christian (9-2): Aquinas is the only unranked team remaining in the field and the lowest seeded at No. 14. The Fighting Irish pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the second round, beating fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten Athens Academy 31-20 and avenging a season-opening loss to the Spartans. Jim Franklin was 5-of-7 passing for 48 yards and rushed 19 times for a season-high 138 yards and two touchdowns. He has passed for 1,989 yards and run for 681 this season. Aquinas finished fifth in Region 4-3A but now finds itself in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2015. Hebron Christian, ranked No. 3 and seeded No. 6, advanced with a 28-14 victory over Lovett. Hebron Christian led 21-0 in the first quarter and was never in danger. This is the second trip to the quarterfinals, first since 2019, for the Lions but the 13th for head coach Jonathan Gess, who led Eagle’s Landing Christian there 12 straight seasons (and won six state titles) from 2010 to 2021. Thomas Stallworth passed for 1,673 yards and Devon Caldwell ran for 1,023 during the regular season in a balanced offense.
*Wesleyan (10-2) at Fellowship Christian (9-2): This is a rematch of the teams’ Oct. 25 game that decided first place in their subregion of 5-A Division I. Fellowship Christian won the first game 42-17 after leading just 21-14 midway through the third quarter. Fellowship’s C.J. Givers rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. He had 116 yards and three touchdowns last week in a 35-7 victory over another region rival, King’s Ridge Christian. Jonathan Granby had 74 yards passing and 52 rushing. Fellowship, the No. 2 seed, is in the quarterfinals for the seventh straight season and ninth time in the program’s 21-year history. No. 10 seed Wesleyan is in the quarterfinals for the fourth time in six seasons after knocking off seventh-seeded Christian Heritage 22-15 last week. Wesleyan trailed 15-12 with less than seven minutes remaining but scored 10 points down the stretch to pull out the victory. Wesleyan took the lead for good at 19-15 on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ben Brown to Wes Vail with 6:15 left, and the Wolves added a 39-yard field goal by Rhett Smith with 2:45 to play. Coleman Eldridge sealed the win with an interception in the end zone with seconds left. Brown has passed for 2,861 yards this season and 8,308 in his career.