Second-round preview: Classes 3A and 2A

Class 3A

*Monroe Area (6-5) at Carver-Atlanta (7-3): Monroe Area is the only No. 4 seed still playing in Class 3A. The Purple Hurricanes’ losses have come to five teams that have been ranked in the top five of their classes this season. Monroe Area defeated Dawson County 35-13 last week. Jeremiah Anderson rushed for 129 yards and was 6-of-7 passing for 143 yards. Jakyri Jones had four tackles for losses, a sack, a blocked punt, a blocked extra point and a fumble recovery. Fourth-ranked Carver, the Class 3A runner-up last season, beat Ringgold 44-28 in the first round. Bryce Bowens was 21-of-29 passing for 320 yards and six touchdowns playing just three quarters. Three TD passes went to Zy’eek Mender. Deandre Buchannon and Mender each had more than 100 receiving yards. Carver got a seventh TD pass from backup QB Montavious Banks.

*Liberty County (7-4) at Thomasville (8-3): Liberty County is in the second round for the sixth time in eight seasons and seeking its first quarterfinal since 2017. Liberty beat Morgan County 19-14 on the road last week. Carlos Singleton scored two touchdowns to give Liberty County a 13-0 lead last in the third quarter, and James Summersett’s 65-yard run in the fourth quarter put the lead at 19-7. Singleton threw for 1,832 yards and rushed for 420 in the regular season. Thomasville, the 2021 Class 2A runner-up, has won seven straight games with victories over four playoff teams. The Bulldogs beat Jackson 42-21 last week. Jay Randall rushed for 149 yards, and Lavonte Cole ran for 135. Camren Hill passed for 185 yards, and Cole Shaw had seven receptions for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Both teams have first-year coaches. Tony Glazer replaced 20-year Liberty County coach Kirk Warner, who passed away in the offseason. Thomasville promoted Thomas DeLay from offensive coordinator.

*Sandy Creek (9-2) at Stephens County (9-2): This is one of two Class 3A games between ranked teams. No. 9 Oconee County vs. No. 10 Adairsville is the other. Third-ranked Sandy Creek, setting a school record for points scored, beat Coahulla Creek 70-14 in the first round. Dorian Graham rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries. Geimere Latimer was 10-of-14 passing for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He’s thrown for 1,943 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. Kaleb Cost, who is committed to North Carolina, has 1,157 all-purpose yards. Stephens County, the champion of a region that swept its four first-round games, beat Wesleyan 51-14. Sophomore Javin Gordon rushed for 251 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Ben Stowe was 8-of-11 passing for 144 yards. Stephens County’s best all-around player is Cam’Ron Lacy, a Middle Tennessee State commit with 1,507 all-purpose yards.

*Savannah Christian (10-1) at Peach County (8-3): Peach County is seeking its seventh straight quarterfinal. Only Cedar Grove has a longer active streak in Class 3A. Savannah Christian has made the quarterfinals or better nine of the past 13 seasons, all in Class A. Savannah Christian beat Hephzibah 41-26 in the first round. Zo Smith rushed for a career-high 212 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. He’s run for 1,288 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Paulus Zittrauer was 12-of-13 passing for a season-high 224 yards and a touchdown. He has 1,579 yards passing on the season. David Bucey had six receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown. Peach County, ranked No. 5, beat Crisp County 23-0. Chris McMillian rushed for 228 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries. Colter Ginn threw a 62-yard TD pass to Skielar Mann, an Ole Miss commit as a linebacker.

*Dougherty (9-2) at Calvary Day (10-0): Both teams are aiming to make the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. Reclassification moved Dougherty down from Class 4A and Calvary Day up from Class A Private. Dougherty beat Mary Persons 39-23 on the road last week to break a two-game losing streak. Jacob Stallworth rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns. Larry Lane had five receptions for 113 yards. Kam Davis was 14-of-23 passing for 248 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 78 yards. Davis, a Florida State recruit, has 2,365 passing yards and 1,046 rushing yards on the season. Second-ranked Calvary Day, the only unbeaten team in 3A, defeated Salem 49-0 in the first round. Jake Merklinger was 10-of-14 passing for 292 yards and five touchdowns, four to Michael Smith, who had four receptions for 172 yards. Merklinger has thrown for 1,828 yards and 32 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Smith, a four-star tight end recruit, has 12 TD receptions.

*Hebron Christian (9-2) at Cedar Grove (8-2): Hebron Christian and the classification’s most prolific offensive player, Gavin Hall, take on the defending champions. Hall rushed for 235 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 177 yards and two touchdowns in a 63-14 victory over Pickens in the first round. Hall has 2,333 yards and 30 touchdowns rushing and 1,680 yards and 17 touchdowns passing. Hebron, playing outside Class A for the first time, can make the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017, which its coach was current Indianapolis Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday. Hebron’s coach now, Jonathan Gess, won six state titles at Eagle’s Landing Christian before taking the Hebron job this year. Cedar Grove, aiming for its fifth state title in seven seasons, beat Bremen 48-7 last week. Quinterio Lawson had two sacks, returned a fumble for a touchdown and rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on two carries. Elliott Colson has thrown for 2,104 yards and 23 touchdowns this season.

*Carver-Columbus (8-2) at Harlem (10-1): Harlem won its first postseason game since 1981 last week with a 35-0 victory over Long County. Jason Williams rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Williams has rushed for 1,341 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Ethan Evangelista had 122 yards from scrimmage on 10 touches and two touchdowns in the first round. Harlem is trying to make the quarterfinals for the first time since 1974. Carver, ranked No. 8, was the Class 4A runner-up last season. In a 39-0 first-round victory, Carver held Upson-Lee to 83 total yards and 0-for-11 passing and ran back a punt and an interception for touchdowns. Carver runs its offense through RB Jamari Riley, who has more than 1,300 yards rushing.

*Oconee County (7-4) at Adairsville (10-1): This is one of two Class 3A games between ranked teams. No. 3 Sandy Creek vs. No. 7 Stephens County is the other. Ninth-ranked Oconee County won on the road last week, beating Lumpkin County 49-21. C.J. Jones scored five touchdowns on just eight carries for 65 yards. RB/LB Whit Weeks is the team’s best all-around player. He’s committed to LSU. Oconee County has reached two finals in the past three seasons but lost in this round a year ago to Crisp County when ranked No. 2. Adairsville, a region champion for the first time since 2001, is seeking its first quarterfinal since 2015. Adairsville beat Douglass 55-26 last week while producing three 100-yard rushers – Ethan Blome (216), Chris Roper (154) and Jonathan Gough (107). Both teams have first-year coaches. Those are Jon Cudd at Adairsville and Ben Hall at Oconee County.

Class 2A

*North Cobb Christian (10-1) at Rockmart (9-2): This is one of two Class 2A second-round games matching ranked opponents (Cook at Thomson is the other). No. 10 North Cobb Christian is in the second round for the fourth time in five seasons after defeating Columbia 14-6. The Eagles were held to a season low in passing yards (51) and their third-lowest rushing total (142) but got the decisive points when Gabe Fortson recovered a fourth-quarter fumble in the end zone after Columbia tried to return a blocked field-goal attempt. North Cobb Christian allows just nine points per game, but No. 7 Rockmart averages 44.5. The Yellow Jackets rolled past East Jackson 65-7 last week, their fifth game with 56 or more points this season. They get almost 80% of their yards from the running game and have four backs with at least 43 carries and 425 yards, led by Cam Ferguson (67-726).

*Putnam County (9-2) at Fitzgerald (11-0): This is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal game, which Fitzgerald won 21-7. It was the only loss of the season for Putnam County, and Fitzgerald went on to win its first state championship since 1948. Putnam County defeated Toombs County 30-6 last week. Jalon Kilgore, who is committed to South Carolina, ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass. Tamarion Peters, the team’s leading rusher with 939 yards, had 62 yards on 12 carries. Top-ranked Fitzgerald beat Central of Macon for its 15th first-round win in 16 seasons. Fitzgerald held Central to minus-28 yards rushing and 71 total yards. It was the third shutout of the season for Fitzgerald, which is allowing just 11.3 points per game. Putnam County’s only win against a No. 1-ranked team came against Lincolnton in 1966.

*Eagle’s Landing Christian (7-4) at Fellowship Christian (8-3): These teams played each other five times during their years as Class A private schools, with Eagle’s Landing Christian winning four. Their most recent meeting was ELCA’s 34-27 victory in double overtime in the 2016 championship game. No. 8 ELCA beat Mount Paran Christian 52-22 last week, its 15th consecutive first-round victory. Charlie Gilliam, who is committed to Wake Forest, was 17-of-21 passing for 294 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 2,016 yards and 26 TDs for the season. Fellowship Christian won its seventh consecutive first-round game when it defeated North Murray 49-28. Caleb McMickle, who is committed to Houston, threw three TD passes, and sophomore T.J. Lester ran for two touchdowns. Sam Albee’s TD reception late in the first half broke a 14-14 tie and gave the Paladins the lead for good.

*Berrien (7-4) at Pierce County (10-1): Berrien is the only No. 4 seed still standing in Class 2A after defeating Region 2 champion Spencer 43-36 last week. It was the Rebels’ first playoff victory since 1991. Josiah Davis, who has 895 yards rushing this season, had a season-high 130 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 26-yard run with about two minutes remaining. DeMarion Riley has rushed for 886 yards and a team-best 14 touchdowns. Sixth-ranked Pierce County, the Class 3A champion in 2020 and a semifinalist last season, defeated Laney 42-14 last week for its seventh consecutive first-round victory. Pierce County led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. D.J. Bell rushed for 251 yards, pushing his season total to 1,890. Berrien's Davis has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns, but Pierce County's Jonah Allen has put 52 of 60 kickoffs in the end zone.

*Northeast (8-3) at Appling County (9-1): Northeast, a quarterfinalist last season, has won first-round playoff games in three consecutive seasons. The Raiders had not won a playoff game before that since 2002. In a 41-27 victory over Worth County last week, Nick Woodford scored two of his five touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to help Northeast pull away in what had been a 27-27 game. Woodford finished with 335 yards on 36 carries, giving him 2,598 rushing yards for the season. That leads the state and breaks the Bibb County School's record of 2,423 set in 2004 by Westside's Travis Evans. Third-ranked Appling County, a semifinalist last year, reached the second round for the fourth straight year with a 65-14 victory over Washington County last week. Sophomore Dayson Griffis was 7-of-10 passing for 239 yards and four touchdowns, with five of his completions covering 30 yards or more. The Pirates rushed for 194 yards.

*Fannin County (7-4) at Callaway (8-3): Fannin County, projected as a 15-point underdog by the computer Maxwell Ratings, defeated Athens Academy 28-13 last week, handing the Spartans their first first-round loss since 2015. Corbin Davenport ran for 244 yards and all four of his team’s touchdowns on 24 carries and was 2-for-2 passing for 49 yards. The Rebels scored twice in the fourth quarter to put away what had been a 14-13 game. No. 5 Callaway beat Washington 42-20 last week for its eighth consecutive victory after an 0-3 start. Washington returned an interception for a touchdown on Callaway’s opening possession, but the Cavaliers led 21-6 at halftime and were never seriously threatened in the second half. Callaway rushed for 356 yards, led by Deontaeus Brooks (140 yards, three touchdowns) and Zai Hart (129-1).

*Cook (8-3) at Thomson (10-1): Ninth-ranked Cook, under first-year head coach Byron Slack, scored on 11 consecutive drives last week and defeated ACE Charter 77-35 to reach eight wins for the first time since 2014. Keeshun McKeever rushed for 330 yards, and his eight rushing touchdowns are tied for the second-most in state history. Cook’s 77 points last week are three fewer than fourth-ranked Thomson has allowed all season. The Bulldogs reached the second round for the eighth consecutive season with a 26-0 victory over Tattnall County. It was the third straight shutout for Thomson, which has given up a Class 2A-best 7.3 points per game. Jontavious Curry had 86 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving and scored three touchdowns. Thomson has won 10 straight games since a 24-21 loss to Burke County in the opener. This will be the first meeting between these teams since a 39-0 victory by Thomson in the 1967 Class A semifinals.

*Union County (8-3) at South Atlanta (10-0): Union County, the No. 3 seed from Region 8, won a playoff game for just the second time in school history when it defeated Model 28-14 last week. A seven-point underdog, Union County scored on three consecutive possessions after Model took an early 7-0 lead. Caiden Tanner was 24-of-32 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a touchdown. Second-ranked South Atlanta is 10-0 for the first time in school history after beating Landmark Christian 44-21 in the first round. Keyjuan Brown, a three-star prospect committed to Purdue, rushed for a season-high 365 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries, giving him 2,504 yards and 29 TDs for the year. Brown is second in the state in rushing yards behind Northeast’s Nick Woodford despite Brown's team playing just 10 games.