Three defending champions knocked out in second round
Rome, Warner Robins and Toombs County eliminated defending state champions in the second round of the playoffs last week while Lumpkin County and Bryan County reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their histories.
Douglas County and Cass also broke long quarterfinal droughts while Jenkins, despite its 3-7 regular season, kept its unlikely run going with another one-point victory as a No. 4 seed.
Three games went overtime, and kickers also took the spotlight as three of them made walk-off field goals.
Rome defeated Class 6A’s reigning champ, Hughes, 42-14, reversing a 42-3 defeat from the 2022 semifinals. Region 6 player of the year Reece Fountain passed for two touchdowns and scored one, and Rome intercepted Ohio State-committed quarterback Air Noland four times.
Warner Robins, in a rematch of the 2022 Class 5A championship game, also got revenge and defeated Ware County 23-21 as Alberto Medina kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play.
Toombs County beat No. 1-ranked and defending 2A champion Thomson 41-30. Toombs is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.
A fourth defending champion, Bowdon of Class A Division II, barely escaped at sixth-ranked Greene County. Trailing by nine points with five minutes left, the Red Devils scored two touchdowns and made a defensive stop to win 28-23.
Lumpkin County of 3A and Bryan County of Class A Division I continued their magical seasons. Neither had won playoff games until this year.
Lumpkin County (12-0) beat Oconee County 45-42 in two overtimes. After making a defensive stop, Will Staples kicked a 24-yard field goal to win it. Lumpkin lost to Oconee 49-21 in last year’s first round. Lumpkin, which began football in 1961, will play its first quarterfinal ever at home against Savannah Christian.
Bryan County, which just two seasons ago broke a 23-game losing streak, defeated Pelham 34-8. Bryan will play at home Friday against Commerce in the Redskins’ first quarterfinal since they started football in 1976.
Four other teams reached the final eight for the first time this century.
Douglas County (last quarterfinal 1988) beat Sequoyah 48-14 in Class 6A. Cass (1983) beat Mays 17-7 in Class 5A. Columbia (1997) beat North Cobb Christian 18-13 in 3A. Telfair County (1993) beat eighth-ranked Portal 14-12 in Class A Division II.
Along with Lumpkin County’s Staples and Warner Robins’ Medina, the third kicker who won a game on the final play was Macon County’s Josh Gutierrez. He made a 30-yarder in the third overtime of a 38-35 victory over Aquinas.
Elbert County joined Macon County and Lumpkin County with overtime victories as the Blue Devils beat second-ranked Trion of Class A Division I 42-41. Elbert forced Trion’s Toby Maddux – who rushed for 313 yards and five touchdowns – to throw incomplete in the end zone on a two-point try as Trion went for the win.
One other second-ranked team lost as No. 9 Cook of Class 2A beat No. 2 Appling County 24-14.
And in surprises that shouldn’t be surprising, Brooks County and Irwin County beat top-10 teams in A Division I. Each entered the playoffs unranked for the first time since 2016, but Brooks beat No. 7 Dublin 22-7 while Irwin beat No. 5 Bleckley County 31-0.