Upsets, dramatic finishes rule in quarterfinals
Four teams ranked in the national top 25 of both USA Today and MaxPreps failed to get out of Georgia’s quarterfinals last week.
Upended were Mill Creek, Buford, Colquitt County and Carrollton. Their conquerors were Camden County, Grayson, Milton and Walton.
Bryan County and Telfair County from Class A also made headlines, advancing to the semifinals for the first time.
Woodward Academy beat No. 1 Gainesville of Class 6A, and Thomas County Central and Starr’s Mill won games on the final play.
Most remarkable, however, was the fate of those nationally ranked teams in another reminder of this state's depth in quality football programs, especially in the highest classification.
Camden County, unranked in Class 7A, defeated 16-point favorite Mill Creek, the defending champion and No. 1 team, 39-20 while making the longest road trip (333 miles one way) of any team Friday night. Mill Creek was riding a 20-game winning streak and held five top-10 national rankings.
Grayson beat three-point favorite Buford, the preseason No. 1 in Class 7A, 19-14. Buford, whose trio of five-star prospects included Georgia-committed quarterback Dylan Raiola, was in the top 25 of seven national polls.
Milton beat No. 3 Colquitt County, a 13-point favorite, 39-37. Colquitt came in unbeaten and ranked in the top 25 of eight national polls.
Walton beat Carrollton 56-35 in a 7A game between consensus top-25 national teams. The computer Maxwell Ratings had Carrollton as a one-point favorite at home.
Woodward Academy was another giant slayer as the War Eagles defeated Class 6A’s No. 1 team and 2022 runner-up, Gainesville, 20-17 in a tossup game.
Also in Class 6A, second-ranked Thomas County Central’s Drew Reneau kicked four field goals, the last one a 31-yarder as time expired, to beat sixth-ranked Rome 19-16.
In 4A, Starr’s Mill completed a 41-yard Hail Mary pass in the end zone from Logan Inagawa to Lincoln DeLaere to beat previously unbeaten Central of Carroll County 35-29.
Class A had three games come down to the end.
Bryan County, a 10-point underdog at home against Commerce, won on Austin Clemons’ 2-yard run in the final minute that broke a 16-16 tie in a 24-16 victory.
Manchester recovered an onside kick and scored two touchdowns to beat Clinch County 21-17 after trailing 17-7 with 2:55 left. Maxwell picked that game as a tossup.
No. 1 Schley County of A Division II was on the ropes against Early County, trailing 24-14 in the fourth quarter, and scored its final touchdown inside of two minutes on a 21-yard pass from Jay Kanazawa to Carson Westbrook to win 28-24.
The playoff history makers were Bryan and Telfair, moving to the semifinals for the first time.
Bryan County started football in 1976. The Redskins (12-1) had never won a playoff game until this season.
Telfair County, an unranked Class A Division II team that lost its final two regular-season games, defeated No. 3 Macon County 38-14. Telfair started football in 1967.