Class 2A blog: What to watch — Quarterfinals

ICYMI: Episode 14 of The Class 2A Blogcast previews the quarterfinals, with guests including WALB sports director Paige Dauer, WJBF sports director Brendan Robertson, voice of the Callaway Cavaliers and West Georgia Podcast host Andrew Caraway and Blitz founder Brian Carter. Listen in the embedded player below or download on Apple, Amazon/Audible, Spotify or iHeartRadio.

As mentioned last week, GHSF Daily is compiling game capsules for all playoff games moving forward. For the 2A capsules, go here.

Other relevant links:

• My Predictions heading into the tournament.
• A recap of Round 2.
• Official 2A bracket on GHSA.net.

The GHSA conducted its universal coin toss on Wednesday, with “heads” prevailing for the second week in a row. That means the team slotted on the higher end of the bracket will get home field advantage in the event that same-seeded teams meet in the semifinals. That could happen on both sides of the 2A bracket, and if it does, Rabun County, the No. 1 seed from Region 8, would travel to Callaway (No. 1, Region 5), and Jefferson County (No. 1, Region 4) would travel to Fitzgerald (No. 1, Region 1).

Here’s the bracket.

OK, let’s get to Maxwell’s projections and some awful takes!

Thomasville Bulldogs at Callaway Cavaliers

• Maxwell’s projection: Thomasville by 4
• My awful take: The No. 3 Bulldogs are my pick to win it all this year. They’re battle-tested, having played seven ranked teams including the playoffs, and No. 8 Callaway will be the eighth. After starting 2-3, they’re 6-1 heading into Friday, with the lone loss being 29-28 to top-ranked Fitzgerald on Nov. 6 in a game that decided Region 1. In the six wins, they’re averaging 47.2 points, including a 42-13 win over Westside in Round 1 and 44-7 over No. 9 Dodge County in Round 2. The Bulldogs and Cavs are evenly matched from a talent perspective, both are well-coached and both are hungry for a championship after coming close last season. I’ll give the edge to Thomasville, with a big reason being they’ve played their entire season to this point without a game missed, while the Cavs had five bye weeks due to COVID-19 cancellations — including in Round 1 — as Callaway play-by-play announcer Andrew Caraway pointed out in Episode 14 of The Class 2A Blogcast. I expect a close game.

Bleckley County Royals at Rabun County Wildcats

• Maxwell’s projection: Rabun County by 17
• My awful take: The No. 2 Wildcats have perhaps their best team in program history, and they’re playing at too high of a level for their season to end now. They’ll be in front of the home crowd, with their star receiver, Adriel Clark, looking to set a state record for touchdown receptions in a season — one more would give him the record with 28 — and he has 5-star quarterback Gunner Stockton tasked with getting the ball to him. For the unranked Royals, who are the only No. 4 seed remaining in the tournament regardless of classification, it was a good run but it ends Friday. Look for the Wildcats to exceed Maxwell’s projections.

Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane at Fannin County Rebels

• Maxwell’s projection: Fitzgerald by 15
• My awful take: Though the No. 7 Rebels have been proving me wrong all season — I picked Pepperell to win Region 7 — this time, they will without question be going up against their toughest opponent of the season, and by a long shot. Their stiffest competition this season — Pepperell in the regular season and Pace Academy and Heard County in the playoffs — are traditionally solid programs but had relatively down years for their standards. In other words, those teams were beatable — especially with Fannin County playing in the friendly confines of their home stadium during the playoffs. That will again be the case thanks to the GHSA’s universal coin toss, but there’s not a team in 2A playing better than the Purple Hurricane right now. I picked the Purple Hurricane to reach the title game before the tournament began, and my mind hasn’t changed. Best-case scenario for the Rebels is they keep the game competitive in a single-digit loss.

Bremen Blue Devils at Jefferson County Dragons

• Maxwell’s projection: Jefferson County by 5
• My awful take: In Episode 12 of The Class 2A Blogcast, I picked the Blue Devils to win their quadrant but changed my mind by the time it came for writing my blog post, instead favoring South Atlanta. The Blue Devils beat South Atlanta 42-6 last week. It’s tough to say who comes out on top from this game, but the Dragons are in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years, they’ve won nine in a row, and they’re playing at home. It’d be really hard to pick against them and I’m not going to. I predict the Warriors will survive. If I’m wrong, at least I was right in picking Bremen in the podcast before deciding to ignore my instincts.