River Ridge and Langston Hughes, two Class 6A metro Atlanta schools that opened in 2009, reached the high school football state quarterfinals for the first time Friday night in a second round that suffered few upsets, though two-time defending Class 3A champion Cedar Grove barely escaped in Rockmart, winning in overtime.
River Ridge of Cherokee County beat Rome 42-10 to improve to 11-0. The fifth-ranked Knights also won their first region title and completed their first unbeaten regular season this year. They’ll be at home next week against No. 1-ranked Lee County, a 48-21 winner over Brunswick.
Hughes of south Fulton County beat Glynn Academy 35-0 to move to 10-1. It was Hughes’ second consecutive playoff shutout. The seventh-ranked Panthers’ only loss came against No. 3 Westlake 26-21 on Oct. 16. Hughes next will play at No. 2 Buford, a 42-7 winner over Cambridge.
Cedar Grove, ranked No. 1 in 3A, beat No. 7 Rockmart 30-27 in the perhaps the most suspenseful game of the night. It went three overtimes. Neither team scored in the second extra period. Rockmart got a field goal in the third, but Cedar Grove won it on a touchdown pass. Next, Cedar Grove will play at No. 4 Crisp County in a rematch of the 2019 state-championship game that Cedar Grove won 21-14.
Only six Friday results were upsets as measured by the computer Maxwell Ratings’ projections, and two of those came in the highest classification.
West Forsyth beat North Gwinnett 17-16 to reach the quarters for first time since 2011, second time ever. West Forsyth, under first-year coach Dave Svehla, started 2-3 but has won seven consecutive games. North Gwinnett is home before the quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
Parkview beat No. 5 East Coweta 41-14 in a redeeming victory for the Panthers. Parkview was ranked No. 3 in preseason, but finished the regular season unranked at 7-3.
The most surprising upset probably was Warren County’s 56-26 victory over Class 1A Public’s No. 6 team, Macon County, a 21-point favorite. Warren (8-5) is in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.
The only other games that Maxwell’s underdogs won were Bleckley County over Early County 41-7 in 2A and No. 5 Wesleyan over No. 9 North Cobb Christian 20-17 and No. 10 George Walton Academy over No. 6 Christian Heritage 28-25, all in Class 1A Private.
Fannin County and Riverdale reached the quarterfinals for the first time this century.
Fannin County, who last reached the quarters in 1995, beat Heard County 21-14 in a 2A game and will be at home next week against No. 1 Fitzgerald. Riverdale, last in the quarters in 1998, beat Northwest Whitfield 42-17 in 4A and will play No. 4 Benedictine at home next week.
One round-of-16 game remains. Baldwin will play at Carver of Columbus in 4A on Saturday night.
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