Top-10 teams went 57-2 in the first round of the high school football playoffs Friday night, but several historical underdogs had special moments as Sprayberry, Cambridge, New Manchester and River Ridge won state playoff games for the first time. So did Denmark and Cherokee Bluff, schools that opened a little more than two years ago.
The only teams to deck top-10 opponents were Harrison and Lincoln County.
Harrison, the 2019 Class 6A champion now playing in 7A, was only 3-5 in the regular season but rose up to beat No. 9 Newnan 26-24 on the road.
Lincoln County beat No. 10 Chattahoochee County 29-13 in a Class 1A Public game. It was Lincoln County’s first playoff road win since 2012, when 477-game winner Larry Campbell was in his penultimate season as head coach.
Sprayberry broke the longest drought Friday night with its 34-14 road victory over Creekview in Class 6A. Sprayberry won region playoff games in 1978 and 1982, when the state playoffs comprised only the eight region champions from each class, but the Yellow Jackets hadn’t won a true state playoff game in its 65-year history of varsity football.
Cambridge, opened in 2012, also won its first state-playoff game with a 36-14 road victory over Kell in 6A, and River Ridge, opened in 2009, beat Kennesaw Mountain 35-34 in overtime in a 6A game between two teams seeking their first playoff wins.
Also getting its first was New Manchester, opened in 2011. The Jaguars beat Hiram 21-17 in 5A.
Several other teams advanced for the first time in over a decade. Those included Richmond Academy (last won in 2009), Pacelli (2006), Upson-Lee (2005) and Decatur (2003).
And while top-10 teams largely were dominant, several sweated until the end, especially in Class 1A.
Metter, the No. 1 Class 1A Public team, edged Turner County 20-19 while No. 2 Dublin, a state champion last year in 2A, beat Terrell County only 14-12. Dublin was pegged as a 41-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings to beat the 4-6 Greenwave.
Also pressed was No. 9 Clinch County, a Class 1A Public team with three state titles in the past six seasons. The Panthers needed overtime to beat McIntosh County Academy 23-17.
Athens Academy, the No. 4 team in Class 1A Private, saved itself with a final-minute touchdown drive in regulation to tie Mount Vernon, then prevailed 49-42 in overtime. Athens Academy had been a 27-point favorite.
The first round is only three-quarters done. Class 4A and 2A games will be played Saturday. The state playoffs go five rounds until the eight finals set for Dec. 28-30 at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.
