Third-round primer: Two No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups raise stakes

Those games are certain to raise the volume on what’s been a predictable postseason. The computer Maxwell Ratings have picked 170 winners correctly out of 188 games so far.

Here is a closer look at Friday’s 64 quarterfinals in the eight classifications:

Looking back: The second round went mostly as expected, but there were noteworthy games. Cedar Grove, the two-time defending champion in Class 3A, was pushed to three overtimes before winning 30-27 at Rockmart. Callaway’s Charlie Dixon scored on a 7-yard run with 1:45 left to break a tie in a 16-9 victory against Lovett. Wesleyan’s Brooks Sturgeon kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play of a 20-17 victory against North Cobb Christian. Warren County, tied at halftime, recovered three mishandled kickoff returns and beat Macon County 56-26. Lowndes recovered two muffed punts and cashed them for touchdowns in a 21-13 comeback victory against North Cobb. West Forsyth returned a kickoff 97 yards late in the third quarter, kicked a short field goal early in the fourth and beat North Gwinnett 17-16.

Newcomers: River Ridge and Hughes, schools that opened in 2009, are in the quarterfinals for the first time. Fannin County is making its first quarterfinals appearance since 1995. Riverdale (1998), Cedartown (2002), Washington-Wilkes (2005), Bleckley County (2006) and Perry (2007) are breaking quarterfinals dry spells.

Cinderellas: Ten of the 64 quarterfinals teams are unranked. They are Parkview and West Forsyth in Class 7A, Eastside in 5A, Riverdale in 4A, Carver-Atlanta in 3A, Bremen and Bleckley County in 2A, Lincoln County and Warren County in 1A Public and Calvary Day in 1A Private.

Best quarterfinal matchup: Five-time defending Class 1A Private champion Eagle’s Landing Christian puts its 22-game playoff winning streak on the line at Prince Avenue Christian in a game televised by Peachtree TV. ELCA beat Prince Avenue Christian 62-57 in an epic second-round game last year, when Prince Avenue Christian quarterback Brock Vandagriff passed for 525 yards and six touchdowns in a losing cause. Vandagriff, the five-star prospect committed to Georgia, gets another shot as a senior.

Other good ones: Class 7A’s No. 2, Colquitt County, is at No. 3 Norcross in a battle of unbeaten and nationally ranked teams in a GPB-televised game. No. 1 Cedar Grove plays at No. 4 Crisp County in a rematch of the 2019 3A final that Cedar Grove won 21-14. No. 1 Blessed Trinity, a champion the past three seasons in 4A, is home against No. 2 Warner Robins, a finalist in 5A the past three seasons. The hardest-to-call games, according to the Maxwell Ratings, are Greater Atlanta Christian over Appling County and Savannah Christian over Wesleyan, each with a one-point projected margin of victory.

Best players: Five of the AJC’s Super 11 are still playing. They are Parkview’s Cody Brown, Carrollton’s Chaz Chambliss, Peach County’s Terrence Ferguson, Bleckley County’s Amarius Mims and Prince Avenue Christian’s Vandagriff. Mims’ team, Bleckley County, is the only No. 4 seed still alive. The Royals have beaten four-point favorite Vidalia 56-15 and five-point favorite Early County 41-7 on the road to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. Bleckley County is a 17-point underdog this week against Rabun County, which has a five-star player of its own, junior quarterback Gunner Stockton.

Road trips: The longest road trip of the quarterfinals is Cartersville to Ware County, which is 282 miles, or nearly six hours by bus. Other long rides are Fitzgerald to Fannin County (274), Coffee to Calhoun (264), Bleckley County to Rabun County (219 miles) and Clinch County to Lincoln County (212 miles),

What’s next: The semifinals are next week, then a week off for Christmas before the eight finals Dec. 28-30 at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.