The top 5 teams remain. There are two games between top-tier ranked teams. And there’s a mid-state game that could shake up the brackets.
Welcome to the second round of the Class 3A high school football playoffs, where uncertainty is becoming a constant.
Region 8 power No. 4 Oconee County travels to fellow Region 8 power No. 3 Jefferson. No. 9 Douglass travels to No. 8 Calhoun. And in the mid-state, an unranked and possibly under-appreciated Baldwin team will try to take down top-ranked Peach County in Fort Valley.
And that’s just a taste of what’s to come Friday.
In the regular season matchup a few weeks ago, Oconee County defeated Jefferson 32-30 in overtime, and the rematch could provide a similar, championship-caliber atmosphere.
Oconee senior quarterback Titus Watkins is 145-of-217 passing for 2,090 yards and 14 touchdowns to five different receivers. Mason Hall has a team-leading 58 receptions for 736 yards and six touchdowns, and junior Zach Weeks has caught 12 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. In the backfield, Oconee junior Caiden Wood has 140 carries for 888 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Weeks, the brother of LSU linebacker Whit Weeks, leads the defense with 57 solo tackles and 39 assists with four tackles for loss and three sacks per game.
On the other side of the field, Jefferson quarterback Gavin Markey is 67-of-115 passing for 1,193 yards and 14 touchdowns and averages nearly 18 yards per completion. A dual-threat kind of guy, Markey has 133 carries for 1,051 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Junior Dalton Dye and senior Talan Childress combine for nine of the team’s 14 touchdown catches. Junior Dallas Russell has 124 carries for 655 yards and 10 touchdowns, and senior Rett Hemphill and Mickell Pittman have combined for nine touchdown runs.
In other key games
-- Top-ranked Peach County will host Baldwin in the 17th meeting between the teams. The Trojans own a 9-7 margin in the series that dates to 1972 under coaches Norman Faircloth (Peach) and Richard Fendley (Baldwin). Fendley’s son, Richard Jr., is now coaching Class A Division II two-time defending champion Bowdon. Baldwin won last season’s game 34-13 in each team’s season-opener and coach Marquis Westbrook’s first game at Peach. This season, quarterback D.J. Hudson has been paramount for the Trojans, who are looking to carve a deep playoff run. If Peach wins, and Calhoun wins its game against No. 9 Douglass, it will become a quarterfinals rematch of the 2017 state championship game that was won by Calhoun in controversial fashion. In that game, Noah Whittington, Peach’s receiver who now plays for top-ranked Oregon, appeared to catch the go-ahead touchdown late in the game, but the pass was ruled incomplete despite Whittington securing the ball, taking several strides and diving to the end zone. Calhoun won 10-6.
-- The Calhoun-Douglass game is a toss-up. Calhoun is coming off a 31-6 victory against Spalding in the first round. Douglass beat No. 10 Cairo 14-3. Douglass junior quarterback John Wilson is 65-of-129 passing for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. He leads in rushing with 65 carries for 452 yards and nine touchdowns. Antoine Watkins has 114 carries for 648 yards and four touchdowns. The Astros do not have a player with more than two touchdown receptions, but senior Adonis McCrary, Dekari Carter and Watkins each have two touchdown catches, and four players have one each.
-- No. 5 Cherokee Bluff will play host to a Luella team that defeated No. 6 Westover 25-24 in the first round. But now, Luella will face its most difficult game of the season. Cherokee Bluff quarterback Brooks Brien is 148-of-237 passing for 2,271 yards and 24 touchdowns, with 11 going to senior Kaden “KT” Thompson, who has 53 catches for 895 yards. Brien adds 20 carries for 35 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Malcolm Milsap and senior Landon Kemp each have four touchdown receptions, and three other players have combined for six touchdowns. Sophomore Jackson Pirkle has 134 carries for 676 yards and 10 of the team’s 22 rushing touchdowns.
-- No. 2 Sandy Creek (9-1) defeated LaGrange 27-7 during the regular season, and LaGrange (8-3) will have to find answers to stay in the tournament. It won’t be easy. Sandy Creek has beaten LaGrange in each of the seven previous meetings, all since 2012. Sandy Creek sophomore quarterback Caleb Hill is 141-of-214 passing for 2,185 yards and 31 touchdowns, with nine going to Dalen Penson and eight to Corey Hadley Jr. Junior Amari Latimer has 127 carries for 1,083 yards and 15 touchdowns. LaGrange senior back Malachi Render-Fannin has 161 carries for 1,650 yards.
Class 3A second round schedule
#17 (No. 4) Oconee County at #1 (No. 3) Jefferson
#24 Luella at #8 (No. 5) Cherokee Bluff
#12 Upson-Lee at #5 North Hall
#20 LaGrange at #4 (No. 2) Sandy Creek
#14 Baldwin at #3 (No. 1) Peach County
#11 (No. 9) Douglass at #6 (No. 8) Calhoun
#10 Jenkins at #7 Stephenson
#18 Southeast Bulloch at #2 Harlem
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