HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Sequoyah, Cambridge and Luella were the biggest upset winners in Friday’s first round of the high school football playoffs, and their glory came at the expense of top-10 teams Gainesville, Cedartown and Westover.
In marquee games between top-10 teams, No. 4 Douglas County beat No. 9 Mill Creek 27-18 in Class 6A, and No. 1 Marist beat No. 9 Warner Robins 47-25 in Class 4A.
In the most striking upset, Sequoyah defeated No. 6 Gainesville 38-28 in Class 5A by scoring two touchdowns in the final six minutes after Gainesville took a 28-24 lead.
Sequoyah was 9-1 in the regular season, its only loss to Sprayberry, a region champion, but had not faced a top-10 team, so the computer Maxwell Ratings pegged the Chiefs as a 13-point underdog. Gainesville, the preseason No. 2 team, had lost to No. 1 teams Carrollton and Milton and to No. 5 Roswell and finished third in Region 7, forcing the road trip to Cherokee County.
Gainesville is the highest-ranked team that Sequoyah has beaten since No. 5 Dalton in 2018 and best playoff win since the Chiefs beat No. 5 Lanier in 2014.
In Class 4A, Cambridge defeated No. 6 Cedartown 51-44, rallying from a 44-30 deficit in the fourth quarter.
Cambridge, a north Fulton County school, started the season 8-0 but lost its final two regular-season games to Kell and Blessed Trinity and fell out of the rankings. Cedartown entered 9-1, its only loss to No. 2 Cartersville.
The playoff victory was Cambridge’s fourth in history and first against a top-10 opponent.
In Class 3A, Luella of Henry County beat No. 6 Westover of Albany 25-24. This is the second consecutive season that Luella has won a first-round road game despite a 5-5 regular-season record, but this one came on the road and represented Luella’s first win over a top-10 opponent since 2008 (Stephenson).
Top-10 teams went 52-6 overall, but a few barely got through.
No. 10 Woodward Academy of Class 4A beat Lovejoy 21-20 on a touchdown pass in the final minute.
No. 6 Morgan County of Class 2A beat East Jackson, an at-large playoff team, 52-49 on Evan Johnson’s 32-yard field goal with 14 seconds left.
No. 8 Lovett of Class 3A-A beat Trinity Christian 38-35 by running out the clock after Trinity Christian got within three points with about five minutes left.
The first round concludes Saturday with 20 games.
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