Region 2-5A, made up of six teams from middle and south Georgia, will make up half of the eight-team field in the Class 5A football quarterfinals Friday night.
Second-ranked Lee County is the champion of the only region in the state in any classification that still has four teams playing. The Trojans will be at home against unranked Sprayberry, the Region 6 champ.
The other three Region 2 teams will be on the road. Second-place team Thomas County Central will travel to fourth-ranked Hughes, third-place Coffee will visit Sequoyah, and fourth-place Houston County will travel to top-ranked Milton.
Houston County is the only one projected by the computer Maxwell Ratings as an underdog. Milton is a 22-point favorite.
Here’s a closer look at the four games this week:
*Coffee (10-2) at Sequoyah (11-1): Seventh-ranked Coffee, the 2023 champion in Class 5A, is in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season and eighth time in nine years after a 45-14 victory over eighth-ranked Brunswick. The Trojans rushed for 471 yards while attempting and completing just three short passes. Tyrese Woodgett rushed for 217 yards and five touchdowns, and Kentavius Debruce had 152 yards. Woodgett has 1,485 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Brunswick had been averaging 45.7 points per game. Sequoyah defeated a top-10 opponent for the second consecutive week, following up a 38-28 victory over No. 6 Gainesville in the first round with a 35-20 win over No. 10 Woodward Academy. The Chiefs are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 and third time overall. Sequoyah led Woodward 14-0 midway through the second quarter and 21-10 at halftime, and Woodward never got closer than eight points in the second half. Ean Marria scored three touchdowns and Will Rajecki had two. Rajecki, who averages 116 rushing yards per game, had 209 on 32 carries in the first round.
*Thomas County Central (11-1) at Hughes (11-1): Both teams beat top-10 opponents in the second round, only to face another one this week. No. 3 Thomas County Central, the 2023 Class 6A champion, reached its third consecutive quarterfinal with a 35-7 victory over ninth-ranked Rome, eliminating the Wolves from the playoffs for the second straight season. A.J. Clark and Deuce Lawrence had rushing touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets built a comfortable 14-0 lead in the first half. Thomas County held Rome to its lowest point total in two years, led by the defensive efforts of linebacker Jayden Rubbo, who had 11 tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss and two fumble recoveries. Fourth-ranked Hughes advanced to its fourth quarterfinal in five seasons with a 31-21 victory over No. 9 Roswell. Hughes led 21-14 at halftime, and Roswell never got closer than seven points in the second half. Christian Langford was 12-of-17 passing for 295 yards and two touchdowns, Qwantavius Wiggins ran for 118 yards and a TD. Langford has passed for 2,659 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. Wiggins is the team’s second-leading rusher (897 yards), behind Carsyn Baker (934).
*Sprayberry (11-1) at Lee County (12-0): Sprayberry set a school record for victories and reached the quarterfinals for the third time in its 69-yard history and first time since 1982 with a 35-7 win over Newnan. Sprayberry trailed 7-0 at halftime, but Jaden Duckett threw a touchdown pass to Mark Manfred (committed to Missouri) on the opening drive of the second half to tie the score and added two more rushing touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets pulled away. Sprayberry, which has never faced Lee County, has not traveled to a game south of metro Atlanta since a 0-0 tie against Baldwin in Milledgeville in 1957. Lee County of Region 2 is the champion of the only region in any classification that still has four teams alive (the others are Thomas County Central, Coffee and Houston County). The Trojans averaged a state-best 54.3 points per game in the regular season and have kept up the pace in the playoffs, beating Habersham Central 47-7 and East Paulding 63-14 in the first two rounds to reach the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight seasons. Weston Bryan (committed to Georgia Southern) passed for five touchdowns and ran for two last week, giving him 54 combined touchdowns for the season. Ousmane Kromah (committed to Georgia) had 122 yards rushing on 14 carries and 91 yards and two touchdowns on three catches.
*Houston County (8-4) at Milton (12-0): Houston County is the only fourth-place team remaining in any classification. The Bears have beaten Region 8 champion Clarke Central 69-48 and Region 1 runner-up Lakeside of Evans 63-12. Antwann Hill was 17-of-20 passing for 440 yards and six touchdowns last week. Isaiah Mitchell had nine receptions for 269 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears piled up 603 total yards. Houston County is in the quarterfinals for the third time in six seasons but has not advanced to the semifinals since 1993. Milton, the Class 7A champion in 2023, reached the quarterfinals for the sixth time in seven seasons with a 41-3 victory over Dutchtown. Luke Nickel (committed to Miami) passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns, T.J. Lester ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, and Tristen Payne had 115 yards a touchdown on seven receptions. The Eagles are ranked in the top four in six national polls, including two that has them at No. 2. They have won a school-record 22 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the state. Nickel is one of three AJC Super 11 players in this game. The others are Milton wide receiver C.J. Wiley (Georgia) and Houston County’s Hill (Memphis).
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