It’s high school football game day, playoff edition once again, and we’ve got great matchups to watch as 10 local teams are still alive in the pursuit of a state championship.
Of course, we’re going to track all of our teams in action through the night, but here are the top five matchups we’re watching — most of them rematches from the regular season.
Aquinas (7-4) at Athens Academy (10-0), Friday, 7 p.m
The Matchup: Here’s one of those rematches we were talking about. It feels like eons ago that these two teams met to open up the regular season back in August. It was an early Class AAA test for Aquinas as the stalwart Spartans sought to give the Fightin’ Irish a baptism by fire into their new classification. And, at least for the first half of the first half, it was a tight game. The two teams battled to a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter before Athens exploded for 18 second quarter points and 13 third quarter points to build a sizable lead en route to a 45-22 win.
Since then, the Irish have been up and down, though are showing signs of playing their best football of the season lately. Meanwhile, an undefeated Athens Academy will play its first game in almost a month Friday night since defeating Rabun County 34-28 back on Oct. 25. The Spartans employ a balanced attack offensively. Sophomore Keyon Standifer is a standout on both sides of the ball for the Spartans with his 46 catches, 1,222 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns to go with five interceptions from his defensive back position. He is, by far, senior quarterback Hampton Johnson’s favorite target. Johnson threw for 228 yards and three scores in the first meet-up while Aquinas QB Jim Franklin struggled to complete 9 of 22 passes.
Aquinas will come in on a four-game winning streak, and Franklin has completed 48 of 83 passes for 752 yards and 4 touchdowns to just one interception during that stretch.
The Prediction: Expect a much closer game this time around, and an inspired effort from Aquinas before Athens finds a way in the end. Athens Academy 38, Aquinas 31.
SE Bulloch (9-2) at Harlem (10-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.
The Matchup: Speaking of Aquinas, that’s the only squad able to knock off Harlem this season. The Bulldogs have been a quiet, off-the-radar kind of bunch that won its second region championship in the past three seasons while posting only its second 10-win season in school history. The other came in 2022 during the team’s only other region crown aside from winning one in 1974. Thanks to injuries, it’s been a little bit of musical chairs at quarterback, but junior Mercer Barton has settled in well in his relief role. Aside from that, it’s truly been a total team effort for the Bulldogs. They’ll need more of that to knock off a well-coached SE Bulloch squad that’s powered by a salty defense and hard-nosed running game. In fact, the Yellow Jackets have thrown a grand total of 82 pass for the entire season. They have a 1,400-yard rusher in junior Colby Smith, and when sophomore quarterback Rhett Morgan does throw it, his 19.4 yards-per-completion rate proves that it’s usually going to be for chunk yardage. Perhaps it’s a good thing that Harlem doesn’t throw too much because SE Bulloch’s secondary is opportunistic with 10 total interceptions this season.
The Prediction: Harlem’s approach to the entire season has been business like. It’s used to playing tough, rugged football teams, so coach Mark Boiter’s bunch should be prepared. Harlem 24, SE Bulloch 21.
Houston County (7-4) at Lakeside (10-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.
The Matchup: The last three seasons under coach Jeremy Edwards have been reminiscent of the best back-to-back stretch of football in Houston County history. That came during coach Von Lassiter’s tenure when his 2014 team notched a 10-3 season only to be one-upped a year later by the 2016 squad that posted the first 11-win season and region championships in program history. Back then, they had a kid named Jake Fromm at quarterback — you may have heard of him. Rest assured, the Lakeside coaching staff has heard of Antwann Hill, Jr. He’s the 6-foot-5, 215-pound 4-star quarterback prospect who’s committed to Memphis and has thrown for 3,186 yards and 38 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He’s considered one of the state’s top quarterback prospects, which means he and receivers Isaiah Mitchell (1,392 receiving yards) and MJ Mathis (888 receiving yards) will pose some intriguing matchup problems for a Lakeside defense who’s team leader in interceptions is also the Panther’s best offensive weapon — none other than senior Ty Jones. Houston County’s defense is actually its achilles heel, so expect a high scoring affair here.
The Prediction: In what could turn out to be a shootout game, we think Lakeside’s defense is more poised to make the stops needed down the stretch to preserve a win. Lakeside 45, Houston County 38.
Laney (7-4) at Burke County (10-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Matchup: They say it’s often hard to defeat the same football team twice in one season. But given the way Burke County easily dispatches Laney 43-6 just three weeks ago in the regular season, that saying may not apply for this matchup. The Wildcats earned another shot at the Bears after traveling west on I-20 to knock off South Atlanta 38-24 last Friday. That aforementioned loss to Burke was far and away the most lopsided of its three defeats this season. But, to be fair, Burke has done that to just about every team its faced this season. Last week’s 27-21 first round playoff win against Cook perhaps gave the Bears the kind of challenge it needed to ramp up the intensity in the playoff’s next rounds.
The Prediction: Though it’s tempting to say Laney will give it a better go this time around, Burke County just looks like it’ll be too much for the Wildcats to handle. Burke County 49, Laney 21.
Thomson (8-3) at Hapeville Charter (8-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m.
The Matchup: Thomson seemed to take out some of its frustrations from losing to Burke County in a region championship game on Pike County to the tune of 55-6 in last Friday’s first round playoff action. This week, the Bulldogs will travel to metro Atlanta to face Region 5-AA champion Hapeville Charter — a program that also has recent state championship pedigree. Aside from the Burke County setback, Thomson has settled in well to the season and has seemingly found its set of playmakers to depend on. Hapeville Charter looks like a team and program that has found itself again. After a four-season stretch from 2016 through 2019 when coach Winston Gordon piloted his team to four minimum 10-win seasons, including a 14-1 Class AA state title campaign in 2017, the Hornets look to be back on the right path, posting its first winning season Since 2020.
The Prediction: Thomson starts off slow, then picks up speed to hand Hapeville its official start to the offseason. Thomson 35, Hapeville Charter 28.
