Friday marks the beginning of the “second season” of high school football. Or, as Evans head football coach Barrett Davis said on Twitter Thursday afternoon, “Everyone is 0-0 this week! Win or go home!”
Our South Carolina schools got into it last week, as the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) began its first round action last Friday. But the Georgia High School Association postseason starts tonight, with a smattering of games happening on Saturday as well.
Of course, we’re keeping an eye on each of our area teams that are now traveling the road toward a state championship. But here are the three games we’re keeping our closest eye on.
Burke County (8-2) at Perry (8-2): This Saturday game set for a 4 p.m. kickoff may be the toughest first round draw for any of our teams. First, because of the fact that Perry is a solid program anyway. But this first round action got harder for Burke County after it lost to Region 3-AAAA foe New Hampstead in a 34-28 setback on Oct. 26. That dropped the Bears from second to third place in the region standings which knocked them out of the opportunity to host a first round game. The Panthers’ only two losses of the season were a seven point defeat against Houston County in the season opener and a 31-22 loss to Region 2-AAAA champion Spalding. Burke County will have to find a way to fend off the Panthers’ balanced offensive attack that’s averaging more than 400 yards per contest. Junior tailback Ahmad Gordon paces them with 1,223 rushing yards and 23 scores per game. Meanwhile, Burke County has been banged up, but last week’s 42-14 regular season finale win against a decent SE Bulloch squad shows that coach Franklin Stephens’ team is up for the challenge.
South Pointe (8-3) at Midland Valley (11-0): If the Friday night pairing of these two schools in playoff football sounds familiar, it’s because they met each other in the SCHSL Class AAA state championship game back in 2015 during coach Rick Knight’s last season with the Mustangs. South Pointe prevailed 35-0 that day, and the only other time the two programs met was back in 2017 when South Pointe routed Valley 67-14 in the regular season. This, however, is a decidedly more dominant Mustangs bunch than any of those past two teams. But if there’s a gripe to be had about coach Earl Chaptman’s undefeated team, it may be on defense. With the exception of a shutout and a couple of one-score performances by opponents, Valley’s given up some points. FINAL: Midland Valley 24, South Pointe 17
Particularly in the last three games of the regular season when Aiken scored 18 on them, South Aiken put up 28, and, of course, that monumental 49-48 win over North Augusta. Even last week, Easley had success moving the ball against Valley in a 28-21 first round playoff loss. South Pointe’s got a couple running backs in juniors Aidan Turner (936 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns) and Mason Picket-Hicks (930 rushing yards, seven touchdowns) who are potential home run hitters every time they touch it. The Stallions’ defense has been stout as of late also, holding three of their last four opponents to just one score.
Worth County (5-5) at Laney (7-2-1): We’re watching this game, also set for a Saturday 4 p.m. kickoff, not necessarily because we think the Wildcats could lose (no disrespect to Worth County), but because we think Laney might be the second best team in Class AA playoffs, behind Thomson of course which, right now, looks to be firmly in state title defense mode. In fact, aside from the 14-12 loss to Burke County, no one has played Thomson closer than Laney. The Wildcats hung with the Bulldogs until losing grip late in the fourth quarter of a 28-14 loss at the Brickyard back on Sept. 15. Since then, Laney has found itself defensively, posting three shutouts in its last four games, while also holding a solid Putnam County offense to just six points. Offensively, there are weapons galore from quarterback Javaris Harris to running back/receiver CJ Holmes who may also take snaps behind center along with DJ Daggett.
Defensively, the Wildcats will have their hands full against a Ware County offense that features a freshman quarterback named Lyndon Worthy who’s thrown for an eye-popping 2,521 yards and 26 touchdowns to just nine interceptions while completing 63% of his throws. His favorite target is junior D’ontae Fulton who with his 79 catches and 1,152 receiving yards (and 15 touchdowns) is one of the state’s leading pass catchers. Complementing the Rams’ aerial attack is sophomore tailback Kaden Chester who has rushed for 1,107 yards and 15 touchdowns this season while averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
It’ll be a solid first round test for the Wildcats. If they pass it, they set themselves up for a deep run that, given the right circumstances, could end with a state championship rematch with Thomson sitting on the other side of the bracket.
We’ll have a complete run down and recap of all the playoff football action Saturday.
Here’s a complete list of all CSRA teams in our coverage area involved in state playoff games. Make sure you check out our list of final scores from Friday night’s state playoff action.
GHSA 1st Round Playoff Games
Class AA
Who: Worth County (5-5) at Laney (7-2-1)
When: Saturday Nov. 11, 4 p.m.
Who: Washington County (5-5) at Cook (8-2)
When: Saturday Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Who: Jeff Davis (5-5) at Thomson (9-1)
When: Saturday Nov. 11, 5:30 p.m.
Class AAAA
Who: Burke County (8-2) at Perry (8-2)
When: Saturday Nov. 11, 4 p.m.
