Only a half dozen Northeast Georgia area teams remain on the road to Atlanta.
No. 1 seeds Dawson County (Class 3A) and Jefferson (Class 5A) were ousted from the playoffs. No. 2 seed Lumpkin County (Class 3A) fell to Oconee County at home, and East Jackson (Class 2A), Lakeview Academy (GIAA) and Commerce (Class A D1) all lost.
Buford (Class 7A) and Gainesville (Class 6A) strolled into the second round as expected, with big wins. North Forsyth (Class 6A) held on against Blessed Trinity. Union County (Class 2A) shocked the state with a big win over No. 2 seeded Model. Rabun County (Class A D1) finally found its offense in the second half to beat No. 4 seed Dade County, and Lanier Christian (GAPPS) knocked off Creekside Christian to advance.
This week the drama continues to build as teams across the state hope to keep their title hopes alive, and we have two of those teams headlining the Jacobs Media airwaves.
Walton at Buford -- Buford is playing unstoppable right now. The top-ranked Wolves have won their last four games by a 47-point margin and obliterated Peachtree Ridge in their first foray into the Class 7A playoffs, 63-6. Walton will pose a greater threat to the Wolves than the previous four opponents. They're averaging 38.4 points per game while giving up almost 20. But it shouldn't be too much of a threat for the Wolves' No. 1 defense and third-ranked offense. Buford will dance into the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs on Friday. You can listen to the game on WDUN AM 550 (Click to listen live)
South Paulding at Gainesville -- Where to start with this one. The Red Elephants are on a roll, smashing Sprayberry 51-21 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs last week. South Paulding rolls into City Park ranked 41 out of 52 teams in points allowed this season. Big Red is sixth in points scored. Gainesville has scored 102 points in the last two games. Oh, and they're fifth in points allowed. Watch out, South Paulding; the Big Red train is headed straight toward you. The game can be heard live on FM 102.9 WDUN (Click to listen live).
2nd ROUND FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
(Games listed by classification, highest to lowest, in alphabetical order of visiting team)
(All games kick off at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated)
(Area teams listed in BOLD)
FRIDAY, NOV. 18, SCHEDULE
Class 7A
Walton (Region 5, Seed 2) at Buford (R8, S1)
Class 6A
South Paulding (R5, S2) at Gainesville (R8, S1)
North Forsyth (R8, S2) at Langston Hughes (R5, S1)
Class 2A
Union County (R8, S3) at South Atlanta (R6, S1)
Class A Division 1
Social Circle (R5, S2) at Rabun County (R8, S1)
GAPPS 11-man
Lanier Christian (R1, S3) at Cherokee Christian (R1, S1)
1st ROUND FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD
(Area teams listed in BOLD)
SATURDAY, NOV. 12, SCORES
Class 7A
Buford 63, Peachtree Ridge 6
Class 5A
Cass 27, Jefferson 17
​Class 3A
Monroe Area 35, Dawson County 13
Oconee County 49, Lumpkin County 21
FRIDAY, NOV. 11, SCORES
Class 6A
Gainesville 51, Sprayberry 21
North Forsyth 24, Blessed Trinity 21
Class 2A
Rockmart 65, East Jackson 7
Union County 28, Model 14
Class A Division 1
Rabun County 47, Dade County 7
Trion 45, Commerce 21
GIAA playoffs
Heritage-Newnan 36, Lakeview Academy 6
GAPPS 11-man
Lanier Christian 38, Creekside Christian 10
