Boys soccer playoffs: Johnson opens defense of 4A title at The Dungeon; 7 others look for Sweet 16 berths

The final day of the first round of the Georgia High School Association soccer playoffs will conclude on Friday around the state and northeast Georgia, with Classes 6A, 4A, and 2A boys all getting their playoffs under way.

Two region champions -- Johnson (8-4A) and Habersham Central (8-6A) -- will headline the action. Union County, the No. 2 seed from Region 8-2A, was ranked No. 1 at one point during the season. In all, eight teams will be looking to move into the Sweet 16.

The Johnson boys (14-1-1) will open defense of their Class 4A state title at The Dungeon against Stockbridge (9-3-1) while also looking for its third straight overall. The Knights are not as explosive offensively, but on the backline, has surrendered one goal or less in 12 matches with 6 shutouts. Stockbridge is averaging just under 4 goals (3.69) per match.

In Class 4A, East Forsyth played host to Woodland-Stockbridge on Thursday and took a slim 1-0 win to advance to the second round.

Habersham Central (13-3) won a very contengious Region 8-6A over No. 4 North Forsyth and will play host to Douglas County (7-9-1) at Raider Stadium in Class 6A. North Forsyth (17-1) will take on an Alexander (7-4-6) squad that has allowed two or more goals just three times all season and knows how to keep things close with 6 ties.

Union County (8-2-3) comes into the playoffs off a pair of draws to finish the season and takes on Towers (6-7-1) from Atlanta in Class 2A. East Jackson (7-5-1) won Region 8-2A and will be at home against Elite Scholars Academy (3-4-1).

(Below is the full schedule of boys soccer playoff games on Friday for teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area.)