Three state quarterfinal showdowns will light up holiday weekend, airwaves

While the rest of us are dreaming of turkey and dressing this week, a number of area high school football players are still holding visions of rings and trophies.<br /> <br /> Four northeast Georgia football teams remain alive in the state title hunt, and all four will compete in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs on Friday -- and Jacobs Media will be on board to cover all the angles.<br /> <br /> Three contests will be broadcast live over the family of stations at Jacobs Media, while our Friday Game Night page will also bring you score updates, game stories and video highlights of all the night's action, as Buford, Commerce, Gainesville and Jefferson look to continue their march toward the Georgia Dome.<br /> <br /> Gainesville is right back in contention in Class AAAAA after going on the road to out-score Harris County 49-40 in the second round. The Red Elephants (10-2) reward is a quarterfinal match-up with Allatoona in Acworth -- a game that will be broadcast live on <b>1240 AM</b>. <br /> <br /> The Buccaneers (12-0) are in just their seventh season as a program but are already making their fifth straight playoff run and second quarterfinal appearance -- the last coming in 2011. Gainesville is set for its fourth straight quarterfinal battle and is gunning for its fourth straight semifinal berth -- Allatoona has never reached the semifinals.<br /> <br /> The Buccaneers will look to use their power ground game to push past Gainesville. Allatoona's Russell Halimon is the leading rusher in Class AAAAA with 2,114 yards on the season. Halimon totaled 214 yards and two touchdowns in Allatoona's 45-14 second round defeat of Coffee County. The Buccaneers defense, meanwhile, has also been a keystone of the 2014 campaign, allowing just 16 points per game -- including 21 points in two playoff wins.<br /> <br /> They have not yet faced an offense as potent as Gainesville's, however. The Red Elephants enter the contest on the back of their second most-potent outing of the season and rolled up almost 500 yards of offense in last week's win at Harris County. Meanwhile, the Gainesville defense has yielded points but has continued to find a way to make plays -- forcing turnovers and negative-yardage.<br /> <br /> Speaking of defense, Jefferson and Buford have made their living on defense for much of the campaign -- though the Dragons (12-0) and Wolves (12-0) offenses have been pretty dominant too -- allowing just 8.75 and 4.9 points per game so far this season.<br /> <br /> Both teams will look to keep their defensive dominance going this week, Buford hosting Marist in a top 10 showdown in Class AAAA -- broadcast live on <b>AM 550</b> -- and Jefferson hosting Blessed Trinity in a top showdown in Class AAA -- broadcast live on <b>102.9 FM</b>.<br /> <br /> Buford's run defense will be put to the test against a Marist team that will attempt to the ground the ball out behind a strong offensive line that features University of Georgia commit Sage Hardin (6-foot-6, 260 pounds) and Jack Trainor (6-3, 285). The War Eagles (11-1) will stick to the run 90 percent of the time, and will pit strength against strength, as Buford's defense is yielding around 40 rush yards per contest.<br /> <br /> Marist's defense has also been strong this season, allowing 8.9 points per game -- but those numbers have almost doubled in the playoffs, at 17 ppg through two contests. The War Eagles face a Wolves offense scoring 46.5 ppg and rolling up roughly 360 yards per contest -- 269 of that on the ground.<br /> <br /> The War Eagles are gunning for their third straight state semifinal berth, while Buford is looking for its eighth straight semifinal appearance. <br /> <br /> Jefferson, meanwhile, is making its third straight quarterfinal appearance, and hopes to notch its second semifinal berth in three seasons when Blessed Trinity visits Memorial Stadium on Friday.<br /> <br /> The Dragons maintained their incredible offensive balance in last week's second round win over Dodge County, rushing for 238 yards and passing for 234 yards, and the Titans (12-0) defense will certainly be aware of the playmaking ability throughout the Jefferson attack -- a unit averaging 40 ppg. Yet the Blessed Trinity defense has held up throughout the season, allowing 9.5 ppg against a schedule that included eight state playoff teams. The Blessed Trinity offense, meanwhile, showed it has the ability to put up points in bunches, averaging 38.9 ppg -- including 42 in a season-opening win over St. Pius (which is still alive in the Class AAAA playoffs).<br /> <br /> The Titans rely on their run game, which features Joe Anderson, though quarterback Conor Davis is a more-than-capable passer, throwing for about 1,500 yards this season.<br /> <br /> Blessed Trinity is in the midst of the best season in its 14-year history, and is back in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. The Titans have never reached the semifinals.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, in the Class A Public bracket, Commerce is aiming for its first semifinal berth since reaching the Class A Final Four in 2006. <br /> <br /> The Tigers (9-2) will take that shot on Friday against Calhoun County (8-3) in a game at Ray Lamb Stadium. The visitors are in the midst of their best run since the early 90s. The Cougars have never marched to a semifinal appearance -- in fact last week's 13-12 defeat of Mitchell County represented the program's first ever state playoff victory.<br /> <br /> Commerce rushed for 278 yards and forced four turnovers en route to its playoff-opening defeat of Clinch County. It was the type of performance any of the four teams left alive would have been proud to display

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