Georgia HS Football Thread 2009 edition

[JonInMiddleGA]

Lots to talk about, not much time to do it right now.

I'll be working tonight, scheduled to handle the color portion of the webcast (I guess that means our pbp guy is working in black & white) We'll start around 7p, underdogs on the road to McDonough to face Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (aka ELCA)
Webcast Homepage

also online tonight
On the Web
*Sprayberry at Marist, 7:15 p.m. pregame, 7:30 p.m. kickoff, GPB.org/football (available live and On Demand)

If you're in state & have CSS
*Valdosta at Newnan, 7:30 p.m., CSS

Also tonight Tucker travels to Dalton as a #3 seed at a #2 seed.

When I've got more time I'll get into a bit about the preliminary reclassification data for the next four years, including the shocking possibility of {gasp} Valdosta dropping from 5A to 4A (ain't gonna happen but by the number it ought to).

[Wolfpack]

We've got some shenanigans going on up here in North Carolina. One of the football powers in Fayetteville, Terry Sanford, had a successful campaign that netted them a high seed in the state 4-A playoffs that start tonight. However, on Monday, it was revealed that they were using an ineligible player (self-reported, even). NCHSAA ruled all their wins forfeits for the other teams and disqualifying them from the playoffs. Their opponent was given a walkover to the next round. This eventually resulted in the principal of the school falling on her sword as it was revealed that she had been doing some grade tampering (though not necessarily the ineligible player, just in general).

Skip to yesterday and a judge slapped down an injunction against the NCHSAA that effectively reinstated Terry Sanford and all their wins and put them back in the playoffs (if you had to guess, you'd no doubt be surprised that the judge was from Fayetteville). The kicker is that the ineligible player that caused all this is being declared eligible to play in the game.

The really shoddy thing is that a pair of teams got screwed by what happened. If Terry Sanford had been declared ineligible before the playoff brackets were annouced, a drawing that took place that took two of three teams into the last places in the playoff bracket wouldn't have been necessary as all three would have been put in without drawing. (I must profess slight bias as the team that wound up left out in the draw was my old high school) The other team that got screwed was the team that would have walked over before the injunction. Not so much that they can't walk over now, but that if they lose and the injuction is struck down after the game, then they don't advance and the would-be second round opponent gets a pass to the third-round instead.

This whole thing is f*ed up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

160 teams began tonight with a dream. By this time tomorrow only 80 will still have that dream alive.

For Athens Academy (7-3) the dream ended Friday night with a 23-18 loss on the road to Eagle's Landing Christian in McDonough. A very strange game which included a pair of safeties for the winners, a pair of long TD runs (64 & 37 yds) for the losers who managed less than 30 yds rushing on the rest of their carries combined, and a win for ELCA in spite of 5 turnovers & 10 penalties. Their speed was just too much for us to handle, especially their defensive speed on pretty much everything except those two long runs & a couple of decent passes. We'll finish 7-4, worst season since 2005 which was the last time the Spartans failed to win at least 10 games. ELCA moves on to round two when they'll visit Lincoln County.

Elsewhere tonight, some teams of FOFC interest included Tucker going on the road to beat Dalton 35-13, Marist over Sprayberry 28-14, a bad punt snap turned a 9-7 Valdosta lead into an eventual 28-9 loss to Newnan, Brookwood (6-5) shocked McEachern (10-1) with a 20-10 upset, Buford blanks Pepperell 28-0, and Lassiter rallied after trailing 14-0 early to blast North Forsyth 62-37.

Some good matchups next week including
Tucker (9-2) @ Sandy Creek (10-1)
Marist (9-2) @ Apalachee (11-0)
Clarke Central (9-2) @ SW DeKalb (10-1)
Brookwood (6-5) @ Peachtree Ridge (9-2)
Roswell (10-1) @ Grayson (11-0)
Lowndes (10-1) @ Camden County (9-2)
Washington County (10-1) @ Peach County (11-0)
Buford (10-1) @ Jefferson (11-0) ought to be a helluva game
Brooks County (9-2) @ Charlton County (10-0-1)
Bowdon (10-1) @ Wesleyan (11-0)

Tonight was also personally interesting for me, as I was on the air for a full game for the first time in a number of years. Working a full game in a sort of hybrid mostly color/some pbp role was pretty weird after time away but it gave me a new appreciation for how good our regular kid really is & can be. For any new pairing to avoid stepping all over each other is good, to switch off (unspoken, unplanned, unrehearsed) literally between plays on pbp without any cues or prompting was damned remarkable to be part of. Never done it that way in my life until tonight really, but with us (and because of several things going on behind the scenes during the game) it made sense & it worked. Taught me that his instincts about some things are even better than I realized. He's still got some edges to polish but it's only 13 days until basketball season & that's a grueling schedule for him with his academic load depending upon how many games they decide to webcast, there might be plenty of time to work on some things in the much lower profile & lower pressure environment of basketball (which is actually harder to do than football in a number of ways). It's a treat for me to work with someone that I think has the potential to not only be better than I was on my best day but could become quite a bit better than I ever was, and you know I'm not prone to false modesty.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Some good games underway in the 2nd round of the GHSA playoffs tonight, including Tucker @ Sandy Creek tied at 14 at the end of Q3. Tigers led 7-0, fumbled the KO to start the 2nd half & Sandy Creek recovered in the end zone to tie it. SC took the lead but now Tucker has come back to tie it with 12 minutes left in regulation.

In Class A, #1 ranked Wesleyan is having a little trouble with Bowden, it's 21-13 early in Q3 ... Eagle's Landing, who eliminated Athens Academy last week, is leading at Lincoln County 31-26 midway through Q3, RB Keyante Green has 250 yds & at least 2 TD's ... Darlington leads visiting Commerce 21-14 middle Q3 ...

In Class AA, #1 ranked Calhoun is burying North Oconee now, 36-7 late Q3 ... Charlton Co leads Brooks Co 30-22 at the half of a shootout ... Buford leads unbeaten Jefferson 23-14 in Q3

In Class AAA, Gainesville trailed Dunwoody 3-0 very early, it's now 41-3 Red Elephants middle Q3 ... St Pius leads North Hall 17-3 late Q3 ... Cairo's lead over Baldwin is down to 9-7 late in the 3rd

In Class AAAA, Clarke Central clings to a 12-10 lead over SW DeKalb at the start of Q4 ... Unbeaten Apalachee has rallied to tie Marist at 28 early in Q3 ... #1 (in some polls) Griffin is rolling on Ware Co 28-3 at the half

In Class AAAAA ... Lassiter & South Gwinnett were tied at 14 in the 1st, it's now 56-28 Lassiter in the middle of Q3 .... Camden Co led Lowndes Co 10-7 at the half ... P'tree Ridge is 21-6 over Brookwood with 7 mins left to play ...

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

In Class AAAAA ... Lassiter & South Gwinnett were tied at 14 in the 1st, it's now 56-28 Lassiter in the middle of Q3

Woo hoo! Good year so far for my teams Lassiter and Ga Tech... now if only the Falcons would follow suit.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Note: These results are not in bracket order

In AAAAA
North Gwinnett(11-0) shuts out Woodstock(10-1) 24-0
NS-WR(11-1) beats Union Grove(9-3) 21-10
P'tree Ridge(10-2) over Brookwood(6-6) 21-6 ... Broncos only score on an INT return, P'Ridge turns it over 5x
Camden Co(10-2) beats Lowndes Co(10-2) 10-7
Grayson beats Roswell 24-14
Newnan over M.L. King 15-6
Lassiter explodes in a 70-49 win over South Gwinnett
Colquitt Co nips Stephenson 22-21 Stephenson up 20-19, inexplicably kicks the PAT & CC gets a long KOR & a FG with 2:22 left to win it

In AAAA
Sandy Creek(11-1) has ended Tucker's(9-3) title defense, 17-14
Clarke Central has upset SW DeKalb 19-10 or 19-17, I've seen two different scores
Griffin beats Ware Co 42-10
Westside-Macon over Lakeside-Evans 48-21
Rockdale Co over Hiram 21-7
Apalachee over Marist 36-35 in OT
North Clayton wins on the road at Brunswick 21-12
Thomas Co Central 56-7 over Richmond Academy

In AAA
Cairo(9-3) wins at Baldwin(9-3) 9-7
Gainesville(12-0) routs Dunwoody(7-5) 41-10
St Pius X (12-0) beats North Hall(9-3)17-3
Carver-Columbus over Woodward Academy 33-7
Eastside-Covington over Carrollton 20-13
Flowery Branch wins on the road 35-21 at Grady
Peach Co beats Washington Co 39-26
Jackson(12-0) over Liberty Co(8-4) 36-9

In AA
Buford knocks out Jefferson on the road 30-22
Cook goes to Appling Co & wins 29-21
Callaway holds off Westminster 35-31
Fitzgerald routs Swainsboro 64-36
Charlton Co beats Brooks Co 46-36
Calhoun reality checks North Oconee 39-7
Lovett reality checks East Jackson even harder 58-0
Jefferson Co beats Thomasville 24-17 in OT

In A
Savannah Christian(12-0) beats Miller Co(9-3) 28-13
Darlington(8-4) beats Commerce(7-5) 28-14
Wilcox Co upsets Greenville 39-19
Wesleyan (12-0) is pushed hard but wins 34-28 in OT over Bowdon Bowdon missed FG, Wolves drive & score
Lincoln Co rallies to beat Eagle's Landing 47-39 21 unanswered in Q4 for Lincoln thanks to ELCA 3x turnovers
Holy Innocents shuts out Bremen 21-0
Clinch Co beats ECI 39-28
Twiggs Co led Chattahoochee Co 48-14 with 4 mins left so I think we can call that one too

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bump for Alan T

[JonInMiddleGA]

GHSA Week 3 (aka Elite 8) matchups
Coin flip = same seeded teams site TBD, otherwise higher seed hosts

AAAAA
Peachtree Ridge at Northside-WR
Grayson vs Newnan (site TBD coin flip)
North Gwinnett vs Camden Co (site TBD coin flip)
Colquitt Co at Lassiter

AAAA
Sandy Creek vs Thomas Co Central (site TBD coin flip)
Griffin vs Apalachee (site TBD coin flip)
Rockdale Co at Westside-Macon
Clarke Central vs North Clayton (site TBD coin flip)

AAA
Peach Co vs St Pius X (site TBD)
Jackson vs Eastside (site TBD)
Cairo at Gainesville
Flowery Branch at Carver-Columbus

AA
Fiztgerald vs Callaway (site TBD)
Cook at Buford
Calhoun vs Jefferson Co (site TBD)
Lovett vs Charlton Co (site TBD)

A
Clinch Co vs Holy Innocents (site TBD)
Wilcox Co at Wesleyan
Lincoln Co vs Savannah Christian (site TBD)
Twiggs Co vs Darlington (site TBD)

[digamma]

My allegiance switches to the Ridge and the former Tucker coaching staff. Going to Northside will no doubt be a tall, tall task.

Also, the first time I remember in quite a while that the Tucker/Marist region hasn't had at least one representative in the quarter finals.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And now the elite eight are down to the final four in each of the 5 classifications but not without some big surprises.

In AAAAA last night, Lassiter's high flying offense came crashing to the ground in a 46-17 loss to Colquitt County. I guess practicing against their own version of the spread must have helped the Packers as they made the night miserable for QB Hustson Mason: 5 interceptions including 2 pick-sixes, six sacks, and Lassiter's only offensive TD was a meaningless one in the final minutes. Colquitt (11-2) advances to play Camden County (11-2) who shutout North Gwinnett 35-0. The other AAAAA semifinal will be NS-Warner Robins (12-1) who beat Peachtree Ridge 20-17 in 3 OT's against Newnan(13-0) who blocked two FG's including a short one in the final seconds to hold off Grayson 9-7.

In AAAA Griffin (13-0) moves on to the final four by beating previously undefeated Apalachee 24-3, Sandy Creek (12-1) advances with a 31-17 win over Thomas County Central to set the first pairing. The other bracket sees Clarke Central (11-2) roll over North Clayton 52-13 and upstart Rockdale County (10-3) upset Westside-Macon 23-7. Clarke & Rockdale are both members of region 8 and met in week 6 with Rockdale winning 26-23 in OT. Central hasn't lost since, neither has Rockdale who went into that game just 1-3.

In AAA, one semifinal will be a crosstown rivalry as Gainesville (13-0) is paired with Flowery Branch (10-3). The sub-region rivals both advanced with Gainesville having little trouble with the defending state champions from Cairo 32-19 & FB moving on thanks to four rushing TD's from QB Connor Shaw including a game-winner in the final minute to complete a rally from 12 down to beat Carver-Columbus 35-33. The other winners were Peach County (13-0), 21-14 over St. Pius X and Eastside-Covington (11-2) who eliminated previously unbeaten Jackson 14-0.

In AA eight has been trimmed to four with a lot of the usual suspects still alive. #1 ranked Calhoun (13-0) moves on with a 49-35 win over Jefferson County, they'll face Lovett (12-1) who knocked out Charlton County 35-32. Fitzgerald (13-0) knocked out Callaway 35-21 and is now paired with Buford who ended Cook's run with a 26-0 whitewash.

In A the king is dead as defending state champion Wesleyan gets upset by Wilcox County (11-2) 20-15 although it has to be noted that the Wolves starting QB played with a heavy knee brace after being injured last week & finally had to leave the game last night. Wilcox draws Clinch County (10-3) who eliminated Holy Innocents 35-27. The other semifinal will be a private school affair, as Savannah Christian (13-0) beat Lincoln County 7-0 despite being held to just 96 yards total offense for the game and Darlington (9-4) upset Twiggs County 17-0 with a sterling defensive effort.

Remember, final four games will be at home sites instead of the great two days of football at the Georgia Dome we enjoyed for the last decade or so. Only the finals are at the Dome now.

[digamma]

Power shift back to South Georgia in AAAAA.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kind of lost momentum with the previous round I guess, and the screw up of the previously great semi-finals in the Dome weekend kind of cooled things for me too but but just in case anyone is interested ... the finals are this weekend.

Class AA Calhoun vs Buford is underway now, Buford just went up 6-3 converting on 4th & goal from almost 2 yds out with 4:15 left in the half, Calhoun blocked the PAT.

Later tonight, it's Class AAAA as Clarke Central takes on Sandy Creek.

Saturday's games are
Class A Savannah Christian vs Wilcox County at 1p
Class AAA Gainesville vs Peach County at 430p
Class AAAAA Camden County vs Northside-Warner Robins

All games will be televised live by Georgia Public Broadcasting and available on the Web at gpb.org.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Buford clinging to a 13-10 lead with 2:20ish left, 3rd & 5 from their own 30-something, take a timeout to pick out the right play with Calhoun chomping at the bit to get a stop & turn it over to their prolific offense.

Turned into maybe the best play call I've ever seen in my life: halfback pass to a receiver who ran a stop & go, complete for 30+ yards into Calhoun territory.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Buford wins it 13-10, converting a 4th & 2 to run out the clock.

Highly regarded UGA commit Da'rick Rogers (6'2", 215) was frustrated most of the night by an undersized Buford secondary (avg 5'9, 165) that kept him in check until he scored on a reverse from inside the 20.

Tremendous job by Buford & especially their coaches.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Halftime in the AAAA title game, Sandy Creek leads Clarke Central 7-6.

Patriots got a TD with a nice drive to start the game, Gladiators answered with a pair of FG's in the latter part of the 2nd quarter.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Make that 9-7 Central with 5:54 left in Q3. Kicker is 3/4 tonight (a 54 yd try was blocked in Q2) but only 7/15 coming into the night. I'd love to know what the story on that is, he looks pretty solid on three from 30+, definitely doesn't look like a sub-50% kicker to me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

HUGE INT by Central to stop a SC drive inside the CC 30. Still clinging to a 9-7 lead with :12 seconds left in Q3.

I normally don't have more than a passing interest in Central (and what's good for them really isn't good for Athens Academy) but I can get behind them for this. It'd be a nice thing for retired legendary Coach Billy Henderson to get to see them win another championship in his lifetime.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Shit. 72 yd TD pass to a wide open receiver puts Sandy Creek in front 14-9 with 10:52 to play.

edit: Make that 15-9 as they went for 2 & got it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Central fails to convert on 4th & 1 from their 35. Patriots need just 1 play, a long pass down the middle & it's 22-9 with just 6:58 left.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Louisville signee Thomas Davis has 5 catches for 180 yds & 2 TD's to lead Sandy Creek to their first state title, 29-15, over Clarke Central.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Class A title game is underway, currently 7-6 Savannah Christian leading Wilcox County.

Player of interest in this one is the Wilcox QB Marshall, a junior who has offers to play basketball from Arkansas & FSU and now football from Mississippi State.

A HUGE arm & mobile, he takes full advantage of their five wide offense. SC goes the other route, a technically proficient triple option attack that opened the game with a 8+ minute drive.

[JonInMiddleGA]

SC scorees to go up 21-14, Wilcox answers with another TD pass, goes for two & finally finds an open man after scrambling to go up 22-21 with 7:58 left.

Meanwhile Wilcox spent the third quarter looking like the usual small south Georgia team: 4 unsportsmanlike calls in a five play span.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wilcox wins it 30-21.

Up next at about 430p, it's the AAA final with Gainesville (and Alabama's next QB Blake Sims) against Peach County.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Peach County wins the AAA title 13-12 on a fantastic finish.

Gainesville gets a 30ish yd TD pass from Sims as time expires to pull within one. No timeouts left, the quickly decide to go for two & the pass into the end zone is batted down by a LB.

The decision was almost certainly dictated by a poor kicking game (they'd missed one PAT already) but the play call, a quick slant that didn't allow Sims to create or do anything except take the snap & fire the ball really, was questionable IMO.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Camden County is pretty much destroying the #4 team in the nation. They lead Northside-WR 31-3 early in the 4th quarter.