Here are five things we learned in the second round of the high school football playoffs:
1. 5A's road to the 'Benz' goes through Tom Riden Stadium, the Buford defense and Derrien Brown
In case two regular-season losses made you question if Buford was anything other than one of the primary challengers to the Class 5A championship, last Friday's dominating 44-11 rout of Kell should clear things up. The Wolves wasted no time in running away from a talented Kell team, holding the Longhorns high-powered offense that had scored at least 30 points in its last eight games to just 11 points. While the defense kept Kell's side of the scoreboard dim, Wolves star running back Derrien Brown lit Buford's side up. The Texas commit scored three touchdowns, including an electric 82-yard punt return to give Buford a 24-0 lead late in the first half. Buford appears to be playing its best football of the season, and they now know that they'll have the luxury of home field advantage over the last two rounds of the playoffs before December's state championship games in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Elsewhere in the bracket, Bainbridge upset number-one seeded Wayne County and with no other top seeds in Buford's half of the bracket, the road to the Class 5A state championship game now runs through Tom Riden Stadium. Visitors beware, these Wolves are looking more and more dangerous with each passing week.
2. Poetic justice sends Commerce to the quarterfinals
In the ninth game of the season, Commerce suffered heartbreak at home. The Tigers scored what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown with just seconds to go against Riverside Military, but opted to go for two for a chance at the win. The two-point attempt failed, giving Commerce it's first loss of the 2018 season. Three weeks later, Commerce found themselves in Riverside's shoes. The Tigers had squandered a 35-14 lead in Friday's second round game at Mitchell County, with the Eagles scoring a touchdown in the final minute to draw within 35-33 and needing a two-point conversion to send the game to overtime. This time, Commerce got to feel the elation, as the two-point try failed and the Tigers recovered the onside kick and ran the remaining minute off of the clock to preserve the victory. Now, with that demon exercised, Commerce will make another long road trip to take on top-ranked Irwin County in this Friday's Class A-Public quarterfinals.
3. Rabun County's defense has a reminder for Class AA: scoring in Tiger will not be easy
It's easy to be in awe of how potent Rabun County's offense can be. The Wildcats are the highest scoring team in Class 2A (48.4 PPG) and the fifth-highest scoring team in the entire state of Georgia. The Rabun County defense, though, has been the story of the team's 2018 playoff run. In a 34-0 win over Chattooga in last Friday's second round, they pitched their second consecutive playoff shutout, a feat that only Lee County in Class 6A has managed to match so far, reminding everyone that it is a defense that is in the top ten in Class 2A that is surrendering less than 14 points per game. That defense will face a stiffer test in Friday night's quarterfinal, as they face a Fitzgerald team averaging over 30 points per game and who ended Rabun County's season in these same quarterfinals just two seasons ago. One key difference Friday will be that this time the Purple Hurricanes have to make the four-plus-hour drive across the gorge to a Frank Snyder Stadium in Tiger, and they'll have to do something that no one else in the 2A playoffs have been able to do so far: score on Rabun County.
4. As Region 7 learned, Class 3A is not for the faint of heart
Region 7-3A was one of the most hotly contested regions in northeast Georgia throughout the 2018 season, with Greater Atlanta Christian and Dawson County spending almost the entire season ranked in the top ten in Class 3A and North Hall following not far behind. They showed that strength in the first round, with all three teams advancing to the second round by an average of 29 points. However, in the second round, the sheer power of Class 3A chewed the region up and spit it out. GAC, Dawson County and North Hall all fell in the round of 32 by an average of 19 points, with GAC losing to Westminster, Dawson County losing at Monroe Area and North Hall falling at Cedar Grove. The bloody Friday showed that the classification is indeed one of the toughest in the state with very few if any easy paths to a deep playoff run. The trio of powerhouses in 7-3A didn't even have to face some of 3A's front-runners like Calhoun, Peach County or Benedictine, but that displays the depth of power behind 3A, which should provide a fun fight to the finish over the final three rounds. It will be a fight, though, that Region 7-3A will have to watch from the sidelines.
5. For the quarterfinal round, there will be some long bus rides across Georgia
Buford, Rabun County and Lanier will be the only teams in the northeast Georgia area hosting state quarterfinal matchups Friday night. The teams traveling to meet them will have to walk off some long bus rides before kickoff. Bainbridge, Fitzgerald and Coffee will have to travel an average of over 260 miles to reach their destinations. The longest road will belong to Fitzgerald, who will have to trek no less than 280 miles to reach Rabun County High School, the second longest trip in the state with only Jenkins High School in Savannah having to make a longer drive Friday when they head around 320 miles to Calhoun. Those distances would figure to be advantages for the home teams, but Commerce certainly hopes otherwise. The Tigers are the only northeast Georgia team who will have to make one of those long road trips Friday when they make the 225-plus-mile drive to top-ranked Irwin County. It will be the second straight long drive for Commerce, who just drove over 240 miles to knock off Mitchell County in last Friday's second round. Hopefully, the Tigers' buses have been fueled back up. Overall, in the 32 GHSA quarterfinal games coming up this week, the average distance the road team will need to travel will be over 170 miles. So far this year, home teams in the state playoffs have won just over 73 percent of their games.
