Jeff Hart

East Jackson made the most of its first-ever trip the Class A football playoffs Friday night.

After a humbling loss last week to No. 1 Gainesville in the regular season finale, Flowery Branch coach Lee Shaw said his team needed to show what it was made of this week in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.

Carrollton scored 24 unanswered points to pull away for a 31-14 win over Creekview Friday night in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.

Having big-play capability once playoff time rolls around can be a weapon that is hard to handle. Just ask Landmark Christian.

North Gwinnett's Cordero Dixon set the tone early Friday night in the Bulldogs' Class AAAAA first round playoff game against Centennial. Dixon took the opening kickoff and sprinted 99-yards for the score to help pace North Gwinnett to a 52-21 win at home.

Michael Turner ran for a season-high 166 yards, breaking away from Hall on a 58-yard touchdown that finished off Washington early in the fourth quarter, and the Atlanta Falcons snapped a two-game losing streak by beating the Redskins 31-17 on Sunday.

Josh Nesbitt scored on a 3-yard run in overtime after Georgia Tech pulled off a gutsy play on fourth down, leading the No. 10 Yellow Jackets another step closer to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game with a 30-27 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday.

No. 3 Alabama picked up another dramatic win and a second straight trip to the SEC championship game. Julio Jones caught a 73-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Leigh Tiffin booted a 40-yard field goal with 3:04 left to seal a 24-15 victory for the Crimson Tide against No. 9 LSU on Saturday.

Craig Schaefer sacked Jimmy Clausen in the end zone with 60 seconds left Saturday and Navy held on for a 23-21 victory, its second straight at Notre Dame Stadium.

Dan Persa threw a touchdown pass and Marshall Thomas recovered a fumble for another score, and Northwestern dealt a crushing blow to Iowa's national championship hopes with a 17-10 victory Saturday.