One newcomer and two veterans from northeast Georgia will put their playoff credentials on the line on Friday, as the GHSA football semifinals get underway around the state.
Mill Creek made history last week with a 23-0 win over 2014 Class AAAAAA runner-up Archer to claim the program’s first ever semifinal berth.
This week the Hawks (13-0) will take on the defending Class AAAAAA champ, as Colquitt County comes calling in a game broadcast live on WDUN FM 102.9.
The Packers (13-0) are making their seventh straight semifinal appearance.
It has all the makings of a classic showdown between the Colquitt offense -- averaging 47.5 points and 433 yards per game -- and the Mill Creek defense, which is yielding a paltry 6.7 points per game. The Hawks defense has produced six shutouts on the season but will take on a Packers offense led by senior quarterback Chase Parrish (2,759 yards passing, 33 TDs, 4 INTs; 351 yards rushing, 3 TDs) whose lowest point total so far in 2014 was a 33-14 win at Camden County.
Speaking of defense, Buford’s is right back on a championship pace, and the Wolves (12-1) will test themselves against an explosive Woodward Academy squad on Friday in a Class AAAA semifinal broadcast live on WDUN AM 550.
Buford enters its ninth straight state semifinal yielding just 6.3 points per game -- including seven shutouts -- and will face a War Eagles (13-0) offense that is scoring just under 40 points per game.
Woodward features running back Elijah Holyfield (University of Georgia commit) and is averaging 340 yards of offense per game. Buford’s defense is yielding just 127 yards per contest.
The War Eagles are making the second straight semifinal appearance but have not won a state championship since 1980 -- Buford is still in the running for its fourth in a row and eighth in nine years.
Commerce football is also back in the semifinals for a second straight season, and the Tigers (9-3) are looking to go one step further when they travel to face Clinch County in Homerville on Friday.
Commerce has already proven -- twice -- that long road trips are no concern for the Tigers, winning at Charlton County in the first round and at Marion County in the quarterfinals.
Now the Tigers will pit their triple option attack against a Panthers (11-1) team that as given up some points this season but also knows how to score, averaging 40.75 points per game.
Commerce has not reached a state championship game since 2000, when the Tigers knocked off Buford for the Class A crown. Clinch County is making its first semifinal appearance since 2010 -- which was also the last season in which the Panthers won a state championship.
STATE SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE FOR AREA TEAMS, DEC. 4
CLASS AAAAAA
Colquitt County at Mill Creek -- Radio: WDUN 102.9 FM
CLASS AAAA
Woodward Academy at Buford -- Radio: WDUN AM 550
CLASS A Public
Commerce at Clinch County
