Quarterfinal preview: Classes 6A and 5A
Class 6A
*Collins Hill (11-1) at Grayson (11-1): This is a rematch of the Aug. 16 opening game that Collins Hill won 20-19. Jaylen Burroughs scored on a 3-yard run with 2:11 left, then caught the winning two-point-conversion pass. Grayson was ranked No. 3 at the time and hasn’t lost since. Collins Hill was unranked at the time and has beaten two other top-10 teams since (Mill Creek, Colquitt County) and lost only to No. 2 Buford for a region title. Both teams dominated the second halves of their second-round games last week after slow starts. Collins Hill, now ranked No. 5, beat Colquitt County 28-14 after the game was tied 14-14 at halftime. Grayson, now No. 6, beat Norcross 34-24 after trailing 17-7 at halftime. The Rams held Norcross to negative yardage in the third quarter and took the lead for good midway in the fourth quarter. Neither team is statistically dominant offensively, and their most outstanding players play defense. For Grayson, it’s DE/LB Andre Fuller, who is committed to Georgia Tech; LB Tyler Atkinson, five-star junior recruit; and LB Anthony Davis, a four-star junior recruit. For Collins Hill, it’s DL Deuce Geralds and DE/LB Katrell Webb, both four-star junior recruits.
*West Forsyth (9-3) at Douglas County (10-2): West Forsyth is in its third quarterfinal, first since 2020, and is one of two unranked teams in the Class 6A quarters. Hillgrove is the other. West Forsyth’s previous quarterfinal runs came as an unranked team and ended in defeat, both against Grayson. West Forsyth has beaten unranked Gwinnett County teams Brookwood 24-10 and Archer 45-28 in the first two rounds, both times establishing a formidable run game. Foster Orris rushed for 128 yards against Brookwood and 146 against Archer with five touchdowns. Douglas County, ranked No. 4 and a semifinal team last year in the second class from the top, beat seventh-ranked and previously unbeaten North Cobb 31-10 last week, holding the Warriors to 154 total yards. The Tigers are impressive in their offensive balance. D.J. Bordeaux has thrown for 2,570 yards and 19 touchdowns. Zamarcus Lindley has rushed for 1,141 yards. Aaron Gregory has a team-leading 825 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. This is the first meeting between the two teams.
*Hillgrove (11-1) at Carrollton (12-0): Hillgrove, coming off a 2-8 season and without a winning record since 2019, is the most surprising Class 6A quarterfinal team from a preseason standpoint. Hillgrove last reached a quarterfinal in 2018 and is 0-4 all-time in this round. Hillgrove was the Region 3 runner-up to Harrison but has been decisive in beating South Gwinnett 35-14 and Peachtree Ridge 30-14 in the playoffs. Against Peachtree Ridge last week, Caleb Walters rushed for 77 yards, and Jaiden Moore ran for 73. QB Jabari Green rushed for 73 yards and was just 4-of-8 passing. Hillgrove gets 71% of its offense rushing with Walters, at 904 yards and 17 touchdowns, the team leader. Carrollton, ranked No. 1, will be Hillgrove’s first top-10 opponent. Carrollton has not had an anxious game this season and beat Valdosta 49-13 last week. Julian Lewis was 17-of-27 passing for 369 yards and four touchdowns. A.J. McNeil had four receptions for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Kimauri Farmer rushed for 95 yards. Lewis, who committed to Colorado last week, has thrown for 3,211 yards and 44 touchdowns this season. Carrollton has played Hillgrove in regular-season games the past two seasons and won 49-0 and 56-28.
*North Gwinnett (12-0) at Buford (11-1): These schools are seven miles apart, and their school districts bordered each other as the northern-most Gwinnett County schools until Lanier opened in 2010. They played each other regularly until 1999, when North Gwinnett joined the highest class for the first time. Buford joined in 2022, and now hostilities will resume in the biggest game they’ve ever played against each other, Buford ranked No. 2 and North Gwinnett No. 3. Buford, a team with 10 major Division I-committed seniors, beat Lowndes 42-7 in the second round, the Wolves’ 10th straight blowout victory. Justin Baker rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries. North Gwinnett, with three major D-I prospects on its defense, beat Newton 24-10. Tommy Lafayette rushed for 184 yards on 25 carries. North Gwinnett QB Ryan Hall is a three-year starter with 5,547 career passing yards and 1,965 rushing yards. Buford leads the series 22-5-1.
Class 5A
*Coffee (10-2) at Sequoyah (11-1): Seventh-ranked Coffee, the 2023 champion in Class 5A, is in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season and eighth time in nine years after a 45-14 victory over eighth-ranked Brunswick. The Trojans rushed for 471 yards while attempting and completing just three short passes. Tyrese Woodgett rushed for 217 yards and five touchdowns, and Kentavius Debruce had 152 yards. Woodgett has 1,485 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Brunswick had been averaging 45.7 points per game. Sequoyah defeated a top-10 opponent for the second consecutive week, following up a 38-28 victory over No. 6 Gainesville in the first round with a 35-20 win over No. 10 Woodward Academy. The Chiefs are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 and third time overall. Sequoyah led Woodward 14-0 midway through the second quarter and 21-10 at halftime, and Woodward never got closer than eight points in the second half. Ean Marria scored three touchdowns and Will Rajecki had two. Rajecki, who averages 116 rushing yards per game, had 209 on 32 carries in the first round.
*Thomas County Central (11-1) at Hughes (11-1): Both teams beat top-10 opponents in the second round, only to face another one this week. No. 3 Thomas County Central, the 2023 Class 6A champion, reached its third consecutive quarterfinal with a 35-7 victory over ninth-ranked Rome, eliminating the Wolves from the playoffs for the second straight season. A.J. Clark and Deuce Lawrence had rushing touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets built a comfortable 14-0 lead in the first half. Thomas County held Rome to its lowest point total in two years, led by the defensive efforts of linebacker Jayden Rubbo, who had 11 tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss and two fumble recoveries. Fourth-ranked Hughes advanced to its fourth quarterfinal in five seasons with a 31-21 victory over No. 9 Roswell. Hughes led 21-14 at halftime, and Roswell never got closer than seven points in the second half. Christian Langford was 12-of-17 passing for 295 yards and two touchdowns, Qwantavius Wiggins ran for 118 yards and a TD. Langford has passed for 2,659 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. Wiggins is the team’s second-leading rusher (897 yards), behind Carsyn Baker (934).
*Sprayberry (11-1) at Lee County (12-0): Sprayberry set a school record for victories and reached the quarterfinals for the third time in its 69-yard history and first time since 1982 with a 35-7 win over Newnan. Sprayberry trailed 7-0 at halftime, but Jaden Duckett threw a touchdown pass to Mark Manfred (committed to Missouri) on the opening drive of the second half to tie the score and added two more rushing touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets pulled away. Sprayberry, which has never faced Lee County, has not traveled to a game south of metro Atlanta since a 0-0 tie against Baldwin in Milledgeville in 1957. Lee County of Region 2 is the champion of the only region in any classification that still has four teams alive (the others are Thomas County Central, Coffee and Houston County). The Trojans averaged a state-best 54.3 points per game in the regular season and have kept up the pace in the playoffs, beating Habersham Central 47-7 and East Paulding 63-14 in the first two rounds to reach the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight seasons. Weston Bryan (committed to Georgia Southern) passed for five touchdowns and ran for two last week, giving him 54 combined touchdowns for the season. Ousmane Kromah (committed to Georgia) had 122 yards rushing on 14 carries and 91 yards and two touchdowns on three catches.
*Houston County (8-4) at Milton (12-0): Houston County is the only fourth-place team remaining in any classification. The Bears have beaten Region 8 champion Clarke Central 69-48 and Region 1 runner-up Lakeside of Evans 63-12. Antwann Hill was 17-of-20 passing for 440 yards and six touchdowns last week. Isaiah Mitchell had nine receptions for 269 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears piled up 603 total yards. Houston County is in the quarterfinals for the third time in six seasons but has not advanced to the semifinals since 1993. Milton, the Class 7A champion in 2023, reached the quarterfinals for the sixth time in seven seasons with a 41-3 victory over Dutchtown. Luke Nickel (committed to Miami) passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns, T.J. Lester ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, and Tristen Payne had 115 yards a touchdown on seven receptions. The Eagles are ranked in the top four in six national polls, including two that has them at No. 2. They have won a school-record 22 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the state. Nickel is one of three AJC Super 11 players in this game. The others are Milton wide receiver C.J. Wiley (Georgia) and Houston County’s Hill (Memphis).