Round One saw several of our teams move on to the next round! Here’s what happened in the opening action.

#1 Lumpkin County 52, #4 Gordon Lee 6

The Indians made history with their first-ever playoff win, a 52-6 game that was in the bag after a 21-point first quarter. Cal Faulkner had TD runs of 2 yards and 36 yards, and a pair of TD passes, both of 46 yards to Luke Evans and Nolan Matthews. Mason Sullens had 2 TD runs, one for 15 and the other for 9 yards. Will Staples had a 37-yd FG and Caleb Wendl had a 44-yd TD run late. #5 Lumpkin scored on all of its first quarter drives.

#1 Jefferson 48, #4 Jackson 14

The #2-ranked Dragons can take a deep breath after a 48-14 win to get past the first round for the first time since 2020. It was close early, in fact. Jackson held a 7-0 lead and 14-7 lead before Jefferson took control with a huge third quarter. The Dragons were ahead just 21-14 at the break, but played their brand of ball the remaining two quarters.

#1 Commerce 58, #4 Jasper County 19

The #2-ranked Tigers put up a 58-19 win over Jasper County, accounting for the highest-scoring output in any game (regular season or playoff) since 2016 for Commerce. Just a couple plays in, Jaiden Daniels had a 50-yd TD run. After Jasper County tied it up, Daniels had a 55-yd TD to reclaim the lead. Tysean Wiggins had a 12-yd TD in the second, and Daniels’ third came from 6 yards out for the 28-7 lead. Jacari Huff had a 3-yd tough TD plunge for the 35-7 advantage. An Adam Calderon field goal pushed it to 38-7 going into the half. JP Allen hit Dekan Williams with a 33-yd TD early in the third before a Jeremiah ‘Pap’ Mintz pick-six that made it a 51-13 game. Jace Lyle got an 11-yd TD in the closing moments of the third, and the running clock did the rest.

#1 Stephens County 31, #4 Carver 13

The Indians blasted past Carver in a 31-13 home win to advance back into the second round and erase doubts from last week’s loss to Hebron Christian in the regular season finale.

#2 Union County 24, #3 ELCA 17 (Saturday)

The Panthers fought hard on Saturday afternoon and came out with a gritty 24-17 victory to advance to the Sweet 16.

#3 Rabun County 49, #2 Social Circle 14

The Wildcats went on the road and took a 49-14 win over Social Circle. #6-ranked Rabun County got started with a Ty Truelove TD to Willie Goodwyn. Reid Giles started his amazing night with a big TD run to push it to 14-0. Early in the second, Truelove hit Jarret Giles with a TD pass before the Redskins responded with a score. Noah English pounded in a TD just before the half, and then Goodwyn recorded a pick-six for the 35-7 halftime lead. Truelove had a TD run in the third before Giles got another TD to cap the Rabun scoring.

#2 Bremen 40, #3 White County 17

Bremen pulled away in the second half to down the Warriors, 40-17. White County was down 12-0 in the second before Ryan Fowler’s 3-yd TD got the Warriors on the board. Hayden Vanderiff’s 28-yd FG made it a 19-10 game going into the break. From there, Bremen took over and went up 40-10 until the closing minutes of the game when Fowler got a 28-yd TD to cap the game’s scoring.

#1 Douglas County 63, #4 Habersham Central 9

The Raiders fell in a quick hole and went on to lost 63-19 at Douglas County. DJ Pass found Zeke Whittington for a first half TD of about 10 yards, but Habersham only got a safety the rest of the way.

OTHER LOCAL GAMES

#2 Buford 50, #3 Wheeler 0
#1 Gainesville 40, #4 South Paulding 21
#1 Creekside 63, #4 Flowery Branch 6
#1 Stockbridge vs #4 North Hall (Saturday)