Let me start by saying WOW, I CANNOT BELIEVE Southwest DeKalb lost in the second freaking round. WOW. That score hit me like I was Jimmy Clausen. And the thing that really spits in my face, Westside Macon made it to the Elite 8. AWESOME. I wasn't just wrong but Karma hocked a big ole loog RIGHT in my Orange Mocha Frappacino of life....or at least my OMF of a bracket. Now to top it all off, North Clayton will face Clarke Central and Clarence Jackson will run all over the Gladiators (That's C-CHS's mascot, right?) We could have seen CJax against Ken Malcome, but NOOOOOOO, Clarke-Central had to go and ruin everything. Just kidding. Kudos to Clarke-Central for turning the clock back to when they dominated and getting a huge win.
Sticking with Class AAAA, Hiram also fell by the wayside and Rockdale County (get your penicillin ready!) now faces Westside Macon. You know the Seminoles LOVE proving me wrong and Robert Brown will be ready to rub it in my face with every win. Did I really smacktalk the Noles on GPB's pregame show last week? Wow, maybe I did. MOTIVATION STATION, the Disrespect train has departed to the western side of the city of Macon. Sorry guys. (But I won't be wrong until you win the state title, so I'll always have THAT to fall back on.)
Griffin now looks like the front runner, especially with the Wildcats of Apalachee next on the schedule. I like Apalachee as a team (I called their games two years ago, so they have a special spot in my heart) but you have to know that the luck is going to run out eventually. They pulled a Les Miles-2007 style against Marist and eventually even Les Miles ran out of luck. (See last week v Ole Miss). Maybe the Lach-key kids can keep it up...but I don't know if I see it.
Finally in AAAA, Sandy Creek has to go TO TCC and I think Sandy Creek wins, setting up the defacto State title game next week against Griffin. Rajion Neal is good. You hear me Fighting Patriot people! HE IS GOOD, GET OFF MY BACK!
Moving on to AAA (We'll save AAAAA for last!), Peach Co wants it third title in five years and while Cole Moon and St. Pius X is a tough Elite8 opponent, I feel that the Trojans are rolling right now. 29-6 over WaCo? Wow. Peach Co has its QB healthy and he is putting on a show in AAA. Jackson at home should roll Eastside (another team I belittled on GPB's pregame show. They only won 20-13 at HOME against Carrollton. I am right about them, even if I'm wrong about WS-M).
On the other side of the bracket, Cairo advanced with a win over Baldwin, albeit a 9-7 win. Cairo's run to a second title ends this weekend against Gainesville. Blake Sims was realitively sharp for 142 plus 1 and 1, but the defense was ohso tough, limiting Dunwoody to 101 yards. Gainesville will blitz Cairo, maybe starting in the third quarter and walk away with a 35-6 win?
Finally, Conner Shaw and the FloBranch Falcons continue a cinderella run through the playoffs but the clock could strike midnight in Columbus against Carver. Why? Isaiah Crowell moreso than Corey Crawford or Devin Burns. Both of those guys are playmakers (on defense and as QB) but Crowell has another gear and is only a JUNIOR running back. Dare I say best in the state? I DARE! And that includes seniors.....
Cannot wait for Crowell and Burns to go against Sims and Jones.
In Class AA, Calhoun, Buford and Fitzgerald all should win home games to move to the F4, but Lovett goes on the road to face Charlton Co. Hmmmmmmmm Charlton may be able to win this game at home, especially since they aren't going head-to-head against Booford. Lovett has crushed East Jackson and Chattooga but Charlton is a different animal. CharCo won a couple of state titles right before Buford began its run, for the record. I know Lovett made it to the title game two years ago and beat Buford earlier this year, but going ON the road....might be tough. I think the home team wins. That means Charlton. Sorry Lovett Lions. Sorry JCarkhuff.
In classA, Wesleyan went to OT with Bowdon? Wiskey Tango Foxtrot? They are at home this weekend, so I believe they'll recover and shake out the funk that maybe got them thinking they could just one-minute-waltz-in-45-seconds right to another state title....but they WILL win the title. They just needed a wake-up call. Consider the giant awake.
Finally we move to Class AAAAA....
I did the Colquitt Co/Stephenson game and the defensive struggle was one, until the middle of the third quarter. Then the offensive floodgates opened. Rush Propst was great to watch on the sidelines: he jumped, he pouted, he fist-pumped. And The Colonel was a pleasure to watch on the first drive. The thing that sticks out to me is, and Scott Janovitz of Score Atlanta agreed with me, if Stephenson had a QB that could play mistake-free, this team would have won the state playoffs. His Pick-6 allowed Colquitt to stay in the game in the first half and his two other INTs gave Colquitt life when the Jags were poised to finish off the game. Stephenson loses some great players (many on defense) but the QB will return next season. Hopefully Coach Gartrell will work with him all spring and summer to get him ready to make amends.
In other action, Peachtree Ridge got a huge night from its defense (mainly Twan Sandridge's 3.5 sacks) to beat Brookwood 21-6. The Lions now get to take Brad Roby and the rest of Suwanee (well, not really...) down to Northside Warner Rob..(Oh, wait, we don't call them that. Just Northside), to face the Eagles and Shaq O'Neal. The last time PTR faced a team from Region 1-aaaaa, it was over in the first 60 seconds. The Lions MUST not beat themselves it they want to pull off another trip to the final four.
I couldn't say all of Suwanee will go down to Warner Rob...Northside because Grayson will host Newnan and the NoGwin Bulldogs will host Camden Co. The latter was a huge flip of the coin because that means the defending champs, just one week after facing Lowndes, have to get on a bus and drive for 7 hours (maybe?) up to the land of Fletcher for a bout with the Bulldogs. CJ Uzomah and that OLine will be ready to bust open holes and I like the Bulldogs in this one, mainly so the Chick-fil-A will continue to keep NGHS on the windows. Seriously though, Lowndes did it on the ground whereas the Bulldogs CAN throw the ball. I think Camden is in trouble.
And moving over to Grayson, the Rams defense will face the Newnan defense (just not at the same time) WOW. First team to score wins? Alec Ogletree is really good (REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD) at safety and can even catch a ball or two as a receiver, but the Rams are JUST as good with multiple players making plays (meaning if one player has a bad game, three others are there to step up) and Ean Pemberton is still a Ram running back. Heart of a GIANT!
Finally, Hutson Mason threw for 8 TDs last week and has a shot to break the state TD single season TD record this week. But the biggest thing will be Chip Lindsey v Rush Propst. Former OC v Former Coach from Hoover High in Bama. Having watched both of these teams, I really don't know which will win. Colquitt has a dominant defense with enough offense to win, but Lassiter could EASILY put 6 TDs up in the first half and end it, good defense or not on the other side. But I've also seen Mason struggle against Walton for moreorless a half of football. WOW. If I HAD to, I'd take Lassiter and think that Mason will have a big game. (PS, he told 680 last week that Miss State, and UVa were looking at him. Al Groh or Al Golden or Tommy Tuberville NEEDS to get this guy up to Charlottesville. DO IT). That should be the GPB game of the week though, and BOY will it be a good one. It's a shame I will be missing it, but I might just watch on gpb.org/football....and you should too!
Have a great Turkey Day and SBF will break all of it down again next week.
1 comment:
you didn't have to drive all the way to Colquitt for that one did you???
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