We move on to the second round of the 3A GHSA Football Playoffs. Last week, all of the #1 seeds advanced to the second round. Region 7 advanced 3 teams into the second round. This preview features matchups between Jenkins-Dawson County, North Murray-Jackson, Crisp County-North Hall and Jefferson-Appling County. Please let us know if there are any errors. As always, thanks for reading. Best of luck to all the teams competing this weekend!
The Skinny
The Jenkins Warriors are back in the second round of the playoffs for the fourth straight season. (Jenkins made it to the quarterfinals the past two seasons.) Jenkins ha now won 9 straight games and their only loss was a three point setback to Class 5A South Effingham. The Warriors picked up their fourth shutout of the season and since their loss back in August, have only surrendered 35 total points. The defense is only allowing 6.9 points per game.
The Dawson County Tigers are in the second round of the playoffs for the forth time in five years. The Tigers have won three of their last four games this. Dawson County has now defeated two playoff teams this season. We believe the Tigers will be a tough out, but like Jenkins by 10 this week.
The Skinny
The North Murray Mountaineers have advanced to the second round for the second time in school history. North Murray has now won a program best 10 games in a season. The Mountaineers have not lost since their opening week defeat at the hands of Rabun County. The Mountaineers have not lost when they score 24 points or more this season.
The Jackson Red Devils are in the second round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. The Red Devils are winners of six of their last seven games coming into Friday night’s matchup. Jackson has defeated three playoff teams this season. We believe North Murray will be victorious. We like the Mountaineers by 6 at home.
The Skinny
The Crisp County Cougars have advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the third time in four years. The Cougars have now won their last five games and have only allowed opposing teams 27 points during that stretch. Crisp has now shut out two opponents on the year. The Cougars three losses have come to teams in Class 4A and 5A by a combined 10 points. They have defeated five playoff teams this season.
The North Hall Trojans are in the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. North Hall has now won five consecutive games. The Trojans have now defeated three playoff teams. Both of North Hall’s last two wins have come by 3-point margins. The Trojans will be looking to get the run game established again this week. We believe Crisp will keep them in check Friday night. We like the Cougars by 10 at home.
The Skinny
The Jefferson Dragons move on to the second round for the seventh time in eight years. The Dragons have won nine straight since their Week-1 loss to Oconee County. Jefferson has scored 30+ points in seven of their games this season. The Dragons are now 5-1 against playoff teams this season.
The Appling County Pirates advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The Pirates have won their second straight game and have won five of their last six. Appling is 6-2 against playoff teams this season. The biggest question in this matchup will be whether either defense can slow down the opposing ground games. If it becomes a shootout, we like Jefferson. We don’t think it will, but we like Colby Clark and the Dragons anyway by 9 at home.