We move on to the second round of the 7A GHSA Football Playoffs. Last week, the Cherokee Warriors scored the biggest upset in round won as they beat #1 seed Westlake by 18. Region 4 advanced 3 teams into the second round. This preview features matchups between McEachern-North Forsyth, North Gwinnett-Walton, Lowndes-Norcross and Grayson-East Coweta. 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 McEachern Indians beat North Paulding in back to back weeks as they now advance to the second round for the seventh consecutive season. The 29 points scored by North Paulding was the most that McEachern has surrendered this season. Prior to that, the most in a game was 15 points surrendered to East Coweta. Despite that, the Indians are outscoring their opponents 411-129.
The North Forsyth Raiders had a comeback of epic proportions as they came back from a 35-9 deficit to win their first playoff game since 2005. The win stopped a two-game losing skid. The Raiders have now scored over 40 points three times this season. North Forsyth has not won this season when they’ve been held to 21 points or less. We aren’t sure if the Raiders have any more magic left after last week. We like McEachern by four touchdowns this week.
The Skinny
North Gwinnett has advanced to the second round for the third consecutive season after downing Shiloh last week. The Bulldogs have now won 10 consecutive games after an opening season loss to Colquitt County. The Bulldogs defense has been stout this season, holding opposing teams to 17 points or less in all but three of their games. North Gwinnett has shut out two of their opponents this season, including their opponent this Friday night.
The Walton Raiders bounced back from their loss back on the last week of the regular season to edge Newnan by 3. The Raiders are in the second round for the third consecutive season. They have not advanced past the second round since they made a run to the finals in 2011. In all but one of Walton’s 5 losses, they were held to 10-points or less. We believe the young Raiders have matured and are better since the September 20th game against North Gwinnett when they were shutout 35-0, but we like the Bulldogs by 17 this week.
The Skinny
The Lowndes Vikings are undefeated on the season. They defeated Hillgrove last week to advance to the 2nd round for the fourth consecutive season. The Vikings closest margin of victory was an 11-point win over Colquitt County on November 1st. The Vikings defense has not allowed over 21-points in a game this season. They’ve held opponents to 8-points or less seven times this year.
The Norcross Blue Devils recorded their second shutout on the season last week to advance to the second round for the third time in four years. The Blue Devils have now won five consecutive games. Norcross has played a challenging non-region schedule this season. They are 3-5 against playoff teams this year. We like Lowndes this week by 24 at home over the Blue Devils.
The Skinny
The Grayson Rams picked up their second shutout in three weeks as they beat Mountain View on Friday night. The Rams have now won six consecutive games and have advanced to at least the second round for the sixth consecutive season. The Rams have not scored less than 30 points in a game during this current six game win streak. During that same stretch, the Rams are allowing only 9.8 points per game.
The East Coweta Indians rallied from 13 points down last week against Etowah to win their fifth consecutive game and advance to the second round for the second consecutive year. The Indians are the only team from Region-2 to advance past the first round. East Coweta is looking to get past the second round for the firs time since 2002 when they advanced to the semifinals. We know the Indians won’t quit, but we like the Rams by three touchdowns this week.