We continue our previews of the first round of the GHSA Football playoffs. In this edition, our Class 6A previews feature Mays-Northview, Heritage-Coffee, Stephenson-Bradwell Institute and Allatoona-Gainesville. As always, thank you for reading. Please feel free to share and let us know if there are any errors. Best of luck to all teams competing in the playoffs.
The Skinny
After an opening week loss, the Mays Raiders have won 9 consecutive games and captured their 3rd region title in 4 years. The Raiders are averaging 28.7 points per game, while the defense is allowing 13.1 points per game. On offense, running back Tyree Nelson, receivers Zaire Thornton and Tavarious Carswell along with tight end JaQuari Wiggles give the Raiders plenty of options to attack with.
The Northview Titans are making their 3rd playoff appearance in school history. The Titans are averaging 31.5 points per game on offense and allowing 21.8 points per game on defense. Quarterback Beau Lark has passed for over 2,000 yards and 17-TDs. (Lark has also rushed for 522 yards.) Marcus Godbey is the teams leading rusher and also is one of the top receivers on offense. The offensive production looks great for Northview, but they have not beaten any teams that made the playoffs this year. With that said, we will like Mays by 17 this week.
The Skinny
The Heritage Patriots earned the No. 2 seed with a win over Lakeside, Evans last week. Heritage is back in the playoffs after missing out last season. The Patriots best postseason finish has been a trip to the 2nd round, which they have made three times in school history. Heritage is averaging 14.2 points per game on offense and also allowing 14.2 points a game on defense.
The Coffee Trojans have qualified for the postseason for the last six years. Coffee opened the season with five straight wins before facing the meat of their schedule. The Trojans averaged 31.1 points per game on offense and 14.1 points per game on defense. Quarterback A.J. Wilkerson has passed for 959 yards and 11-TDs. The team has rushed for 1,652 yards on the season, led by Jamal Paulk with 434 yards and 10-TDs. The Trojans are the road team this week, but we think the Region-1 schedule has prepared them well for this week. We like Coffee by 15 on the road.
The Skinny
The Stephenson Jaguars are winners of their last seven games. They have now made the playoffs in 20 consecutive seasons. The last two seasons, their post season has been short-lived, ending in the first round. The Jaguars are averaging 29.3 points per game while the defense is allowing only 7 points per game, with 3 shutouts to their credit. Deondre Jackson has been the Jaguars bell cow on offense.
Bradwell Institute comes into this game on a three game losing skid. The Tigers have made the post season in three out of the last four seasons. They are very balanced on offense, averaging 176 yards through the air and 175 yards on the ground. Quarterback Dariuse Cooper leads the team in rushing and passing. While Quintarius Chapman and Corrie Walker are the leading receivers. The Tigers are averaging 20.8 points per game on offense and allowing 26.6 points per game on defense. The three teams that Bradwell has beaten this season have a combined 4 wins between them. The Jaguars defense should be one of the best that the Tigers have seen. We like Stephenson by 24 this week.
The Skinny
Coach Gary Varner has taken the Allatoona Buccaneers to the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons. Allatoona’s two losses this season came by a combined 5 points to two teams that we have ranked No. 1 in their respective classes. The Bucs are averaging 30.2 points per game on offense while the defense has been rather stingy, allowing 13.6 points per game. Quarterback Dante Marshall has passed for 1,412 yards and 18-TDs. His primary target is Asante Das who has 28 receptions for 876 yards and 12-TDs. Defensively, Calvon Rucker and Eric Carty lead the Bucs in sacks with 7 and 6 respectively. We can’t talk about Allatoona without mentioning kicker Jude Kelley who is perfect on PATs and 80% with field goals, including a long of 54 yards.
Prior to last week, the Gainesville Red Elephants had won three straight games. The Red Elephants extended their string of consecutive playoff appearances to 20 this season. Gainesville also improved on their win total from a year ago. They are averaging 29.9 points per game and allowing 27.9 points per game. The Red Elephants have showed a propensity to score points in bunches late in the season, but we think Allatoona’s defense will be one of the best they’ve seen since Dacula’s back in October. We like the Bucs by 9 this week.