Our last set of week two GHSA-7-A Playoff previews are listed below. This preview features matchups between East Coweta-TIft County, Archer-Parkview, McEachern-COlquitt County, and West Forsyth-North Gwinnett. Congratulations to all of these teams that won their first round game. Best of luck to you all as you play this Friday.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to contact me if there are any errors.
Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
Tift County scored the at-large bid and made the most of their opportunity by beating Roswell on the road. This week, the Blue Devils will head back to metro Atlanta; this time to take on the East Coweta Indians. If Tift County is going to advance, they’ll need to slow down Gerald Green. Green has rushed for 1,369 yards, including 270 yards last week against Marietta. The Indians are averaging 28.4 points per game, but are giving up 34.2 points per game. Mike Jones went over the century mark for the 4th time this season. He’s got 1,005 yards on the season. Tift is averaging 33.9 points per game this season. If East Coweta can get Green going again, they could make their deepest run in the playoffs since 2002. We think that Tift will be up to the task this week to take down the Indians. We like Tift by a touchdown.
This game might be the best game of the second round in Class 7-A. Both the Archer Tigers and Parkview Panthers have been playing at a high level this season. The Tigers are averaging 41.7 points per game this season. (Their only losses are to Milton and Grayson, two top-10 teams that are still alive in the playoffs.) The Tiger’s defense has pitched 3 shutouts this season. Meanwhile the Panthers have gone undefeated in 2018, with their offense generating 45.8 points per game, while their defense is only surrendering 13.8 points per game. Both teams have a common opponent in Milton; Parkview beat Milton by 2 while Archer lost to Milton by the same margin. We think this game will come down to the wire, but we like Parkview at home by a field goal.
The Skinny
McEachern and Colquitt County will face off for the second time this season. Colquitt won the first meeting by 34 points. The Colquitt County Packers got off to a slow start last week, but did put away the Etowah Eagles in the second half. Jaycee Harden has guided the Packers with 1,906 passing yards and 19-TDs. His offense is scoring 46.1 points per game while the defense is giving up 9.6 points this season. McEachern’s offense is averaging 41.8 points per game behind quarterback Carlos Del Rio, and running backs Jordan Simmons and Paris Brown. We really think both teams have improved since game one, but we don’t think that McEachern has closed the gap that much. The Indians are talented, but we still think the Packers are at least two touchdowns better thank McEachern this week.
The Skinny
The North Gwinnett Bulldogs continue their march to the Benz. This season, the North Gwinnett defense is giving up 12.2 points per game. The Bulldogs have shutout their last 3 opponents. Ty Goodson left last week’s playoff game early, but Devin Crosby was able to pick up the slack for the Bulldogs. North Gwinnett’s opponent this week will be the West Forsyth Wolverines. West has won their last 5 games. They have challenged the likes of Roswell, and Camden County this season as well. The West offense is averaging 27.3 points per game, while their defense is allowing 21.2 points. This game should be close for 3 quarters, but we expect the Bulldogs to pull away late and win this one by two touchdowns.