Class 6A Blog: Four road teams advance to Sweet Sixteen

The opening round of the Class 6A state playoffs produced one less road victory this year than last year’s first round that saw five teams earn road wins. Additionally, the playoffs last year saw two No. 4 seeds score victories with Archer defeating top-seeded Harrison 46-42 and Peachtree Ridge defeating North Atlanta 43-27. This year had just one No. 4 seed advance, but it was a huge one with Walton serving previously undefeated McEachern a 28-24 loss.

In the top left quadrant of the bracket, No. 3 seeded Colquitt County’s 35-17 win over Mill Creek was the lone road win. The bottom left quadrant saw No. 3 seed Hillgrove score a 28-25 win over host North Paulding. The other two road wins both came in the top right quadrant with East Coweta defeating Denmark 28-14 and Walton topping McEachern. The bottom right quadrant was the only one that played out with home teams advancing in each of the four games.

From a region standpoint, Region 1 and 2 advanced the most teams to the Sweet 16 with three each (Region 1-Valdosta, Lowndes, Valdosta), (Region 2-Carrollton, Douglas County, East Coweta). Regions 3 (Harrison, Hillgrove), 4 (Grayson, Newton), 5 (North Cobb, Walton) and 7 (North Gwinnett, Brookwood) each sent two teams into the second round and Region 6 (West Forsyth) and Region 8 (Buford) were the least successful with just one team advancing.

The top left quadrant of the bracket contains two of Class 6A’s remaining undefeated teams with Carrollton and Grayson. Carrollton will host Harrison this week, while Grayson will square off with Colquitt County. The Packers lead the all-time series against Grayson 4-2, nbut this will be the first meeting since 2019 between the two teams. In the first round, Colquitt was led offensively by UGA-commit Jae Lamar—who finished with four touchdowns to left the Packers to a 35-24 win over Mill Creek. Grayson led 44-7 at the half before closing out its victory over Norcross by the same margin and quarterback Deuce Smith finished an impressive 12-of-14 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns.  

Carrollton will play Harrison for the second time in the last three seasons and got the best of the Hoyas 54-14 when they met in the 2023 first round. Harrison quarterback Aiden Watson was heroic in the Hoya’s 45-35 win over Marietta—rushing for 180 yards and six touchdowns and throwing for 194 yards. Carrollton, defeated North Forsyth 58-17 and quarterbacks Mason Holtzclaw and CJ Cypher shared duties and performed exceptionally well.

Lowndes and North Gwinnett will meet for the first time since the 2019 semifinals and Hillgrove will travel to West Forsyth for the first clash between the schools since 2017. In the top right quadrant, East Coweta will host Walton in the first-ever meeting between the schools and Valdosta and Brookwood will face for the first time since 2014 with the all-time series tied 3-3.

In the bottom right quadrant, Douglas County travels to North Cobb in a rematch of last year’s 31-10 second round win by Douglas County. The final matchup will be Newton at undefeated Buford and this will be the team’s first meeting since 2019.

CLASS 6A RECORDS AND PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

REGION 1

Valdosta 4-1, 9-1, 10-1 [1]

Lowndes 4-1, 9-1, 10-1 [2]

Colquitt County 4-1, 8-2, 9-2 [3]

Richmond Hill 2-3, 6-4, 6-5 [4]

Camden County 1-4, 6-4

Tift County 0-5, 3-7

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

Valdosta (vs. Brookwood)

Lowndes (at North Gwinnett)

Colquitt County (at Grayson)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

Valdosta 56, Dacula 28

Lowndes 37, Collins Hill 16

Colquitt County 35, Mill Creek 24

Buford 45, Richmond Hill 0

REGION 2

Carrollton 4-0, 10-0, 11-0 [1]

Douglas County 3-1, 7-3, 8-3 [2]

East Coweta 2-2, 3-7, 4-7 [3]

Westlake 1-3, 4-6, 4-7 [4]

Chapel Hill 0-4, 1-9

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

Carrollton (vs. Harrison)

Douglas County (at North Cobb)

East Coweta (vs. Walton)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

Carrollton 58, North Forsyth 17

Douglas County 37, Lambert 14

East Coweta 28, Denmark 14

West Forsyth 49, Westlake 28

REGION 3

McEachern 7-0, 10-0, 10-1 [1]

Harrison 6-1, 9-1, 10-1 [2]

Hillgrove 5-2, 8-2, 9-2 [3]

Paulding County 4-3, 4-6, 4-7 [4]

Campbell 3-4, 6-4

Pebblebrook 2-5, 3-7

Osborne 1-6, 1-9

South Cobb 0-7, 2-8

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

Harrison (at Carrollton)

Hillgrove (at West Forsyth)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

Walton 28, McEachern 24

Harrison 45, Marietta 35

Hillgrove 28, North Paulding 25

North Cobb 64, Paulding County 20

REGION 4

Grayson 6-0, 10-0, 11-0 [1]

Newton 5-1, 7-3, 8-3 [2]

Archer 4-2, 6-4, 6-5 [3]

South Gwinnett 3-3, 5-5, 5-6 [4]

Rockdale County 2-4, 5-4

Grovetown 1-5, 4-6

Heritage-Conyers 0-6, 1-9

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

Grayson (vs. Colquitt County)

Newton (at Buford)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

Grayson 44, Norcross 7

Newton 33, Peachtree Ridge 14

Brookwood 42, Archer 21

North Gwinnett 49, South Gwinnett 16

REGION 5

North Cobb 5-1, 7-3, 8-3 [1]

North Paulding 5-1, 8-2, 8-3 [2]

Marietta 5-1, 5-5, 5-6 [3]

Walton 3-3, 5-5, 6-5 [4]

Wheeler 2-4, 3-7

Etowah 1-5, 3-7

Cherokee 0-6, 1-9

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

North Cobb (vs. Douglas County)

Walton (at East Coweta)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

North Cobb 64, Paulding County 20

Hillgrove 28, North Paulding 25

Harrison 45, Marietta 35

Walton 28, McEachern 24

REGION 6

West Forsyth 6-1, 8-2, 9-2 [1]

Denmark 6-1, 7-3, 7-4 [2]

Lambert 5-2, 6-4, 6-5 [3]

North Forsyth 4-3, 6-4, 6-5 [4]

North Atlanta 4-3, 5-5

Alpharetta 2-5, 2-8

Forsyth Central 1-6, 1-9

South Forsyth 0-7, 2-8

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

West Forsyth (vs. Hillgrove)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

West Forsyth 49, Westlake 28

East Coweta 28, Denmark 14

Douglas County 37, Lambert 14

Carrollton 58, North Forsyth 17

REGION 7

North Gwinnett 7-0, 9-1, 10-1 [1]

Brookwood 6-1, 8-2, 9-2 [2]

Peachtree Ridge 5-2, 7-3, 7-4 [3]

Norcross 4-2, 6-3, 6-5 [4]

Parkview 3-4, 4-6

Duluth 2-5, 4-6

Meadowcreek 1-6, 1-8

Berkmar 0-7, 0-10

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

North Gwinnett (vs. Lowndes)

Brookwood (at Valdosta)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 14

North Gwinnett 49, South Gwinnett 16

Brookwood 42, Archer 21

Newton 33, Peachtree Ridge 14

Grayson 44, Norcross 7

REGION 8

Buford 6-0, 10-0, 11-0 [1]

Mill Creek 5-1, 7-3, 7-4 [2]

Collins Hill 4-2, 6-4, 6-5 [3]

Dacula 3-3, 5-5, 5-6 [4]

Central Gwinnett 2-4, 4-5

Mountain View 1-5, 1-9

Discovery 0-5, 0-9

SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS

Friday, Nov. 21

Buford (vs. Newton)

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Buford 45, Richmond Hill 0

Colquitt County 35, Mill Creek 24

Lowndes 37, Collins Hill 16

Valdosta 56, Dacula 28

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