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Well, we’re almost there…

Still hard to believe…

Wasn’t August 1st just the other day…???

We started with 450 schools playing football and we’re now down to the final 28 chasing after championships- some Cinderella stories, some not so much, and some thought of as such even though they may not be…

Let’s review, shall we…???

First Thing I Know… 6A…

I don’t care what you say, Colquitt is NOT an 18-point underdog to Norcross this Friday night…

We’ve had them on our air the first round of the playoffs against McEachern, where they went on the road and took them out. They went to Newnan and Parkview and took them out, too…

Here’s Shayne in the Locker Room to remind us about that one…

And about the champs in the GISA as well…

((HT: WALB-TV))

WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Norcross will not be an accommodating host and North Cobb-Lovejoy will be a test of offense versus defense…

Second Thing I Know… 5A

I still think that Northside will be a tough hombre to bring down in 5A…

Frank and Courtney talk about their game with Tucker which is, usually, a finals match-up… and this one was another classic…

((HT: 13WMAZ-TV))

Ware County gets a lot of kudos for their defense and it should be a great game in Waycross. Gainesville’s offense will be on display against Whitewater on the right-hand side of the brackets.

Third Thing I Know… 4A

Sandy Creek is a beast and continues to be… they get Cinderella Monroe Area who wasn’t familiar with playing this time of year until Matt Fligg came in from Chestatee. They’ve made the playoffs the last three years- including the quarterfinals appearance in 2010.

On the other side, Marist continues to survive and advance 10 feet at a time and have to travel to Ridgeland to play a team that has made it to the playoffs every once in a while (more under head coach Mark Mariakis recently) and are playing in their first-ever semi-final… after having blown out Mary Persons in their first-ever quarterfinal…

The Rome News-Tribune was there…

Fourth Thing I Know… 3A…

Cartersville knocked off Thomson in the quarters, stopping their high-powered running game to advance to the semis against Buford…

Evidence from Matt Zahn at the 1:30 mark…

((HT: WJBF-TV Augusta))

On the right side, it’s North Hall (Buford’s region mate) and St. Pius- whose highlights you saw above along with Lincoln County’s win…

Is Buford “back” or are they just mad…???

Fifth Thing I Know… Double-A

A lot of people thought going in that the Brooks County-Calhoun game was for the Double-A title… a lot of people were in for a surprise when Calhoun took care of Brooks the way they did…

((HT: Rome News-Tribune))

And now Calhoun gets Lamar County, who is a bit of a Cinderella, under former Tucker head coach Franklin Stephens. The Trojans improved under Jason Strickland before he moved on to Fitzgerald and Stephens has brought his Tigers mentality to Barnesville. On the other side, it’s GAC and Jefferson. The Dragons have a great history in wrestling and head coach T. McFerrin brings his fifth school to the semifinals…

A state record…

Overtime: Single-A

Public side: You saw Lincoln County’s highlights against WilCo. They get man-mountain Montravius Adams and Dooly County while ECI takes on Wilcox in a dynamite semifinal of its own…

Here’s how ECI got here, beating Trion…

The Big Guy, Frank Sulkowski, has the highlights about 2:00 in…

((HT: TheCoastalSource.com/WJCL-TV))

On the private side, it still looks like everyone may be chasing ELCA who gets George Walton Academy. On the other side, it’s Landmark and Prince Avenue- who made it to last year’s final and semi-final respectively…

Double Overtime: From time to time, the GHSA gets asked to sanction sports and one that has come to my attention is bass fishing…

Yep, you heard me… bass fishing…

Got word from Mark Gintert, the TBF National Youth Director (mark@bassfederation.com), that there are currently around 10,000 high school students participating in High School fishing across the country… both Illinois and Kentucky will have High School fishing as an approved sport activity in 2013.

We have made presentations to several other State High School Athletic Associations and I'm confident that this sport will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years.

And from Coach Roy McWilliams in Tift County:

I had occasion to help some with the Tift County kids and Coach Bruce "Rooster" Begue, who has given tirelessly of his time to help start this club situation...and therefore know how solid this could be for our young people (older kids like myself, as well) in the near future. The responses we received from Bass Masters in Louisiana and the local Bass Fishing Clubs in the area has been phenomenal and we certainly thank and appreciate all.

You see the e-mail address to get in touch with Coach Gintert if you want to get involved or get more information on their efforts…

Play it safe, everyone… I’ll see you at the Dome…