Hughes coach Daniel “Boone” Williams had plenty to celebrate after his team defeated North Forsyth in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. In addition to advancing to the second round, Williams earned his 50th career victory.

Williams is in his fifth season at Hughes and has compiled a record of 50-14 with region championships in 2021 and 2022 and the school’s first state title in 2022, when the Panthers went 15-0.

Hughes beat North Paulding 41-7 and will play at Rome on Friday. A victory would give Hughes its fourth straight season with double-digit victories. Hughes beat Rome 42-3 in the state semifinals last year.

Jenkins’ Welch earns No. 50

Tony Welch earned the 50th victory of his career in grand style when his Jenkins team upset Region 4 champions and once-beaten Arabia Mountain 14-13 in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Welch is in his third season at Jenkins after spending four years at Claxton, his alma mater, three years at Savannah and two seasons at Memorial Day. His teams have qualified for the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons, including the last five.

He guided Savannah to the second round in 2016 when the Blue Jackets went 9-3, the fifth-most wins in that program’s long history. That was the program’s first playoff appearance in 23 years.

Lumpkin County

Mason Sullens rushed for 127 yards to help Lumpkin County record its first state playoff victory.

Credit: Access WDUN

First playoff wins for Bryan, Lumpkin

The football teams at Lumpkin County and Bryan County made history last week by winning the first playoff game in their school’s history.

Lumpkin County, coached by Heath Webb, beat Gordon Lee 52-6 in the Class 3A playoffs. The Indians, who began playing football in 1951, are 11-0 and host Oconee County in the second round. Mason Sullens ran for 127 yards and one touchdown and Cal Faulkner threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two others in Lumpkin County’s victory.

Bryan County, coached by Chenard Freeman, defeated East Laurens 55-14 in the Class A Division I playoffs. The Redskins, who began playing football in 1976, are 10-1 and host Pelham in the second round. Jacari Carney rushed for 183 yards and scored four touchdowns, one of them a 90-yarder, to lead Bryan County, which had been beaten by a combined 74-6 in its last two games against East Laurens.

“This was a real get-back game for us after the way they beat us the last two times,” Carney told the Savannah Morning News. “We were just focused a ready to go.”