Photo by Jon Barash

Upsets galore made the second week of the playoffs a memorable one and threw several classifications up for grabs. Then Saturday’s coin tosses shifted the dynamic of a few more of the brackets, so now the races are wide open across the state. In Class AAAAA, suddenly it looks like the debate of Atlanta vs. South Georgia is over as Lowndes and Valdosta both took care of business against teams from the Atlanta area (Newnan and McEachern, respectively) while Colquitt County knocked out ML King 48-47 in a thriller at Hallford Stadium. The hopes for an Atlanta-area school to hoist the title took a big blow when North Gwinnett was felled by Grayson, who now travels to Valdosta. The Wildcats will have a home game to try and knock out the Rams, a Gwinnett County school with a strong defense and a great game-day coach in Mickey Conn.

Colquitt County will host Mill Creek in a match-up of a No. 3 vs. a No. 4 while No. 1 seeds Brookwood and Lowndes are both home against lower seeds Hillgrove and Collins Hill. Hillgrove opened up the entire bracket by eliminating two-time state champion Camden while Collins Hill can boast Taylor Heinicke, who has been a touchdown-throwing machine all season long. Lowndes also suffered a loss to Tift County late in the season, proving that they can be beaten.

In Class AAAA, another round and another favorite fell as 2009 state runner-up Clarke Central lost to East Paulding. Clarke Central was the popular pick after Northside Warner Robins fell in round one. Now Tucker will have to avoid the burden of extra expectations as now the Tigers figure to be the favorite to take the title over the likes of Chattahoochee and Kell.

In Class AAA, two powers will have to hit the road for the next round, which could lead to either Cairo or Peach County falling. Sandy Creek and Carrollton are both at home but defending champion Peach will travel to Grady for the third round and Grady’s new stadium is quite a home field advantage.

Class AA finds two huge Elite Eight match-ups in Cook traveling to Buford and Calhoun hosting Fitzgerald. The sites will play huge roles in these two games as many feel that maybe Cook could be the team to finally knock Buford from the playoffs. Now though Shannon Brown and company will have to do it in Buford’s backyard.

In Class A, Wesleyan won a huge coin toss and will host defending champion Wilcox County, saving the Wolves a long bus ride. The match-up will feature the previous two champions battling for a spot in the semi-finals.

A wild round two led to a wide open round three and while the favorites are hoping that the upsets stop, some Cinderellas are hoping the clock stays away from midnight for at least another week.