Four teams from Fayette County are in the GHSA state playoffs next week.
The Sandy Creek Patriots finished second in Region 5-AAAA after closing out the regular season with a 23-8 win at Fayette County. They will host their game next week against Columbia. Woodward clinched the region title with its win over Carrollton.
The Whitewater Wildcats came in third after their 34-21 win over Troup in the regular-season finale and will travel to Marist next week.
The Fayette County Tigers snagged their first state playoff spot since 2007 by virtue of their tiebreaker over Carrollton, who they defeated earlier in the season. The Tigers are the fourth seed in the region and will play at St. Pius next week.
In Region 4-AAAAA, the Starr’s Mill Panthers won their play-in game 17-14 over Dutchtown and will play in Waycross next week against Ware County, the top-ranked AAAAA team in the state.
STARR’S MILL 17, DUTCHTOWN 14: In a rematch of a midseason game that went down to the final five seconds, the Panthers (6-4, 5-2) took a late lead and pulled out the win after a final defensive stand.
The Bulldogs took the lead midway through the first quarter on a 45-yard scoring run by Malik Barkley, who finished his career as Dutchtown’s all-time leading scorer and second-leading career rusher.
The Panthers got on the board on the next-to-last play of the first half when Brandon Oot kicked a 34-yard field goal with two seconds on the clock. After receiving the second-half kickoff, Starr’s Mill capitalized on second down as Stone Kasten connected with Satchel Goodrich on a 72-yard bomb to give the Panthers the lead.
Dutchtown struck back later in the third quarter. Starting at their own 2 after great Panther punt coverage, the Bulldogs picked up a quick first down before hitting paydirt on a D.J. Montgomery 87-yard scoring pass.
Starr’s Mill went ahead to stay early in the fourth, with Kasten tossing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Dion Munerlyn.
Dutchtown started its final drive at its own 20 with 3:17 left and no timeouts. They took the ball across midfield and converted a fourth-and-10 to reach the Panthers’ 27. But a pair of penalties moved the Bulldogs back 10 yards and they got no farther. On fourth-and-20, a field goal attempt of more than 50 yards was no good and Starr’s Mill finished in victory formation.
SANDY CREEK 23, FAYETTE COUNTY 8: The Tigers (4-6, 2-3) took the lead in the opening minutes when Jet Snellings returned an interception for a touchdown, but after that the Patriots (9-1, 4-1) were in control behind two Eric Swinney touchdowns and three Arnol Spaniol field goals.
UNION GROVE 17, McINTOSH 14: The Chiefs (3-7, 2-5) got an early touchdown on a Patrick Anderson interception return and another score later on a run by Duke Kinamon. They finished the season with 254 points, second in school history to last year’s 383.
WHITEWATER 34, TROUP 21: The Wildcats (7-3, 3-2) were in control the entire night, leading 34-7 in the third quarter against the last-place team in the region.
LANDMARK 48, OUR LADY OF MERCY 14: Lofton Tidwell ran for 231 yards and three touchdown to lead the War Eagles (8-2, 3-1) to the win and a certain playoff berth. The Bobcats (6-4, 2-2), like Landmark, now await the GHSA’s final Class A Private power rankings to see their state playoff fate.
