The high school

football playoffs are still going on and three of our local teams are

still going as well.

East Coweta

and Starr's Mill both remained undefeated as they upset their opponents

Friday night. The Indians hosted Northside and won 14-7, while the Panthers

defeated Warner Robins 21-7 on the road and in overtime. Northgate, the

top seed from 5-AA, edged out Putnam County 17-14 to make it to the quarter-finals,

while Sandy Creek lost to Shaw 8-7.

East Coweta

(12-0) recovered two Northside fumbles in the first quarter and quickly

built a 14-0 lead. The score remained the same until the third quarter,

when the Indians fumbled a punt, setting up a Northside touchdown. East

Coweta's defense teamed up with the sloppy conditions to throw the Eagles'

offense out of whack. Northside is a powerful running team but was forced

to throw more than usual and was unsuccessful.

The Indians

have now set a school record with their 12-game winning streak. The only

other squad in school history to advance this far was the 1994 team, which

lost in its next game. East Coweta will host Parkview this Friday and

a win could put the Indians in the Georgia Dome the following weekend

against the winner of the Shiloh - Westside, Macon game.

Starr's Mill

(12-0) played against the Warner Robins Demons in similarly poor conditions,

but things got considerably brighter for the Panthers in overtime. Starr's

Mill got two touchdown runs in the overtime, one from Jason Laney and

one from Reuben Houston, to vault the Panthers into the quarter-finals

with a 21-7 win. Houston finished with 168 yards, while Laney finished

with 139 yards.

Each win for

Starr's Mill puts another page in the history books. This team is the

first to have a playoff win, the first to make the quarter-finals and

the first with a 12-game winning streak. The Panthers will play at fifth-ranked

Brookwood (11-1) Friday night. A win would pit them against the winner

of the Mt. Zion, Jonesboro - Harrison game.

Northgate (11-1)

played Putnam County Saturday in foggy conditions. The Vikings got 123

yards rushing from Kenny Strozier and two quarterback sneaks of a yard

for touchdowns by Mitch Stewart to secure the 17-14 win over Putnam County.

The Vikings

(11-1) will travel Friday night to face Americus, which defeated East

Laurens last week, 48-0. A win against Americus would put Northgate in

the semifinals against the winner of the Charlton County - Cartersville

game.

The results

were not as kind to the Sandy Creek Patriots. Sandy Creek faced the Shaw

Raiders in Columbus Friday and lost in overtime 8-7. It was the second

time the Patriots faced Shaw this season and it was the second time they

lost. Shaw also was the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last

year. Sandy Creek finished 9-3 and made it further than any team in school

history.

The Patriots

struck first, scoring off a 77-yard run by quarterback Andre Green in

the first quarter. Shaw answered several plays later and the two teams

remained deadlocked until the second overtime period. Shaw advanced to

the Sandy Creek 13-yard line and won on penetration.

The Patriots

had their share of opportunities in the game, recovering four Raiders

turnovers, but could not score. They had 159 yards of total offense, while

Shaw ran up 267 yards of offense.

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