Round one of

the state football playoffs is over and four of the five local entrants

survived.

The only team

to lose Friday night was Landmark Christian, which lost to Adairsville

37-0.

Starr's Mill

hosted Wayne County at Tiger Stadium at Fayette County High School. The

Panthers started with the ball and looked impressive from their first

carry. The Panthers have lived off their running game all season and it

was no different Friday night as three different running backs Arlando

Hinton, Reuben Houston and Jason Laney each had a touchdown run.

The Panthers

also got two blocked punts, which Tim Fevella and Darrell Burston each

recovered for a touchdown.

The Panthers

had a 34-0 lead at the half and scored a touchdown late in the third quarter

and a field goal in the fourth. Wayne County started to generate an offense

in the second half, but it was too little, too late. The Panthers (11-0)

will now travel to Warner Robins (11-0) Friday night to take on the Demons.

Last week,

Warner Robins defeated Colquitt County 41-0. The Demons are ranked number

one in Class AAAAA, while the Panthers are ranked sixth in Class AAAAA.

The winner of this game will play the winner of the Chattahoochee/Brookwood

game away.

The other local

team from region 4-AAAAA to make it to the playoffs, the East Coweta Indians,

won their game against the Bradwell Institute Tigers 39-14. The Indians

led 20-14 at the half but scored 19 unanswered points in the second half

to take the win. East Coweta gained 353 yards of total offense to the

Tigers' 169 yards, as they set a new school record for most consecutive

wins.

The Indians

(11-0) will host Northside (10-1) Friday night. Last week, Northside defeated

Lowndes 28-3. Northside is ranked second in Class AAAAA, while the Indians

are ranked seventh. The winner of this game will play the winner of the

Parkview/Roswell game at home.

Sandy Creek,

a representative from region 4-AAAA, defeated Thomson 7-6 in overtime

to make it to the second round of the playoffs. Tied 6-6 at the end of

regulation, the Patriots got another solid performance from their defense,

which kept the Bulldogs on their side of the field in the overtime period.

Sandy Creek

won on penetration after Riley Swanson intercepted a pass with over a

minute and a half remaining in overtime. The Patriots had 308 yards rushing

on the night, including big bursts from Mark Lawson, Kelvin German and

Andre Green.

The Patriots

(9-2) will now travel to Columbus to take on the Shaw Raiders (10-0),

the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year and handed them

their first loss in the first week of this season. The Raiders, the top

ranked team in Class AAAA, defeated Sandy Creek 7-0 in the first game

of the year and defeated Worth County 27-7 last week.

Sandy Creek

is currently ranked seventh in Class AAAA. This is the first time in school

history that the football team has advanced to the second round of the

state playoffs. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Washington/Murray

County game away.

Northgate was

another team that survived in overtime to make the second round of the

playoffs. The Vikings, the top seed in 5-AA, hosted Darlington and won

11-10. The two teams were tied 3-3 at the end of regulation and the score

was the same after one overtime period. Darlington scored first and kicked

the extra point, but Northgate calmly went down the field on its drive,

scoring off a 15-yard pass from Mitch Stewart to Demarcus Hunter.

Instead of

kicking the extra point to tie, the Vikings went for the two-point conversion.

They faked the run and passed to Maurice Huffman, who scored and gave

the Vikings the win.

Northgate (10-1)

will host Putnam County (8-3) next Friday night. Putnam County defeated

Dawson County Friday night 36-12. The winner of this Friday's game will

play the winner of the Americus/East Laurens game away.

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