The second

round of the state football playoffs begins tonight at 7:30 p.m. East

Coweta is the only local team hosting a game tonight. Both Starr's Mill

and Landmark Christian must travel.

East Coweta

(11-0) will host the Westside, Macon Seminoles (9-2). The Seminoles are

coached by Robert Davis, who built the Warner Robins program before taking

the job at Westside several years ago. Though they lost to Dacula in the

Corky Kell Kickoff Classic and to Northside on Oct. 19, the Seminoles

looked impressive in their wins. The Seminoles only allowed 53 points

in their wins this season. After their loss in the Dome, Westside shut

out the next three teams they faced. They defeated Colquitt County last

Friday, 9-7.

East Coweta

is no longer a secret. The Indians got huge games from Preston Stricklin

and Derek White last week as the team piled up 486 yards of offense in

a 41-13 win over Wayne County. They will stick with what got them this

far tonight. Though they have two great running backs, the Indians can

also beat teams in the air and their defense is capable of turning a game

around by creating turnovers. This will be a very interesting game. The

winner will play the winner of the Parkview/Roswell game next Friday.

Starr's Mill

(9-2) finds itself in a spot similar to last year. The Panthers had to

travel to Warner Robins in the second round and face a formidable opponent.

They outlasted the Demons in inclement weather and won 21-7. Northside

(10-0) is a different opponent entirely. The Eagles have a great quarterback

in Chansi Stuckey, a third year starter, who is a running threat. Other

players to watch are running back George Washington and fullback Nate

Haslem. Their defensive backs are all seniors and have lot of experience

and speed.

Starr's Mill

is not easily intimidated though. They have a lot of threats on offense

too, including Chris Strauch, Bobby Clark, Recarta Heard and Johnny Edwards.

Quarterback Patrick Mullinix has improved from week to week and now leads

the offense with confidence. The Panthers also have a great defense. Jason

Earwood, Erik Advincula, Andrew Bashakes and Deante Battle are just some

of the defenders that turn in great performances every week. Almost every

defender has made a big play at one time or another in their career at

Starr's Mill, changing the tone of the game in an instant. One can only

wonder who will make the key play tonight. The winner of this game will

face the winner of the Chattahoochee/Dacula game.

Landmark Christian

(7-3) will get their chance to face Athens Academy (8-1), ranked second

in Class A, tonight. The Spartans have had a super year, beating the Commerce

Tigers for the first time in six years, and sitting near the top of the

Class A rankings. Athens Academy, coached by Michael Gunn, has a high

powered offense. Running back Trey Young, who sat out last week due to

a minor hamstring pull, is the leading rusher in the Northeast. Quarterback

Joe Tereshinski also has two weapons in receivers in Keith Guest and David

Allen. Their defense is also quite good. Last week, the Spartans held

Wesleyan to 154 yards of offense.

Landmark is

building a great program. The War Eagles will only lose seven players

to graduation in the offseason and the sophomores are turning in great

performances every week. Alex Mortensen is quarterbacking the team with

poise and confidence and it seems as though there is a new talent in the

backfield every week. Last week it was Eric Worrell who scored two touchdowns.

Other running threats are Dylan Hanes and Sean Hill. Ben King, one of

the seniors on the team, had 17 tackles last week and caught a touchdown

pass in last week's game. The winner of tonight's game will play Claxton

and Clinch County.

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