TIFTON — The GHSA playoffs begin this week, and four teams from the Tiftarea will be in first round action, while Tiftarea Academy will play in the second round of the GISA Class AA playoffs.
Tiftarea, after last week’s convincing 48-27 win over Robert Toombs, will host Arlington Christian in Chula on Friday.
Arlington Christian is led by quarterback Kase Cook. In a 48-28 win against Nathanael Greene Friday, Cook completed 16 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns.
For the season, Cook has thrown for 2,348 yards on 117-of-226 passes. The senior has passed for 28 touchdowns.
Tiftarea rushed for nearly 450 yards in last week’s playoff win, as Chandler Hammond and Rhett Hammond both broke 150 yards for the game.
The offensive line of Will Fender, Zach Chizik, Steven McMillian and company dominated at times up front.
In Class A GHSA action, Turner County will look to get out to a fast start in Ashburn when the Rebels host the Terrell County Greenwave at Alan Hobby Field.
Turner dominated Hawkinsville last weekend 34-3, and continue to be led by a dynamic offense.
Kenveyon Newberry, the Turner quarterback, has had a monster year for the Rebels. The senior has thrown for 2,082 yards on 120-of-247 passing, and 19 touchdowns.
A quartet of receivers have helped the Rebels to an 8-2 finish in the regular season.
Hiawatha Parker has 39 receptions for 786 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Javon Caswell has 25 catches for 502 yards and three touchdowns.
Also, Lester Green has 31 grabs for 448 yards, and Todd Lawson has 20 receptions for 309 yards this season.
In Class AA, two teams from Region 1-AA will start on the road with tough games against Region 2-AA schools.
Cook will travel to Baxley Friday to take on the Appling County Pirates.
Appling won the region’s No. 1 seed due to a coin flip.
The Hornets won convincingly over Early County last week, 49-14, and Cook will look to upset a team that is 9-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of McIntosh County Academy — one of the three teams that tied for the Region 2 championship.
Fitzgerald gets a shot at the third team that tied for the league title in Charlton County.
Charlton is the No. 2 team in Region 2, based on their 20-0 win over McIntosh Co. Academy last week.
The Indians and the Hurricane are no strangers to each other on the gridiron. While in the same region in 2004 and 2005, the Hurricane defeated the Indians twice to win region titles (26-22 in 2004, 29-22 in 2005).
Charlton County went on to win state titles in each of those seasons.
While those playoff games will kick off Friday, the Tift County Blue Devils will have a chance to rest an extra day before taking on the Martin Luther King Lions Saturday in Clarkston.
MLK won the No. 2 seed from Region 2-AAAAA with a 35-17 drubbing of Union Grove Friday night.
The Lions are led by Mack Brown, one of the top junior running back prospects in the state.
Brown is a transfer from Redan High, where he rushed for 1,048 yards as a sophomore last season. Through nine games at his new school, Brown has rushed for over 1,300 yards for a team that averages over 200 yards per game rushing the football.
Tift had an impressive 30-27 win over Coffee last week to claim the third seed in Region 1-AAAAA. According to official statistics, Stevan Toomer rushed for 92 yards on 17 attempts, while Deon Jackson had 71 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jordan West kicked three extra points, three field goals — including the game winner from 22 yards out.
The senior also had six kickoffs inside the 5-yard line, including three touchbacks in the game.
Shayon Green had 14 stops in the game for Tift, including three tackles for loss, and Josh Abbott and Dominique Rich each had eight tackles in the game for the Devils.
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in Clarkston.
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