By By Adam Carrington
Marietta Daily Journal Sports Writer
The seven Cobb County football teams who advanced to the state playoffs have no plans for an early exit.
Playoff regulars such as Harrison, Walton, Marietta, Pebblebrook and Whitefield are looking to go deep in their respective brackets. North Cobb and Sprayberry, who haven't experienced much postseason experience in recent history, want to prove their regular season wasn't a fluke.
North Cobb won Region 5AAAAA and finished with an undefeated regular season record after routing Marietta 49-0 on the road, but has two defending state champions on their side of the bracket.
The Warriors, led by Matt Roark and Calvin Middleton in the backfield, are hosting co-defending champion Peachtree Ridge Friday in the opener and could potentially face another co-defending champion in Roswell if they advance.
"We can't look past that first one," North Cobb coach Shane Queen said. "We got a tough first game and we're not worried about that second week. We're going to handle it like business as usual. This is the first round of our playoffs, but we have to make sure we take care of ourselves."
Sprayberry put its bad history in the past by finishing with a winning record for the first time this century, which was good enough for a playoff berth as the No. 4 seed. The Yellow Jackets, behind tailback David Carter and quarterback Forrest Holt, may have their hands full with an experienced Brookwood squad this week.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to play in the playoffs and it's a great honor for the community," Sprayberry coach Billy Shackelford said. "One of our goals was to make the Georgia state playoffs and we've done that."
Region 6AAAAA champion Walton is back in the postseason and didn't have to overcome a rocky start like it did the past two seasons. Running back J.J. Jackson and the Raiders lost its season opener to North Gwinnett but have won nine in a row since. Parkview, which defeated Walton three years in the state semifinals, will visit Raider Valley on Friday.
"I'm sure we're going to talk about that a little bit, but you don't need to focus on that this time of year," Walton coach Ed Dudley said. "It's win and keep playing or lose and go home. It's a good game for our opener. We're lucky to have it at our place and are excited about getting to play them this week."
Harrison blew out six straight teams during the middle of the season with the help of Robbie Godhigh to finish second in 5AAAAA before falling to Campbell to end the regular season. The Hoyas are hosting Mill Creek in the first round and may face Walton in the second round if both teams win.
Whitefield offensive tandem of Trey Miller and Douglas German helped the Wolfpack into the playoffs and was in a tie with Landmark and Fellowship for the 5A lead. But they came out on the bottom end of the tiebreaker and will have to travel to Twiggs County - roughly 20 miles east of Macon.
Pebblebrook was too young to defend last year's 5AAAA title, but Jevontae Jefferson and Andre Sherrer tormented opposing defenses enough to get the Falcons back into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed. The Falcons will play at Rome on Friday.
acarrington@mdjonline.com
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