Americus-Sumter, Pelham fall after strong challenges

The high school football season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion Friday for Americus-Sumter.

Taking on a Thomson team that defeated them convincingly in the first round last season, the Panthers took the fifth-ranked Bulldogs into overtime Friday in Americus. But a missed extra point gave Thomson a 35-34 victory in the second round of the GHSA Class 4A playoffs.

Americus-Sumter (9-3) scored a touchdown with less than three minutes remaining to tie things at 28. Thomson had the ball first in overtime, scored a touchdown and kicked an extra point. Americus-Sumter then scored a touchdown, but the point-after kick missed the mark.

Pelham falls at Macon County

Macon County put on a strong second-half showing to defeat Pelham 41-28 in the second round of the GHSA Class 1A-Public playoffs.

Pelham lead 21-7 at halftime, but Macon County, last year’s Class 1A-Public champion, scored 34 second-half points to flip things the Bulldogs’ way in a game played in Montezuma.

Macon County travels to Irwin County next week. Pelham finishes with a 9-3 record.

Second-round upsets

Two top-ranked teams in the Georgia Sports Writers Association polls exited the playoffs Friday in significant upsets.

Lowndes, No. 1 in the Class 7A poll, fell 36-31 to unranked McEachern. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ninth-grade quarterback Carlos Del Rio rallied McEachern from a 31-14 deficit in the game’s final four minutes, throwing a 30-yard pass to Genuine Potts with 54.8 seconds to go to win it.

In Class 4A, Cartersville, led by Clemson-bound quarterback Trevor Lawrence, considered to be one of the top two quarterback prospects in the country in the Class of 2018, lost 21-17 to seventh-ranked Blessed Trinity. The loss snapped Cartersville’s 41-game winning streak.

According to the AJC, Jake Smith threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Davis with 12 seconds remaining to secure the victory for Blessed Trinity.

Also losing Friday was Grayson, last year’s Class 7A champion, which fell 35-28 to North Gwinnett.

Across Southwest Georgia

Class 7A: Tift County topped Hillgrove 31-24, while Colquitt County beat Walton 28-21 … Tift County heads to Brookwood next week, while Colquitt County travels to Archer.

Class 6A: Coffee rolled past Evans 55-21, while Tucker stopped Northside-Warner Robins 28-7 … Coffee heads to Alpharetta next week.

Class 5A: Warner Robins edged Eagle’s Landing 26-23 while Starr’s Mill defeated Bainbridge 49-28 … Warner Robins hosts Carrollton next week.

Class 4A: Burke County ended Cairo’s season 41-23.

Class 3A: The remaining Region 1-3A teams were eliminated, with Crisp County falling 26-25 to Pike County and Jenkins edging Cook 35-34.

Class 2A: Thomasville doubled up Dublin 44-22, while Brooks County defeated Dodge County 35-17 … Brooks County hosts Callaway next week, while Thomasville hosts Heard County.

GISA, GICAA playoffs

Valwood and Memorial Day secured GISA championships Friday in Macon.

In the Class 3A title game, Valwood edged Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg 14-9. Memorial Day shut out Robert Toombs 21-0 for the Class 2A title.

In the GICAA, Community Christian will host Creekside Christian this Friday to determine that association’s 11-man football title. Community Christian beat Georgia Christian 41-14 and Creekside Christian topped Skipstone 56-6 in Friday’s semifinals.

Softball signings

The pitchers from Worth County’s Elite Eight softball team have signed with colleges.

Caroline Newton signed with Middle Georgia State on Wednesday, while Taylor Layfield signed Friday with ABAC.

Note to basketball coaches

High school basketball coaches are invited to submit game results to the Herald for publication.

Email game reports to [email protected], either the night of your game or the morning following your game. Include the final score, the top scorers from each team and any other pertinent information for publication.