March Madness Playoff Bracket: Georgia High School Football
In an attempt to recreate a March Madness playoff bracket for the 64 best football teams in Georgia, I chose teams as ranked by calpreps.com. With a few adjustments to their rankings, I seeded the ideal 64-team bracket for high school football in Georgia regardless of classification.
While most Round of 64 matchups result in blowout victories, a few games end up proving worthy of recognition.
In a 4A-7A battle, (3) Marist’s defense outlasts the Aaron McLaughlin-led (14) Denmark passing game.
On the other side of the bracket, (7) Irwin County earns their second 7A win of the year by beating (10) Archer.
The Round of 32 features some rematches from earlier this season.
(3) Pierce County solidifies their claim to the 3A state championship by beating (6) Oconee County, and (2) Collins Hill easily dominates an overmatched region rival in (10) Mill Creek.
Every top-4 seeded team advances to the Sweet Sixteen with the exception of (4) Ware County, who loses at home to (5) Milton.
The Sweet Sixteen goes relatively as planned, with almost every 1- and 2-seed winning their games. I use “almost” because (2) Norcross falls to (3) Westlake in a well-balanced matchup. Despite strong blitz packages from Norcross, Westlake’s talent manages to outwork Norcross’s coaching. The Lions become the only team below a 2-seed to make the Elite Eight.
Every 1-seed stays undefeated in the tournament with wins in the Elite Eight.
(1) Colquitt County defeats (2) Lee County despite a valiant Trojan effort.
(1) Grayson limits (2) Lowndes to only 7 offensive points in a 24-point victory.
Jalen Addie and (1) Warner Robins continue their hot streak, laying over 40 points on a tired (3) Westlake secondary.
Lastly, (1) Buford proves they can compete with the best in 7A by defeating (2) Collins Hill, 31-21.
It’s time for an exciting Final Four and Championship.
The matchup that everyone wanted, but no one got: (1) Colquitt County versus (1) Grayson. With a healthy Xavier Williams, (1) Colquitt County jumps out to an early lead. However, (1) Grayson stiffens up defensively, allowing only 3 second-half points. The Rams break the hearts of the Packer nation with a 27-24 victory.
On the other side, (1) Buford and (1) Warner Robins provide a spectacle, but (1) Buford holds defensively to escape with a win.
It’s here: the ultimate state championship. (1) Grayson battles (1) Buford for the crown.
Sadly, the game does not live up to hype. Grayson defeats Buford to claim unanimous dominance over the state of Georgia.
On the bright side, it was fun to see several top-ranked matchups that we did not see this season. I doubt this idea will ever come to fruition, but until it does, we always have this.
Written by: Dhruv Mohan
