Jackson County and Douglass ousted defending champions in the second round of the football playoffs Friday night, eliminating Milton and Calhoun, respectively, while Sumter County, Wheeler County and Whitfield Academy, along with Jackson County, made history by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time.
The three No. 1-ranked teams that faced ranked opponents came out alive, as Grayson beat No. 9 Colquitt County 31-10 in Class 6A, Hughes beat No. 8 Lee County 49-31 in 5A and Worth County beat No. 10 Bleckley County 38-35 in A Division I. The winners remained undefeated.
Jackson County’s 24-19 victory over sixth-ranked Milton, a nationally prominent program that entered this season on a 25-game winning streak, set off the loudest bells, however, even if the game was judged a near toss-up by the computer Maxwell Ratings.
Jackson County, 11-1 but unranked in Class 5A, was in control most of the way. Daylan Maxwell rushed for 178 yards, and his 3-yard run gave Jackson County a 24-7 lead with 2:21 left. Milton (9-3) scored twice in the final 90 seconds but failed to recover a second onside kick.
Jackson County had never won a region championship or a playoff game until this season and was unranked for this game. Milton won 5A last season and 6A the season before, and graduated 17 starters from its 2024 team, which finished top five nationally in almost every poll.
In Class 3A, Douglass beat second-ranked Calhoun 12-0 in the only other second-round game in which an unranked team beat a ranked one. Douglass (9-3) was pegged a 4-point underdog, as the Astros were the runner-up to Stephenson in Region 5. Calhoun entered averaging 38.4 points per game and hadn’t been held to less than 28 points this season.
South Georgia programs Sumter County and Wheeler County reached new heights.
Sumter County, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, beat North Murray 28-11 and reached the quarters for the first time. Sumter County opened in 2004.
In Class A Division II, No. 6 Wheeler County beat Warren County 28-20 and made its first quarterfinal. Wheeler County played its first varsity season in 1966 and also won its first region title this season.
Whitefield Academy, a Cobb County private school that fielded its first football team in 2002, beat Aquinas 48-21 in 3A-A Private to make its first final eight.
Lithonia, a DeKalb County school, made the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994 with a 38-7 victory over Centennial in Class 4A. Lithonia is 16-6 in two seasons under coach Kevin Barnes, who inherited a program that was 1-19 the previous two seasons.
Douglas County and Marist also had noteworthy victories. Douglas County, ranked No. 7 in Class 6A, needed overtime to beat North Cobb 30-24. Marist, the No. 6 team in Class 4A, beat No. 8 Blessed Trinity 28-10 in 4A.
West Forsyth reached the 6A quarterfinals for the second straight season as an unranked team after its 20-17 victory over Hillgrove. Walton also arrived unranked, as the Raiders beat East Coweta 49-14. Walton upset No. 4 McEachern in the first round.
The second round was largely free of upsets, as the computer Maxwell Ratings were wrong on just seven of the 64 games. Three of those involved 1-point favorites, including Milton.
Winning underdogs — besides Jackson County, Douglass and West Forsyth — were Cairo over Troup in 3A; Northeast over Swainsboro and Pepperell over Jasper County in A Division I; and Brooks County over Johnson County in A Division II.
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