It’s not a good time to be seeded in the top-left quadrant of the Class 3A playoff bracket, where four of the top six ranked teams landed in the new power rankings format that was put into effect this season.
No. 3 Jefferson, No. 4 Oconee County, No. 5 Cherokee Bluff and No. 6 Jefferson will have the toughest route to make the finals, which will be played at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Here’s the bracket breakdown:
In the top-left quadrant: Monroe will play No. 3 Jefferson; No. 4 Oconee County will play Westside-Augusta; No. 6 Westover will play Luella, and No. 5 Cherokee Bluff will play Monroe Area. Cherokee Bluff defeated Monroe Area 52-24 on Oct. 11.
If Jefferson and Oconee County win, they will meet in the second round for a rematch of the regular-season game which Oconee won 32-30 in triple-overtime.
In the bottom-left quadrant: No. 2-ranked Sandy Creek is the only top-10 team in the group and will host Adairsville in the opening round. If Sandy Creek wins its opening round matchup, it will face the LaGrange/Lumpkin County winner. At the top of the quadrant, North Hall will play Gilmer, and Long County will face Upson-Lee.
In the top-right quadrant: There’s one game between ranked teams in the first round -- No. 10 Cairo travels to No. 9 Douglass at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Top-ranked Peach County will host Chestatee, and if the Trojans win, they’ll play either West Laurens or Baldwin. Calhoun is ranked No. 7 in the class, and if it beats Spalding it will face the winner of the Douglass-Cairo game.
It is worth noting that if Peach County and Calhoun both advance to the quarterfinals, we will be greeted with a rematch of the controversial state championship game in 2017, which Calhoun won 10-6. The programs have not played since 2019, when Peach won 35-0 in the second round of the playoffs.
In the bottom-right quadrant -- No. 8 Stephenson is the only ranked program and will play at home against Whitewater in the opening round. The Jaguars advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 4A bracket last season. In 2005, head coach Ron Gartrell led Stephenson to the semifinals, the team’s deepest playoff run in history.
Northwest Whitfield enters the playoffs with a road trip to Jenkins, and Southeast Bulloch travels to Heritage-Catoosa. Defending-champion Cedar Grove travels to Harlem. The Saints have advanced to the state championship game six times since 2016 and won five titles during that span, only losing to Sandy Creek on a controversial call in 2022. Cedar Grove’s worst playoff finish in that span? A quarterfinal exit in 2020.
Class 3A first-round schedule
Top-left
Monroe at No. 3 Jefferson
No. 4 Oconee County at Westside-Augusta
Luella at No. 6 Westover
Monroe Area at No. 5 Cherokee Bluff
Bottom-left
Gilmer at North Hall
Long County at Upson-Lee
LaGrange at Lumpkin County
Adairsville at No. 2 Sandy Creek
Top-right
Chestatee at No. 1 Peach County
West Laurens at Baldwin
No. 10 Cairo at No. 9 Douglass (5:30 p.m., Sat.,)
Spalding at No. 7 Calhoun
Bottom-right
Whitewater at No. 8 Stephenson
Northwest Whitfield at Jenkins
Southeast Bulloch at Heritage-Catoosa
Cedar Grove at Harlem
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