Our Favorite First Round Playoff Match Ups

Each year, the first round of the playoffs always has some underrated match ups, and close contests. This past week, not only were there plenty of close match ups, but there were games that went down to the wire in overtime. Below, we listed 4 of our favorite first round playoff match ups, and have taken some time to outline the scoring in each of these games, and how each team stacked up against each other throughout the course of the game. Going into next week, as the competition will look to get stiffer, it will be interesting to see how some of the match ups shape up within 7A football in the state of Georgia. <strong>Lowndes (45) vs Harrison (35)</strong> This close match up resulted in a win for Lowndes, in which they managed to come out on top, 45-35. In this game, Lowndes got off to a good start, in which they managed to score 22 points in the first quarter, while also holding Harrison to 0 points. Following this, Harrison began to roar back, as they scored 2 TD's in the second quart, while putting up an additional score in the third. By the time the 4th quarter came around, the game was 38-21, and Harrison managed to put up 2 TD's, but to no avail, as Lowndes capped off the 4th with a score that would eventually be one of the determining factor's in the team's win. <strong>Norcross (28) vs Cherokee (21)</strong> In another one of our favorite, and close match ups this past week, Norcross came out on top of Cherokee 28-21. The game managed to start off very close, with a 7-7 score at the end of the first. By the end of the second quarter, Norcross led Cherokee 17-7, but they managed to get their act together by the time the second half started. Once the second half occurred, Cherokee added another TD to the board, making the game 20-17, before being beaten in the 4th. In the 4th, Norcross scored 8 points, to Cherokee's 7- making for a close, and nail biting game. <strong>Pebblebrook (44) vs Parkview (41)</strong> One of the more underrated teams in the state, in our humble opinion, happens to be Pebblebrook High School. This makes their win over Parkview even more exciting. Not only did their offense show out in this game, but it managed to keep up with Parkview, who has had a great season on both sides of the ball. In this match up, the team's seemed very evenly matched, as they traded blows, and saw themselves at a 7-10 score by the end of the 1st. As the 2nd quarter was underway, Parkview began to lead the game, and went into the half 16-20. Following this, the 3rd quarter saw 6 TD's, as both teams put up 21 points, and roared into a close 3rd quarter. In the 4th, Pebblebrook managed to hold Parkview to 0 points, while scoring the eventual game winning TD, that would put them on top 44-41, and send them to the second round. <strong>McEachern (34) vs South Gwinnett (28)</strong> What made McEachern's win over South Gwinnett even more impressive was the fact that they got the win in overtime. Both team's traded blows, and played very impressive defense, especially leading into halftime. By halftime, the game was tied at 14-14. In the third quarter, 3rd quarter, the game remained close, as both defense's held the opposing team to 0 points. But, when marching into the 4th quarter, both team's put up 7 points, tying the game at 21, and sending these teams to overtime. In overtime, the competition was stiff, but South Gwinnett's defense could not hold on, as McEachern was eventually too much to handle, scoring twice, as they won 34-28.