Raiders, Eagles Open Playoffs With Victories

By Mike Blum

Alpharetta and Milton high schools scored decisive victories last week in first round state football playoff games and will both face top-10 opponents this week in the second round, with the Raiders playing at home and the Eagles traveling to Gwinnett County.

Douglas County at Alpharetta

Friday’s game matches two teams ranked just inside the top 10 in Class AAAAAA, with Douglas County No. 8 and Alpharetta No. 10. Both have 10-1 records, with the Raiders taking first in Region 7 and the Tigers second in Region 5 behind Mays, which hosts Region 7 runner-up Centennial Friday. Alpharetta has made seven state playoff appearances in the last eight years but has never been past the second round, losing badly to Collins Hill in 2013 and to McEachern the next year. The Raiders scored their third first round win last week, rolling past Gainesville 40-24 in Alpharetta.

The last eight playoff games the Raiders have played have all been on their home field, with the team 3-
5 after dropping their only road playoff game in 2010. Douglas County missed the playoffs the last two years, and has not won a playoff game since 2005. The Tigers lost to third-ranked Mays 35-3 at mid-season and have scored several close wins over opponents from a strong region. They jumped out to a 13-0 lead after one quarter last week against Dalton and held on for a 13-6 win.

The Tigers rely primarily on their running game, averaging almost 250 yards a contest, with running back
Uriah West accounting for 1370 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging more than nine yards per carry. The Douglas County quarterback has passed for 1200 yards and eight scores, with the Tigers relying mainly on a stout defense for their success this season. Alpharetta sports an experienced team with talent on both sides of the ball. The Raiders had little trouble last week against Gainesville in a rematch of an early season game won 29-7 by Alpharetta, also on its home field.

Running back Nolan Edmonds rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a 39-yard run that gave the Raiders a 7-3 lead. Edmonds, who has rushed for 925 yards in nine games with 15 touchdowns, also scored on a 36-yard screen pass from quarterback Matthew Downing, and returned a kickoff 98 yards for a TD in the third quarter after Gainesville had closed within 31-17.

Edmonds scored the first three touchdowns for the Raiders, with Robbie Ruppel catching a 15-yard pass from Downing to make it 31-3. Gainesville scored on a 68-yard pass on the final play of the second quarter to make it 31-10 at the half, and scored again to start the third period. The Alpharetta defense forced three turnovers that all led to scores in the first half, finishing with four turnovers and three sacks. The Raiders’ defensive unit also accounted for the game’s final points with a safety in the fourth quarter. Friday’s winner will play the Coffee-Evans winner, with the Raiders getting a home game if they win and fourth-ranked Coffee wins.

Milton at Brookwood

After scoring an easy 44-15 victory at home last week against Collins Hill, the Eagles play at perennial playoff contender Brookwood, which is 9-0 since starting the season with back-to- back losses to Archer and Walton, both of whom are 11-0 and still involved in the AAAAAAA playoffs. The Broncos bounced back from the 0-2 start with a 42-25 win over state-ranked Colquitt County, and went unbeaten in region play with wins over Parkview and Norcross. Brookwood won state championships in 1996 and 2010, but has not been past the second round since 2010. The Broncos won their playoff opener 28-0 over South Gwinnett last week.

Milton is also 9-2 after surviving an early gaffe to score 44 straight points in its win over Collins Hill, yielding its only touchdown to the Collins Hill offense with less than 10 seconds to play in the game. Quarterback Jordan Yates rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown and set up a pair of touchdowns with runs of 46 yards and 64 yards. He also passed for two scores. Solomon Vanhorse added two rushing TDs, including a 70-yarder to tie the game 7-7 after Collins Hill scored a defensive touchdown on a fumble return.

Yates has passed for 1770 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for more than 800 yards and nine scores, with Vanhorse gaining 1150 yards with nine TDs on the ground. Milton will need to put together a balanced attack to knock off the seventh-ranked Broncos, and will also need a strong effort from its defense, which has allowed more than 21 points in a game just once this season, an early 31-28 loss to North Gwinnett, the sixth-ranked team in AAAAAAA.

The Eagles will be looking to match the achievement of the 2014 team, which was the first ever Milton squad to win a state playoff game and wound up advancing to the quarterfinals before suffering a tough loss to eventual state champion Colquitt County. Milton is the only team from Region 5 remaining in the playoffs, as region champion South Forsyth was upset by Mountain View, the No. 4 team from its region. The Eagles placed second behind South Forsyth, losing 21-13.The winner plays in the quarterfinals against the Tift County-Hillgrove winner, with Milton having a chance at a home game if Tift wins and the Eagles win.

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