There will be at least three East Cobb football teams in the Georgia High School Association state playoffs next week.
There could be a fourth, Lassiter, which lost to Etowah Friday night and could be selected for an at-large berth in Class AAAAAAA.
Walton clinched the Region 7-AAAAAAA title Friday with a 42-37 win at home over Woodstock, giving the Raiders a perfect 10-0 record in the regular season.
That’s only the third time in Walton school history that has happened. The Raiders will play at home next Friday in the first round of the state playoffs against North Cobb.
Kell lost to Hiram 52-37 at home but still clinched a playoff berth in the Class AAAAA playoffs. The Longhorns, who finished 5-5 in the regular season, will play at Flowery Branch.
The most unlikely East Cobb football story this season is Pope High School, which had won just three games in the past two seasons. The Greyhounds got off to a sluggish start, losing their first three games.
Pope came into Friday’s game against Northview on a two-game losing streak, but rolled to an easy 41-22 win to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Greyhounds will take a losing record—4-6—into next Friday’s Class AAAAAA first round game at Dacula.
Lassiter could have cemented a playoff berth in Class AAAAAAA but lost at Etowah 29-20 to finish the regular season with a 6-4 record. The Trojans await word on whether they’ll be selected as an at-large team.
The three East Cobb football teams that have clinched playoff spots also have something else in common. They’re coached by first-year head coaches, which was one of the leading storylines heading into the season.
Walton’s Daniel Brunner had been an assistant for the Raiders and was elevated to head coach after Mo Dixon resigned to take a coaching job in south Georgia. Another Walton assistant, Brett Sloan, was hired to succeed Derek Cook at Kell.
Tab Griffin’s task at Pope was considered the biggest job of all. He was a former Greyhounds player and Pope graduate who was hired in the summer after coaching at Mt. Paran Christian School.
Two other East Cobb teams ended their seasons Friday on a down note. Sprayberry, also coached by a first-year coach, former Yellow Jackets player Brett Vavra, lost to Sequoyah 38-28 and finished 2-8 on the year.
So did the Wheeler Wildcats, a playoff last year who lost 51-37 to Pebblebrook.
