Wayne Grandy
MOULTRIE — Leading by three points with 9:11 left in the game, Camden County took over possession in its own territory and never gave up the ball and defeated Lowndes 10-7 at Chris Gillman Stadium in Kingsland.
The victory sends the Wildcats, now 10-2, to a semifinal game against North Gwinnett this weekend. North Gwinnett advanced with a 24-0 shutout of Woodstock.
Also on Friday Northside defeated Union Grove 21-10 and with Colquitt County’s upset of No. 5 Stephenson, Region 1-AAAAA now two teams remaining in the Elite Eight.
Region 7, with Peachtree Ridge and North Gwinnett, also have two team alive in the playoffs.
CAMDEN 10, LOWNDES 7
For the second year in a row, Lowndes was done in by a long fourth-quarter drive.
In 2008, it was Grayson that was able to control the ball in the fourth quarter to eliminate the Vikings.
On Friday, Camden converted three times on fourth down in the final 16-play, 79-yard drive that ended with the Wildcats on the Lowndes 1 when the horn sounded.
Camden lined up to punt on a fourth-and-2 during the drive, but Lowndes was flagged for encroachment, keeping the Wildcat drive alive.
Camden jumped out to a 3-0 lead, getting a field goal on its first possession.
Lowndes answered, scoring on its first possession, but never again.
Vikings quarterback Cole Parker threw Troy Braswell from 29 yards out and Lowndes led quickly 7-0.
Later in the first quarter, Lowndes punt returner Khary Franklin fumbled and Camden recovered on the Vikings 17.
Five plays later, the Wildcats Ean Days scored from 2 yards out and after the extra point, Camden led 10-7.
But neither of two of the state’s top offensive teams could put anymore points on the scoreboard.
Lowndes finishes 10-2.
NORTHSIDE 21, UNION GROVE 10
Region 1-AAAAA champion Northside found itself down 3-0 early, but recovered its composure to put away Union Grove on Friday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.
The Wolverines intercepted a Briar Van Brunt pass on the Eagles first possession and returned it to the Northside 9.
But the Eagles forced Union Grove to settle for a field goal and slowly turned the game in their favor.
Northside took a 7-3 lead on a Van Brunt touchdown run, but Union Grove responded with a 98-yard touchdown run by D.J. White.
It was all Northside the rest of the way.
Van Brunt added another touchdown on a 1-yard run and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Shaquille O’Neill.
Union Grove managed just 107 yards of total offense, including just 6 through the air.
Northside will be back at home on Friday to play host to Region 7 runner-up Peachtree Ridge, which advanced with a 21-6 win over Brookwood.
Also on Friday in Class AAAAA, Newnan advanced to the quarterfinals with a 15-6 win over M.L. King. The Cougars on Friday will face Grayson, which eliminaed Roswell 24-14 on Friday.
Lassiter will play host to Colquitt County after its 70-49 victory over South Gwinnett.
The Trojans have scored 132 points in their two playoff games.
Colquitt County advanced with a 22-21 upset of No. 5 Stephenson.
