Tennessee Playoffs

All kickoffs at 7 p.m. local time

CLASS 5A

Farragut Admirals (11-1) at Ooltewah Owls (10-1)

Past playoffs: Farragut has played 37 games in 17 playoff seasons and the Admirals have now won at least two games in each of the last four years. They reached the semifinals in 1981 and 1995. Ooltewah is in the playoffs for the eighth time and the Owls have now played 14 different teams. They reached the semifinals in 2001 and 2006. Farragut and Ooltewah last met in the playoffs in 2006 with the Owls prevailing 42-14. In their only other postseason game, Farragut won 33-16 in 2005.

Current playoffs: Farragut beat Science Hill 28-7 and McMinn County 17-7; Ooltewah defeated Campbell County 38-12 and Soddy-Daisy 17-6. This will be the Admirals’ first road trip of the 2008 playoffs while Ooltewah has been at home for its first two games.

Comparisons: Farragut’s only region loss and only loss this year was to Ooltewah, meaning both beat McMinn County, Soddy-Daisy, Oak Ridge, William Blount, Maryville Heritage and Bradley Central.

Notables: Farragut running back De’Andre Purty ran 26 times for 206 yards in the Admirals’ win over McMinn. Purty carried the ball only three times and missed the bulk of his team’s 30-7 regular-season loss at Ooltewah earlier this year. Purty didn’t score against the Cherokees. Both of their TDs came on short runs by quarterback Reese Browning, who completed 13 of 25 passes but was picked off twice by McMinn. In addition to running back Matthew Polk and its defensive line and linebackers, Ooltewah probably gets an edge in the punting game with John Long, who averaged 35.8 yards and kicked a 29-yard field goal against Soddy-Daisy. Polk, who ran for 123 yards against the Trojans, also went 53 yards for a TD on a pass from Brady Reed. Ooltewah’s only loss this season came at Maplewood, 14-13 on a blocked extra point. Ooltewah is 18-1 at home over the last three years, losing only to Oak Ridge 17-7 in the 2007 regular season.

Travel: From Campbell Station Road in Knoxville, take I-75 South to the Ooltewah exit. Make two rights and Ooltewah is down a little more than a mile on the left.

CLASS 4A

Maryville Rebels (12-0) at Rhea County Golden Eagles (10-2)

Past playoffs: Maryville has won seven of the last eight 4A state championships and has now won the last four in a row. The Rebels are 78-17 over 29 years and 59 opponents. Rhea County has reached the postseason 19 times and played 22 different teams. The Golden Eagles were in the 1981 and 1985 state finals and reached the semifinals in 1989. They also reached the quarterfinals in 1986, 1990, 1997, 2000 and 2001. They have won at least two games in eight years. The two teams are not playoff strangers, having met in the postseason six times in this century. Maryville won all six, by as much as 61-14 in 2001 and by as little as 21-6 in 2000.

Current playoffs: Maryville won over Cleveland 35-12 and Knox West 28-6; Rhea County defeated Clinton 41-21 and Powell 19-9.

Comparisons: Maryville’s 35-12 win over Cleveland doesn’t bode well for the Golden Eagles, who lost to Cleveland 41-7 in the next-to-last game of the regular season. Maryville beat Clinton 38-6 and Powell 45-6 early in the year.

Notables: Rhea County is unbeaten in seven home games this year. On the road this year, Maryville’s 28-7 win over Halls was its lowest point production and the win at Powell was its highest point total — on the road and for the season. A seven-point win (20-13) over Class 2A power Alcoa was the closest Maryville came to a loss. Alcoa is 11-1 and will play in a quarterfinal this week. Rhea County quarterback Cameron Tallent now has five postseason TDs to go with 16 during the regular season. Golden Eagles running back Jacob Moffett was forced out of last week’s game but it was only a hamstring cramp. Their biggest defensive force in two playoff games has been Casey Lovelady, who’s averaging more than 10 tackles. Maryville used two quarterbacks, Phillip Juhlin and Mark Young, extensively and each had five TD passes. The Rebels also had three backs with more than 48 carries — Thomas Shuler, Buddy Jones and Juhlin — and Shuler finished the regular season as his team’s leading rusher with 792 yards and a 7.6 per-carry average. Cody McCoy, Luke Cox and Jeffrey Booker are the Rebels’ leading tacklers.

Travel: Pick up I-75 South to exit 60, take a right and continue to Hwy. 27. Turn left, heading south, and Rhea County is about five miles on the right.

CLASS 2A

Marion County Warriors (10-2) at Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers (10-2)

Past playoffs: Since a state championship in 1995, Marion County had made 11 trips to the postseason with just one win until this year. Overall, the Warriors have been in the playoffs 27 years and they have played 64 games with state titles in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995. Boyd-Buchanan has played 36 games over 11 postseason trips. They have played at least three games in seven of those years and won the Class A state title in 2003 with additional state championship game appearances in 2002 and 2004.

Current playoffs: Boyd-Buchanan beat Donelson Christian 30-7 and Westmoreland 34-0. Both games were at home. Marion won at home over York Institute 21-12 and then went on the road to beat Smith County 18-13.

Comparisons: Marion has won 10 in a row since a 21-20 loss to Boyd-Buchanan in the second game of the year. Both teams lost to Class 1A power South Pittsburg, Marion by 48-13 in its season opener and Boyd-Buchanan by 7-6. The Warriors defeated Tyner 30-20 and Tyner then defeated Boyd-Buchanan 20-18.

Notables: In the playoffs, Boyd’s average margin of victory is by four touchdowns while Marion’s is by a touchdown. Marion County quarterback Cliff Martin is coming off a 6-of-7 passing night, throwing for 115 yards and a TD. The Trojans’ winning score came on a 56-yard run by Nick Wells. The Bucs were outrushed by Westmoreland by a 6-yard TD run from Ben Beasley plus a 34-yard TD pass. Bucs quarterback Nic Hughes completed 10 of 16 passes for 127 yards. Hughes was injured and did not play in his team’s win over Marion in the regular season.

Travel: Take I-24 West to Moore Road exit. Turn left and proceed approximately five miles, passing Brainerd High, and school entrance will be on the your about 1.5 miles past Brainerd.

CLASS 1A

South Pittsburg Pirates (12-0) at Trousdale County Yellow Jackets (12-0)

Past playoffs: Over 26 years in the postseason, the defending state champion Pirates have played 72 games and they have won at least two games 15 times. Trousdale has a 62-21 playoff record over 28 seasons and most recently made the state championship game in 2006, winning 52-16 over Union City. The teams have had five postseason games with South Pittsburg holding a 3-2 edge. Their most recent game was in 2007, a 32-16 Pirates win in the first round.

Current playoffs: Trousdale beat Silverdale Baptist 49-6 and Watertown 21-14, both at home. South Pittsburg also has two home wins, beating Clay County 41-6 and Friendship Christian 28-12.

Comparisons: Trousdale beat Friendship 28-6 and Clay County 58-15 and South Pittsburg bested Silverdale 56-0.

Notables: South Pittsburg is riding a 27-game win streak. Trousdale hasn’t lost since a first-round setback to the Pirates in 2007. South Pittsburg was up 14-0 at the half of last week’s game and led 28-6 until Friendship scored with 3:52 left in the game. David Jones ran for 172 yards on 22 carries including a 68-yard, fourth-quarter TD. Trousdale has primarily used two quarterbacks — Dillon Young and Craig Brown — but the Yellow Jackets don’t throw all that often, and in that case are very similar to the Pirates. Their leading rushers during the season were Tacola Selvey, Creigh Hall and Tyler Edwards. Selvey picked up Selvey gained 656 yards, Hall 442 and Edwards 389. Their top defenders are Austin Dillon and Selvey. It should be interesting to see if South Pittsburg’s emphasis on two-platoon football — something few 1A schools can do — plays a role.

Travel: Take I-24 West to TN-840 East — approximately 78 miles — and use Exit 74-B toward Knoxville. Go about 24 miles to Exit 238 toward Lebanon, turning left onto US-231 and going about two miles. At the roundabout, take the second exit (US-231/TN-10)

and go 13 miles before making a right onto TN-10/TN-25 and proceeding five miles. It is a trip of 128 miles from South Pittsburg High to Trousdale County.

Georgia Playoffs

CLASS 2A

Westminster (9-2) at Calhoun (9-2), 7:30

CLASS 3A

Flowery Branch (9-2) at Ridgeland (9-2), 7:30

CLASS 4A

Rome (9-2) at Sandy Creek (11-0), 7:30

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