Second round of playoffs start tonight

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The second round of the state football playoffs begins tonight at 7:30 p.m. East Coweta is the only local team hosting a game tonight. Both Starr's Mill and Landmark Christian must travel.

East Coweta (11-0) will host the Westside, Macon Seminoles (9-2). The Seminoles are coached by Robert Davis, who built the Warner Robins program before taking the job at Westside several years ago. Though they lost to Dacula in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic and to Northside on Oct. 19, the Seminoles looked impressive in their wins. The Seminoles only allowed 53 points in their wins this season. After their loss in the Dome, Westside shut out the next three teams they faced. They defeated Colquitt County last Friday, 9-7.

East Coweta is no longer a secret. The Indians got huge games from Preston Stricklin and Derek White last week as the team piled up 486 yards of offense in a 41-13 win over Wayne County. They will stick with what got them this far tonight. Though they have two great running backs, the Indians can also beat teams in the air and their defense is capable of turning a game around by creating turnovers. This will be a very interesting game. The winner will play the winner of the Parkview/Roswell game next Friday.

Starr's Mill (9-2) finds itself in a spot similar to last year. The Panthers had to travel to Warner Robins in the second round and face a formidable opponent. They outlasted the Demons in inclement weather and won 21-7. Northside (10-0) is a different opponent entirely. The Eagles have a great quarterback in Chansi Stuckey, a third year starter, who is a running threat. Other players to watch are running back George Washington and fullback Nate Haslem. Their defensive backs are all seniors and have lot of experience and speed.

Starr's Mill is not easily intimidated though. They have a lot of threats on offense too, including Chris Strauch, Bobby Clark, Recarta Heard and Johnny Edwards. Quarterback Patrick Mullinix has improved from week to week and now leads the offense with confidence. The Panthers also have a great defense. Jason Earwood, Erik Advincula, Andrew Bashakes and Deante Battle are just some of the defenders that turn in great performances every week. Almost every defender has made a big play at one time or another in their career at Starr's Mill, changing the tone of the game in an instant. One can only wonder who will make the key play tonight. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Chattahoochee/Dacula game.

Landmark Christian (7-3) will get their chance to face Athens Academy (8-1), ranked second in Class A, tonight. The Spartans have had a super year, beating the Commerce Tigers for the first time in six years, and sitting near the top of the Class A rankings. Athens Academy, coached by Michael Gunn, has a high powered offense. Running back Trey Young, who sat out last week due to a minor hamstring pull, is the leading rusher in the Northeast. Quarterback Joe Tereshinski also has two weapons in receivers in Keith Guest and David Allen. Their defense is also quite good. Last week, the Spartans held Wesleyan to 154 yards of offense.

Landmark is building a great program. The War Eagles will only lose seven players to graduation in the offseason and the sophomores are turning in great performances every week. Alex Mortensen is quarterbacking the team with poise and confidence and it seems as though there is a new talent in the backfield every week. Last week it was Eric Worrell who scored two touchdowns. Other running threats are Dylan Hanes and Sean Hill. Ben King, one of the seniors on the team, had 17 tackles last week and caught a touchdown pass in last week's game. The winner of tonight's game will play Claxton and Clinch County.

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