WHO'S HOT: Lincoln County . The Red Devils (10-1) won their 11th consecutive Georgia High School Association playoff game at Landmark Christian on Friday.
BEST WIN LAST WEEK: Jefferson County 13, Early County 0. Jefferson County coach J.B. Arnold turned 40 this month. Is there any doubt a playoff win was his birthday wish before he blew out the candles on his cake?
BEST WIN NEXT WEEK: Thomas Jefferson Academy 50, Terrell 7: Is there any area football team more likely to advance in the state playoffs next week than the two-time defending champion Jaguars?
FRIDAY'S BIG AREA GAMES
1. Jefferson (8-3) at Warren County (9-2) : In the second round, the Screaming Devils host a team they beat earlier this season.
2. Jefferson County (8-2-1) at Dublin (9-2) : Can the Warriors win two playoff games in a row? They routed Dublin in a scrimmage earlier this year.
3. Lincoln County (10-1) at Bremen (9-2): The Red Devils likely will have to play every state playoff game away from Buddy Bufford Field to win their third consecutive state title.
MORE LORE: Lincoln County is 18-2 in playoff games since 2003. The Red Devils are 24-5 in playoff games this century. They lost to the eventual champion in four of those instances. The fifth loss was to the state runner-up in 2001.
THE OTHER SIDE: Practicing on Thanksgiving is a badge of honor. That isn't lost on Evans coach Marty Jackson.
"I'm excited we are going to be eating turkey dinner and talking playoffs," he said. "I've been jealous the last couple of years watching other people play."
TOUGH ROAD: The Knights (9-2) have a big task with a second-round game at Northside-Warner Robins (11-0), which has won 40 of its past 41 games. The Eagles are ranked in the Top Ten in national polls published by Sports Illustrated and USA Today . That's despite losing star quarterback Marques Ivory for the season earlier this year.
WORTH REPEATING: Aquinas senior Marshall Malchow relayed a quip told to him last week by his basketball coach. Bernie Norris touched on the thrill of victory last week in practice.
"There's no feeling in the world like winning," Malchow said. "Just the way you feel after a game you win. Coach Norris said if he could bottle up that feeling, it would put all the drug dealers in the world out of business."
NEW DEAL: The GHSA has a new method of determining home-field advantage for the state football playoffs next week. That's the earliest schools that share the same region seed can meet up.
It's called gravity.
When teams with the same seed square off next week, the schools will flip a coin to determine the home-field advantage.
The GHSA had placed an "H" in each section of the brackets in years past to determine the home team before the season began.
Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.






