Rebels only team not biting nails

WHO'S HOT

Strom Thurmond. The Rebels (10-1) were about the only area team to avoid parity in the first round of the playoffs. Their 28-point win was a larger margin of victory than the Thomson, Washington-Wilkes and Warren County wins combined.

WHO'S NOT

Washington-Wilkes. The Tigers (9-2) were happy to survive and advance at home against an Athens Academy team with a losing record, but they'll need more offense to make it past the third round.

THREE BEST WINS LAST WEEK

1. Thomson 28, Washington County 21: The Bulldogs jumped to an early 28-7 lead that bodes well for the rest of the year.

2. Silver Bluff 26, Andrews 14: The boys in silver finally dodged their first-round playoff blues.

3. Warren County 14, Commerce 0: The Devils crossed up Commerce with an early air raid for the upset on the road.

BIG FRIDAY GAMES

1. Laney (9-2) at Grady (11-0): A speedy Grady team will be a tough hurdle for the Wildcats.

2. Thomson (10-1) at Dougherty (10-1): Dougherty has won seven in a row. Bulldogs coach Luther Welsh coached the Trojans from 1968 to 1982.

3. South Aiken (7-4) at Aiken (10-1): How hard will it be to beat the big rival twice in a week?

QUOTABLE

"We're still trying to build something and set a lot of milestones this year. Our kids play hard. I will tell you one thing: If anybody thinks we're a bad team or don't deserve what we've done this year they are crazy. Hopefully everyone who saw this game saw 60-something of our kids play their butts off."

- Jefferson County coach J.B. Arnold on the 2005 season, despite falling 12-7 at home to Mary Persons.

TO TASK

What was going on in Jefferson County last Friday that was more important than a first-round playoff game? Was U2 in town? Everything half-price at the grocery store? The Warriors were 10-0 , yet the home stands were not two-thirds full at kickoff. And if there was a scoreboard for crowd energy, the visitors would have won by 21 points. The boys in blue gave their fans a lot more than they got back.

SUPER STAT

Laney coach Eric Parker hasn't lost a playoff game at home (ARC Stadium) in his career. The Wildcats' thrilling

40-27 win against East Hall made him 8-0 in home playoff games.

SYMPATHY

Another loss to the Westside High family puts the playoffs in perspective. Pat Wiley, father of football standout Jon Wiley, collapsed in the stands in the first quarter of the Patriots' playoff game at Buford. He was taken away via ambulance and passed away later Friday night.

"Jon continued to play," Westside athletics director Marvin Fields said. "I don't think, because of their focus on the game, any players knew what happened."

His family didn't want to alert Jon of his father's condition until after the game. Police escorted him after the game to the hospital.

"I asked him (Friday) night and he said he looked up in the stands and saw them working on his dad but he didn't know the extent of it," Westside principal Tim Spivey said.

Pat Wiley lettered in track and football at Richmond Academy and was an accomplished local golfer. His loss adds to the list of prayers sent up by Westside High School community this year.

"It's unfortunate how we've had a certain cloud over our school this year," Spivey said. "We have a student's mother pass away. We had a incident with a shooting with our boys. And (Westside's coach) Gerald (Barnes) has had the illness with his wife. A lot of stuff has been going on that I can't explain. Maybe we're all not living as right as we should."

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.