Love it…absolutely, love it. It seems like every year, the semifinals of Georgia high school football is far more dramatic than the championships. Our long road to the Georgia Dome is almost complete.
Tonight, I will be on the play-by-play in the 6A classification for Etowah @ Archer, in Lawrenceville. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30pm on the NFHS Network.
By the way, next week, I will have the honor of calling the 5A State Championship Game on the GNN Radio Network, across the state, and locally on 680 The Fan/ 93.7 FM/ and on 680thefan.com; but, first things first.
The Etowah Eagles are making their first semifinal appearance in school history. However, this run they have put together is even bigger than that. This is also the first semifinal appearance for a Cherokee County school in Georgia state history. All this for a team that was 1-8 in their playoff history coming into 2014.
Currently, the Eagles are 11-2 overall. They finished 6-2 Region 5 6A (2nd place) and have won 7 consecutive since losing to Woodstock 47-44 in 3 OT and Milton 37-12. That loss to Woodstock was one of our 680 The Fan Games of the week. Since, the back-to-back losses, the Eagles have rolled. During this win streak, the Eagles have not won a contest by less than 10 points and for the season they have outscored opponents 475-270 (36-20 per game).
Etowah is an underrated program. Last season, they started 6-0, had key injuries at mid-season, and lost to Norcross in 1st round of the state tournament to finish 7-4.
In 2012, Coach Svehla’s bunch narrowly missed the playoffs while losing FOUR one possession games; and finished 4-6.
Speaking of Head Coach Dave Svehla, he is wrapping up his third season at the helm of the program. The Lincoln, Nebraska native has increased wins each season and posted a 22-12 record.
At mid-season, Raishod Devezin was at 1,000 rushing yards and was in the top three in the state. Then, he was lost for the year. Up stepped his little brother Tyray Devezin, and in the interim he has posted double-digit touchdowns and 1,500 rushing yards. The Morgan twins, Brad and Scott, man the offensive and defensive lines; and they are verbal commits to the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech.
Expect the Eagles to run the football a bunch tonight.
If Etowah fits the Cinderella reference, help me find a point of context for Archer.
The Tigers started the year in everyone’s top three rankings wise. Then, they went out and lost their first three ballgames to drop off of everyone’s map. Except mine. I’m not bragging, the story was clear. Their three losses came to three perennial powers (Sandy Creek, Peachtree Ridge, and Grayson) by a combined 16 points ( 21-13, 14-10, and 14-10).
Since that point, they have reeled of 10 consecutive victories, dominated opponents, and reached their first ever state semifinal.
The Tigers are 10-3 overall and finished 7-1 in Region 8 6A. In a three-way tie for the region title with Grayson and Dacula, Archer won the coin-flip and received the number one seed. None of their 10 straight victories have come by less than 14 points and in that stretch they have outscored opponents 418-127.
Last season, the Tigers were 11-1, region champions, and lost their first game of the season to North Gwinnett in Sweet 16. And in 2012, the men from Lawrenceville were 4 points from a playoff berth (1 point loss to Brookwood, 2 point loss to Parkview).
Born in 2009, the program has known only one head coach, Andy Dyer. In his six seasons, the program has posted a 35-24 record.
These guys are loaded. They have three top flight sophomores, led by Quinn Miller and his 121 tackles. Dylan Singleton in one of the top two-way players in the state with 111 tackles and 13 touchdowns on offense. Randy Nails is, as you would imagine from his name, one of the toughest backs in the state. Junior wide out Kyle Davis is a South Carolina commit and senior quarterback Gabe Tiller is completing nearly 80% of his passes in the playoffs.
Archer is the favorite, and should be. And that is exactly how Etowah likes it.
Chris Mooneyham 