Predicting the winners of the 2024 Georgia high school football playoffs 4A Sweet 16

High School On SI is going on the record to make our predictions on the GHSL 4A playoffs

Creekside vs. Kell is one of the tightest match-ups in Georgia Class 4A in the Round of 16 playoffs. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Class 4A state playoffs kicked off in the state of Georgia last week and the classification did not disappoint. 

Heading into Friday, it’s helped set up some fantastic second-round matchups, and the talented field of 16 teams is going to get sliced in half. Round 2 will feature several intriguing matchups, and several long road trips. 

Benedictine will be making a 228-mile trek northwest to face Ola. Ware County will be making a 224-mile trek north to face North Oconee, and Eastside will be making a two-hour drive down south to face Perry.

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While the second round might not see its tournament favorites fall, it has the potential to see several really good teams have their seasons upended a lot shorter than they anticipated. 

Check out who High School On Si predicts will win their second-round matchups on Friday, and who will secure a spot in the Class 4A state quarterfinals. 

Eastside (10-1) at Perry (8-3) 

Simply put, the Eastside Eagles haven’t gotten very much respect this season from the media outlets that cover the state.  And it’s been hard to pinpoint why. 

The Eagles have been one of the more consistent teams in the state of Georgia over the past decade. During that stretch, they’ve qualified for the playoffs in nine consecutive years and have won seven playoff games. 

They started off the season with a bang, defeating cross-town rival Newton, a class 6A program that won its first-round playoff game last week, 26-15. They followed that up with another win over a 6A program, Archer, who also won its first-round playoff game last week. 

On Oct. 11, they faced off against North Oconee, another unbeaten team up until that point and came within inches of walking away with a huge victory. They led in the closing seconds before the Titans won the game 40-35 at the buzzer. 

That loss cost the Eagles the Region 8 championship, and was their lone blemish on their schedule during the regular season. Hosting Hampton in their first-round playoff game last Friday, they dismantled them 42-0. 

On the other side is Perry, who won the Class 4A state championship last season and did just enough to walk away with the Region 1 championship this season. The Panthers finished the regular season 7-3 having played a very difficult schedule that included seven playoff teams. 

They took their 7-3 record into the playoffs and beat St. Pius in the first round 38-13 to set up a game against Eastside at home in Round 2. 

The Panthers have played a tougher schedule, but what the Eagles have accomplished has been impressive. This has the makings of being a terrific second-round matchup, and one that will likely go down to the wire. 

Prediction: Eastside 35, Perry 28 

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Kell (7-4) at Creekside (8-2) 

If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “trap game” this is one of them. 

On paper, the casual would probably pick the Creekside Seminoles to win this game. They went 7-2 during the regular season and won the Region 4 championship in dominant fashion. And on the flip side, the Longhorns went just 6-4 during the regular season and had to win a tie-breaker to even earn the No. 2 seed out of Region 6. 

But we’re here to tell you that you shouldn’t be taking the Longhorns lightly in this game. 

You’d be hard pressed to find a team that played a more difficult schedule than that of the Class 4A Longhorns. 

They played not one, but four Class 6A teams including Lowndes, North Atlanta and Wheeler, three playoff teams. They played Sequoyah, a Class 5A Program that won its first-round game last Friday, and then played a challenging Region 6 schedule that included region champion Blessed Trinity. 

When it comes to who is more battle tested between the Longhorns and the Seminoles, it’s the Longhorns. Yes, the Seminoles faced nationally ranked DeSoto (Tx) earlier this season, a game they lost 70-0, but given how easy of a stretch they had to finish the season, you’d have to go back to the end of August to find a good team they faced. 

The Seminoles were the only team in their region to win a playoff game last Friday. 

Yes, the Seminoles can win this football game. And on paper, they probably should. But the Longhorns are very capable of making the trek to Fairburn and walking away victorious on Friday. 

Prediction: Kell 28, Creekside 27

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Jones County (10-1) at Marist (11-0) 

The two previous games above that we broke down should be nail-biters. This game between Jones County and Masrist? not so much. 

No disrespect to the Greyhounds, but the War Eagles are entering this second-round matchup as the heavy favorites. Not only are they entering this matchup as the favorite, they’re the favorite to win the entire thing. 

The War Eagles never came close to losing a game during the regular season. They started off the season beating Class 3A favorite Jefferson 23-7 and then blasted a really good Woodward Academy team 38-0 in Game 2. 

And while Region 5 was far from strong this year, they did what good teams are supposed to do. It took until their 10th and final game of the regular season before they allowed more than 13 points in a game. 

In last week’s opening round of the playoffs, they drew a tough first-round opponent in Warner Robins, a team that has had a knack for making deep playoff runs in years past, and didn’t have much of a problem beating them 47-25. 

On the other side, Jones County has had an interesting ride. They lost two games during the regular season to Ola and Stockbridge - two Region 2 opponents - and were ready to enter the playoffs as a No. 3 seed. That was until Stockbridge was forced to forfeit all 10 of their games, giving the Greyhounds the region’s No. 2 seed. 

They’ve had a very good season, but Marist has been playing on another level. 

Prediction: Marist 42, Jones County 21

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Cambridge (9-2) at Central Carrollton (9-2) 

More times than not, playing a competitive region is going to help you in the long run. 

That reigned true for the Cambridge Bears, who had to scratch and claw its way to the Region 6 No. 3 seed, only to upset Cedartown on the road 51-44 in last week’s first round of the playoffs. 

Their opponent in the second round is Central Carrollton, who like Cambridge, went 9-2 during the regular season. They played a fairly tough schedule, only losing to Starrs Mill and Oxford (AL). 

The Lions won in this spot last year, making a quarterfinals appearance. The Bears, however, are still looking for their first quarterfinals appearance since the program began in 2012. 

Cambridge is coming off of a bigger win, but Central has been here before. The Lions are getting to play this game on their home turf, but that shouldn’t make that big of a difference given what the Bears just did on the road last week. 

Prediction: Cambridge 35, Central Carrollton 28

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Jonesboro (8-3) at Blessed Trinity (9-1)

In the five years Blessed Trinity has competed out of Class 4A, they’ve dominated. They won three straight state championships from 2017-19 while competing out of Class 4A, and are now back in the classification for the first time since last winning it all five years ago. 

That doesn’t bode well for their opponent, Jonesboro who has put together a strong season as well up until this point. They finished the regular season 7-3 and defeated Maynard Jackson 35-7 in round one last week. 

The Titans faced off against Cass in Round 1 last week and dismantled them 41-7. They lost only one game during the regular season, and that came against the state’s top-ranked team Milton. They lost the game by just 14 points. 

The Cardinals have a good football team, but the Titans have a better one. 

Prediction: Blessed Trinity 41, Jonesboro 21 

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Benedictine (6-4) at Ola (11-0) 

Throw the records out of this second-round matchup in Class 4A. 

If you know anything about the Benedictine Cadets, it’s that they’re a state championship winning factory. They’ve won two out of the last three Class 4A state titles and came close to making it three in a row after losing in the semifinals to Stockbridge last year. 

This season they’re 6-4, but don’t let their record fool you. They started off their season playing Rabun Gap, a powerhouse non-GHSA program in Week 1 and Buford, a Class 6A powerhouse in Week 2. They lost both games, but very nearly upset the Wolves. 

They then lost two Region1 games to Ware County and Perry, and while that surely left a bad taste in their mouths, it didn’t stop them from making the trek north to Southwest Dekalb and dismantling them 35-13. 

On the flip side, Ola is in the midst of their best season in program history. They went 9-1 during the regular season, losing only to Stockbridge, but were later awarded the Region 2 championship after Stockbrigde was forced to forfeit their season. 

The Mustangs then blanked Flowery Branch 37-0 in the first round of the playoffs - their first playoff win in program history - to set up a second-round matchup with the Cadets. 

This should be an interesting matchup, but one the Cadets might have a slight edge in based solely on their track record as a program. 

Prediction: Benedictine 28, Ola 21 

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Starr's Mill (10-1) at Cartersville (11-0) 

Starr’s Mill had the Region 3 championship won until they didn’t. Entering the final week of the regular season 9-0, the Panthers were a win away from clinching the title. Instead, they lost to Jonesboro by five points and were the big losers in a three-way tie between Central Carrollton, Jonesboro and themselves. 

Instead of winning the title and getting at least two home playoff games, they fell to the region’s No. 3 seed and were forced to go on the road in Round 1. And that almost cost them. They had to outlast a pesky Mays team 32-24 to set up a showdown with undefeated Cartersville in Round 2. 

This isn’t anything new for the Purple Hurricanes. While they haven’t won a state title since 2016, they’ve sure come close. They went undefeated during the regular season, but came close to losing their regular-season finale like Starr’s Mill did. They outlasted Cedartown 45-43 to win the Region 7 championship. 

The Purple Hurricanes have held down the No. 2 ranking in the classification from virtually start to finish this season, trailing only Marist. But beating the Panthers in Round 2 is going to be no easy task. This has the makings of being a really good football game, and it could go either way. 

Prediction: Cartersville 42, Starr’s Mill 35 

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Ware County (6-5) at North Oconee (11-0) 

One could argue that Ware County is playing in the second round with house money. 

It’s safe to say they’ve had a tumultuous season up until this point. They went just 5-5 during the regular season, which is bad for their standards considering they’ve won at least eight games every year since 2018. 

They lost a close one to Coffee, two close games to Florida teams and two Region 1 games to Perry and New Hampstead. And if not for winning a three-way tiebreaker, they could have easily found  themselves entering the playoffs as a No. 4 seed, which would have matched them up against the tournament favorite, Marist. 

Instead, they won the tiebreaker, were awarded the region’s No. 2 seed and beat up Tucker 38-0 in Round 1 of the playoffs.

For a team that could have easily been put out in Round 1 by Marist if not for a tiebreaker falling their way, the Gators are playing with house money. 

Their opponent in Round 2 is North Oconee, who went undefeated during the regular season. Outside of a Week 1 win against cross-town rival Oconee, their only win of note came against Eastside in a shootout, 40-35, a game they trailed with less than a minute remaining. 

That win over the Eagles won them the Region 8 championship and helped preserve a perfect regular season. They then went on to shut out Eagle’s Landing 49-0 in Round 1 of the playoffs last Friday. 

On paper, this is a game the Titans should win. They’ve been one of the classifications favorites to win it all, and they’ve done nothing but earn that respect by winning all of their games up until this point. 

The drive up to Bogart will be long for the Gators. They’ll be in uncharted waters having not traveled that far north for a game since losing to Rome in the Class 5A state playoffs in 2016. But it should be a fascinating matchup to watch play out, regardless. 

Prediction: North Oconee 42, Ware County 31