Heritage and Northwest Whitfield were defeated in first-round football playoff action in GHSA Class AAAA on Saturday, while North Murray advanced in Class AA.
The Mountaineers are one of four area teams remaining in state title contention after a total of nine local programs made the GHSA playoffs. Six of those teams played Friday night, with Dade County and Trion in Class A Division I and Dalton in AAAAA all winning.
Westminster 27, Heritage 17: The Generals (6-5) were within a touchdown until the final two minutes at Westminster (8-3).
The Wildcats led 10-0 after an interception return for a touchdown before Heritage quarterback Brady Chandler had consecutive long completions to Max Owens and Cody Bryan to get to the Westminster 3-yard line. The Wildcats' defense, though, stopped two runs and a short pass to force a Jake Collett field goal to lead 10-3 at halftime.
Westminster scored on its first possession of the second half to go up 14, but the Generals marched right back, with Drew Bradley's 8-yard run completing a 75-yard drive. The Wildcats answered on Vincent Bontempo's touchdown run, his second of the game, to stretch the lead back to 14.
Later in the third quarter, Heritage was backed up to its 2 when Chandler hit Owens down the right sideline, with the 6-foot-3 senior catching the ball at the 30 and sprinting past three defenders for a 98-yard touchdown.
The Generals, who gave Region 7 champion Central-Carroll a scare last week, got the ball back with nine minutes left in the game but turned it over on downs at their own 46. The Wildcats then ate up seven minutes before adding a game-sealing field goal for the final margin.
Stephenson 61, Northwest Whitfield 15: The Bruins ended their season 6-5 after falling behind 41-8 when Devin Ingram scored three first-half touchdowns for Stephenson (9-2). Northwest's Gavin Nuckolls hit Hudson Gray on a 42-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
North Murray 35, South Atlanta 12: Skyler Williams had two touchdown passes and two scoring runs as the Mountaineers (8-3) topped the visiting Hornets (5-6) to advance to the second round, where they will play at Fellowship Christian (9-2), a 42-14 winner over Redan.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.