The area's remaining four teams in the GHSA playoffs all lost in the second round Friday night.
Trion dropped a heartbreaker in overtime against Elbert County in Class A Division I, where Dade County also was eliminated at Commerce. In Class AAAAA, Dalton held an early 24-14 lead at second-ranked Creekside before the Seminoles rallied for a 25-point win, while AA's North Murray fell at Fellowship Christian.
Elbert County 42, Trion 41 (OT): The Bulldogs lost their first game after 11 consecutive wins after committing four turnovers, including two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns.
The teams combined for 32 points over the final five minutes in regulation, starting with Elbert quarterback Jayvyn Hickman's 3-yard run to give the visiting Blue Devils a 28-17 lead. Trion answered as Toby Maddux, who rushed for more than 200 yards and scored five touchdowns, went to the end zone on a 4-yard run and added a 2-point conversion with 3:16 remaining.
The Bulldogs recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Maddux capped a 50-yard drive with an acrobatic 27-yard touchdown run, breaking several tackles for a 32-28 lead with 1:40 left.
Hickman and the Blue Devils, however, needed only five plays to regain the lead. Hickman's 27-yard scramble and a Trion personal foul moved the ball to the Bulldogs' 21, and Hickman scored two plays later on a 4-yard run with 42 seconds left.
A short pooch kickoff set Trion up at its 40, and after a pass interference penalty and two completions from Kade Smith to Ethan Willingham, all-state kicker Andy Ramirez was called on to try and tie the game. His 39-yard attempt, though, was tipped and was caught by an Elbert player, who was then stripped of the ball, with Trion recovering.
Given a second chance, Ramirez hit a 20-yard tying field goal as time expired.
In overtime, Elbert (10-2) scored in three plays, with Jacari Bennett getting into the end zone on a 1-yard run, and Trion answered when Maddux took a direct snap and went 3 yards for a score. Trion coach Sean Patrick elected to go for two and the win, but Maddux's pass was tipped and fell incomplete to end the game.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area prep football games)
Creekside 49, Dalton 24: The high-scoring Catamounts (8-4) scored on their first four possessions, but they did not score again as the Seminoles (11-1) produced the game's final 35 points.
Ethan Long passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns, with both going to Bubba Tanner. The two hooked up on the game's first play for a 61-yard score, but Creekside tied it moments later on Travis Terrell's 10-yard run.
After Adriel Hernandez ripped off a 22-yard run to start the next drive, Tanner took a handoff and went 49 yards for a score. A defensive stop — the only one for the Catamounts — led to a field goal and a 17-7 lead, but 1,600-yard rusher Roderick McCrary answered with a short touchdown run to cut the visitors' advantage to three.
The Dalton offensive onslaught continued, though, as Tanner caught a 37-yard pass to start the drive and later caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Long for the 10-point lead with just less than six minutes to play in the first half.
Creekside then ran out the clock on an 18-play drive that ended with McCrary scoring on a 1-yard run. The Seminoles received the second-half kickoff and needed only a handful of plays to take the lead on quarterback Vinson Berry's short run.
Berry added another scoring run and a touchdown pass, while McCrary had 180 yards on the ground and Terrell added 110. Tanner finished with eight catches for 132 yards, with Hernandez rushing for 76 yards.
Commerce 34, Dade County 14: The Tigers (11-1) used a big ground game to eliminate the Wolverines (6-6). Quarterback John Paul Allen had two first-half touchdown runs as Commerce led 14-0 at the break, with Jaiden Daniels, one of the state's leading rushers, adding a 40-yard scoring run to start the final quarter.
Dade got late touchdowns on Bryson Shrader's 25-yard pass to Demetrius Walker and Braylon Sullivan's 32-yard run.
Fellowship Christian 63, North Murray 14: The Mountaineers ended their season at 8-4 with the loss to Fellowship (10-2).
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.