TIGER Gunnar Stockton’s 1-yard plunge in overtime gave Rabun County a thrilling 27-24 win over Bleckley County Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A playoffs.
But if not for perhaps the defense’s finest hour of the season, the Wildcats would not be heading to Callaway next week for just the program’s second-ever semifinal appearance.
The Royals first play in overtime, a 23-yard screen pass, gave them what looked to be a sure touchdown setting up a 1st-and goal at the Rabun 2. But a huge first down stop by senior Hoff Windham, a gang tackle on second, and then a gutsy blitz call on third down forced Bleckley County to settle for a 24-yard James Fordman field goal.
RADIO: WDUN AM 550 LANGSTON HUGHES (11-1): No. 2 seed from Region 4; defeated Region 2 champion Glynn Academy 35-0 on the road in the second round BUFORD (10-1): No. 1 seed from Region 8; defeated Cambridge 42-7 in the second round NOTABLE: First-ever meeting between the two programs. . Hughes is into the quarterfinals for the first time and also set a school-record for wins in a season. Buford is in the Elite 8 for the 21st straight season. The Wolves are 17-3 in the quarterfinals since 2000. . Both teams still carry rankings and the Wolves have won their last 6 matchups when both teams were ranked. Their last lost to a ranked team was to Archer in 2018. The Panthers are 1-5 in their last six games vs. ranked teams. . The Panthers are very balanced averaging 186 yards passing and 176 yards rushing and are 5th in offense averaging 32.0 ppg. Dual QBs Air Noland and Xavier Smith both have passed for more than 1,100 yards and Smith is also the team’s leading rusher (796 yar