Pair of 9-1 contenders clash in GIAA first-round rematch as Briarwood hosts Edmund Burke

WARRENTON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Playoff football has officially arrived in the Georgia Independent Athletic Association, and a late-season twist has produced a rare first-round heavyweight clash between a pair of 9-1 powerhouses.

Briarwood Academy will host region rival Edmund Burke Academy on Friday night in the opening round of the GIAA state playoffs. The matchup comes just two weeks after the Buccaneers traveled to Waynesboro and spoiled the Spartans’ bid for an undefeated season with a 28-6 victory.

Following a turbulent final week of the regular season that paired the two contenders together again, Briarwood head coach Bo Fleming used the unexpected break to get his squad healthy and rested.

“It’s hard to say that two 9-1 teams should be sitting here playing each other, but that’s how strong our classification is this year,” Fleming said. “We actually did prep for another team last week, but we also tried to get ourselves healthy. We limited contact last week and really focused on some things we felt like we needed to get better at without contact so that we could be as healthy as we could for this week. It could not have happened at a better time for us.”

Meanwhile, Edmund Burke enters the rematch eager to respond. The Spartans received a major boost heading into Friday night with starting quarterback Noah Hickman returning to the lineup at full strength.

Spartans head coach Andy Woodard said his team took valuable lessons away from the regular-season defeat and is ready to shake up the game plan.

“There’s a lot of good things that we did in this game that was a 28-6 defeat,” Woodard said. “Let’s just go be us. We’re all healthy, we’re all feeling good, and we all feel good about the plan, so let’s go execute better. I can say this wholeheartedly—and I know Coach Fleming is probably watching—everything we did the first round obviously didn’t work, so we’re not going to do any of it again.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Briarwood Academy.