Published Wednesday, July 23, 2008 in Sports
Local public schools could add to football playoff histories in '08
By Tommy Camp
The Times-Herald
The Newnan Tigers/Cougars have made the football playoffs 22 times since 1948, the year the then-Tigers became a part of the Georgia High School Association.
East Coweta, which didn't begin football until the late '60s, has gotten to the playoffs 18 times and Northgate, which began varsity competition in 1998, has made it four times.
Newnan's all-time playoff record is 17-21, East Coweta is 12-18 and Northgate 2-4.
Northgate is the only one of the three to have ever been over the .500 mark in the post season.
After losing their first-ever playoff game to Athens Academy in 1999, the Vikings beat Darlington and Putnam County in the first two rounds of play in 2000 to go one game over.
Northgate lost to Americus in the '00 quarterfinals to dip back to .500 and then lost first round games in '01 and '04.
Newnan was at .500 three times in its long history.
After falling to West Point in 1948, Newnan beat Ellijay for the North Georgia championship in 1949 to even its post season record, but lost the following week to Cook in the state finals to fall back under.
In 1951, the Tigers beat Gainesville for the North Georgia title to even its mark once again, then lost to Valdosta in the state championship game.
Newnan finally got back to .500 in 1981.
Entering that state championship final year with an all-time 4-8 overall playoff record, the Cougars won four straight in the post season to get back to the break-even mark before losing to Warner Robins in the state title game.
In 1984 Newnan climbed to within two games of .500 with a win over Morrow in the region playoffs to improve its all-time post season record to 9-11, but lost the next week to Griffin in the region championship game.
A win over Riverdale in 1985 in the region semifinals got them back again to within two games (10-12), but they lost to LaGrange in the 4-AAAA finals to drop three under.
Newnan is, however, over the .500 mark in its last four playoff appearances.
The Cougars are 5-4 in the post season since 2003, three of those wins coming in '03 and two last year.
East Coweta has never been at the .500 level in the post season.
The Indians lost their first two playoff games, to Greenville in 1980 and West Point in 1983, but beat Jackson in the region playoffs in 1990 to get to within one game of .500 all-time before losing to Jeff Davis in the first round of state play.
The Indians climbed to within two under in 1994 (3-5) when they beat Morrow and Warner Robins in the first two rounds of the playoffs before losing to Colquitt County in the state quarterfinals.
A victory over Carver in the first round of '95 got EC back to within two (4-6), but a loss to Warner Robins the following week dropped them three under.
The 2002 Indians beat Coffee, Warner Robins and Harrison to once again get within two wins of the .500 mark at an all-time 10-12, but lost to Parkview in the state semifinals in the Dome.
Newnan has the longest winning streak in local playoff history.
The Cougars won four in a row over Morrow, LaGrange, Douglas County and Peachtree en route to the state championship game in 1981.
East Coweta's longest winning streak was three straight in 2002 when the Indians beat Coffee, Warner Robins and Harrison and made it to the Dome before losing to Parkview.
Newnan and EC share the longest losing streak in the playoffs, both at four.
Newnan lost in the state finals in 1951, followed by post season losses in 1960, '66 and '75.
A victory over R.E. Lee in the 1977 Region 6-AAA championship game ended the skid.
East Coweta lost to Warner Robins in 1995 in the first round, then dropped opening round games in '97, '98 and '99.
A win over Bradwell Institute in 2000 ended the streak.
Newnan went 26 years between playoff wins.
After beating Gainesville in 1951, Newnan wouldn't win again in the postseason until 1977 when it downed R.E. Lee for the region championship.
East Coweta didn't play in its first post season game until 1980 and didn't register its first playoffs victory until 1990.
The Indians' longest stretch between wins from that point came over a five-year period.
After beating Carver in the Region 4-AAAA playoffs in 1995, the Indians wouldn't post another playoff victory until they toppled Bradwell Institute in 2000.
Northgate has now gone seven seasons with a win in the postseason, having last won when it beat Putnam County in the second round in 2000.
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Northgate football and basketball are due for some good times. How about some wins this year. Wait, how about some new coaches and Athletic Director.
Posted by A Fan at 9:52 AM
zzzzzzzzzz
Posted by D.Vick at 6:56 AM
Historians
7/24/2008
Link To This Comment
Dont write for a newspaper, they write textbooks. Get a new job Tommy you are keeping the paper from getting better. Northgate is going to surprise a lot of people, granted they do need a new AD, they are going to surprise a lot of people. Lets go Vikes...
Posted by Steve at 11:26 AM