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Though his Grovetown High School football squad dropped a pivotal region contest to Richmond Academy on Friday night 21-0, Rodney Holder remains hopeful.

“Richmond played a great football game tonight,” the Warriors head coach said. “They beat us on our home field. They took it to us.

“But all of our goals are still in sight,” he stressed. “These kids have a chance to do something nobody at this school has done.”

As Chris Hughes prepared his Richmond Academy team for Friday night's pivotal region matchup with Grovetown, he had a single goal above all others.

"We were going to stack the box ... because they haven't thrown the ball well all season," the coach said. "We were going to stop (Jamal) Cummings."

The plan worked, as visiting Richmond Academy bottled up the standout junior back in a 21-0 shutout of Grovetown.

Ansley Smith looks forward to state playoff series, but not for the obvious reasons.

Naturally, she likes the pressure and thrill of the situation.

But the Northgate senior really enjoys facing unfamiliar opponents who don’t know her well enough to pitch around her.

“It’s my favorite, so I can get my good pitch,” the University of Kentucky recruit said of her first plate appearance or two in any given series. “I don’t have to wait around and get pitched around or get walked all the time.”

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Rebecca Boland was chatting with her father, Edward, just as she might have done on any other night.

The only difference Friday was that she was standing in front of a packed football stadium at Lakeside High School, getting set for the announcement of the 2011 homecoming queen.

"My heart was beating so fast, and I was just talking to my dad," Boland said. "We were just talking about how much fun we were having.

"I really had no idea what was going to happen."