There were a number of positive sights on display for the Carrollton football team Friday night during its playoff romp of North Oconee.

The running game, led by LaBrian Hudson and Courtney Mabry, dominated an outmatched Warrior defense to the tune of 392 rushing yards — with five different backs getting at least one touchdown, including Wes Dothard, who had two.

The defense forced three turnovers, with Orlando Rowe recovering a fumble and Octavius Thomas snatching up a fumble, along with making a late interception.

Senior defensive lineman Cameron Walker had a sack, while junior defensive end Craig Allen was in on a pair of takedowns behind the line of scrimmage.

But seeing Nick Craig back on the field had to be an uplifting feeling for the entire team, especially Craig, the all-state defensive lineman who missed the first start of his career midway through this year due to a torn meniscus in his knee.

The Trojan senior missed the final three games of the regular season before returning to the starting lineup Friday night.

“He’s just been a stalwart in our program for four years,” Trojan coach Rayvan Teague said. “We’re glad to have him back, but more importantly, I’m glad for him personally to be able to overcome that injury and get out and play. It just killed him to watch the last three weeks.”

And although it was late in the game and had little impact on the outcome, Teague was also pleased to see senior kicker Kyle Williams get to extend his legwork, booting a 42-yard field goal with 8:40 left in the contest.

Williams, who has the ability to kick at least a 50-yarder, had only three attempts on the year up to that point, nailing two of them. But none had been more than 40 yards, so it provided a solid opportunity for Williams to show off that powerful leg — and get a little game work in at the same time.

As most of you will recall, Williams nearly made the kick of his life at the end of last year’s playoff loss to Carver-Columbus, and he may get the opportunity again in this year’s playoff run as the games get tighter deeper down the playoff path.

“I have no doubts in the abilities of Kyle Williams,” Teague said. “We’ve just got to keep continuing to improve in that area. But I have confidence in Kyle to get the job done.”

Bremen also rolls

The Blue Devils enjoyed equal success to that of the Trojans, dominating the line of scrimmage throughout their rout of Social Circle.

“That made a big difference,” Bremen coach Ricky Tolleson said. “We never let them really get started. They brought an offense in here that had been putting a lot of points on the board.”

The win sets up a huge second-round showdown with Lincoln County next Friday night at 7.

The Red Devils (10-1) feature one of the most heralded programs in Georgia, led by legendary coach Larry Campbell, who is in his 36th year at Lincoln County.

Campbell, who owns a lifetime 412-70-3 record, is Georgia’s all-time win leader and has led the Red Devils to 14 state championships in that time.

“So half the years he’s been there, they’ve won a state championship,” Tolleson said. “He’s the all-time leader for high school in Georgia and is probably in the top five in the nation in victories. It’s just going to be an honor to have them come to Bremen and have to play the Blue Devils. I like our chances.”

Lincoln County, who won the Class A state title last year, fell to a No. 3 seed after losing the tiebreaker with Warren County and Twiggs County, who all finished 6-1 in Region 7-A.

Lincoln County comes to Bremen with a ton of history, producing three NFL players, including former University of Georgia great Garrison Hearst. It also had an amazing 44-game win streak years ago, dating from Sept. 1, 1989, to Dec. 6, 1991.

Needless to say, the Blue Devils (9-2) have the chance to take down one of the most prominent programs in Georgia Friday, something Tolleson is looking forward to and excited about in regards to the challenge for his ballclub.

“We’ve got a tremendous opportunity staring us in the face and I think our kids our excited about that opportunity,” Tolleson said. “If you’re going to get there, somewhere down the line, you’re going to have to play somebody of their caliber.”

Bowdon and HC knocked out

For two teams that had entirely different regular seasons, both of them wound up ending their playoff run in the same spot — the opening round of the state playoffs.

And while the Red Devils (3-8) nearly pulled the upset over the heavily-favored Jefferson squad, it was the Rebels (8-3) who got upset by Apalachee, ending the outstanding season and careers of seniors Blake Poole, Malik Allah, Juan Singhavong, Anthony Kight, Cody Hicks and John Dobbs.