Most of the time when the playoffs roll around, the games go according to script. However, there are a few games that ignore records, projections, matchups, and history, and completely destroy the bracket with a major upset. And one of those biggest upsets happened courtesy of a South Georgia team.
The lowly Berrien County Rebels shocked Class A Division I with a 7-0 upset over the Lamar County Trojans in Barnesville Friday night in the first round of the playoffs. Berrien was 3-7, unranked, and the #31 seed. By contrast, the Trojans were ranked #6 and undefeated in the regular season.
The Rebels weren’t supposed to win. They were 32-point underdogs, according to the Maxwell Ratings. They were just supposed to be a tuneup for a solid postseason run by the Trojans.
Someone, however, forgot to tell that to Berrien.
The Rebels went up 7-0 on the first play of the game on a double pass and successful point-after. Cash Perkins took the snap in the shotgun then threw a screen to Cole Stone, who found Jerrion Brown streaking down the sidelines. Brown grabbed the ball out of the air and ran into the end zone for the first – and only – score of the game. The Rebels’ defense played lights out and kept the Trojans out of the end zone for the rest of the night.
The win was the second playoff victory in Berrien’s history. The Rebels had a 1-3 postseason record going into the 2025 playoffs, according to the Georgia High School Football Daily. Their one and only playoff victory came in 2022, which is also the last time they made the round of 32. Also according to the Georgia High School Football Daily, the win over Lamar County was Berrien’s first win over a top 10 team from the same classification since 1993. Their opponent way back then? The Waycross Bulldogs.
Berrien is now 4-7 on the season and will make the long trip to Rabun County to face the 9-2 Wildcats on Friday night. Rabun defeated Dodge County 56-21 in its first-round matchup.