(Editor's Note: For quarter by quarter scores of Friday night's North Fulton playoff games, follow the Beacon on Twitter at Twitter.com/Beaconnewspaper) 

It's been three long years since a team from North Fulton made it out of the second round of the state high school football playoffs. Friday night, Chattahoochee and Roswell will look to end the drought when both host second round games. Not sure how long three years is? Let me put this drought in perspective for you: 17 Harry Potter movies have come out since the last time a North Fulton team won a second round game. 

Can Roswell Win?

The last two teams to do it were the Fellowship Christian School Paladins, who won a second round GHSA playoff game at home vs Gordon Lee by a score of 49-21, and Roswell. In 2007, the Hornets knocked off Peachtree Ridge 23-20 in overtime to advance to the state quarterfinals where they would fall to Lowndes. If Roswell wants to return to the state quarterfinals this year, they're going to have to beat Collins Hill to do it.

The two teams aren't strangers.

Way back on August 27, Roswell traveled to Collins Hill during week one of the 2010 season. In an intense battle, the Eagles held off the Hornets for a 13-9 win. And that wasn't even the most exciting game the two teams played in the last 12 months.

In the 2009 playoffs, Roswell beat Collins Hill in the first round when quarterback J.P. Douglas hit wide receiver Chris Boyd with a dramatic touchdown pass that gave Roswell a 30-27 overtime win. The catch-and-throw were so awesome that I wanted to nominate it for an ESPY. Unfortunately, there was no category for "Awesomest Game-Winning Touchdown Ever Thrown in Any Level of Football."

So who will win this year? To be honest, I'm kind of sick of Collins Hill. Whenever I watch them play a North Fulton team in anything (football, baseball, soccer, bowling, badminton), the Eagles win. Lucky for you Roswell fans, I'm not covering your game on Friday (I'll be at Chattahoochee).

Basically, let me blunt with my pick: I would rather have the H1N1 virus injected into my body then pick Collins Hill. So yes, that means I'm picking Roswell and yes, I think it will be another thriller. Hornets advance to the state quarterfinals with a 24-21 win.

Managing Editor John Fredericks Pick: I'm not too concerned about the week one loss. That was then, this is now. Roswell is peaking at the right time, you throw in the home crowd at Ray Manus Stadium and I smell blowout. I'll take the Hornets 24-12.

Tim's Take (Tim Altork Pick): There's plenty of recent history to go on here as this will be the third meeting between these two teams in the past 12 months. The previous two games have been evenly matched, but Roswell has to be concerned about the fact that the Eagles defense has surrendered a total – not an average, a total – of three points in its last four games. That, combined with the questionable availability of Roswell tailback Martez Sumler, could make things very difficult for the Hornets offensively. And things don't get any easier for Roswell when the Eagles and quarterback Taylor Heinicke have the ball. Heinicke passed for over 30 touchdowns this season to set the Gwinnett County single season record. But Roswell quarterback J.P. Douglas has shown nerves of steel in crunch time twice in three playoff games the last two seasons, including last week's last-minute drive for a field goal against Parkview. His other clutch play? A game-winning touchdown pass in overtime in the first round last year – against Collins Hill. 

Roswell 20, Collins Hill 14

Cougars Taking on State Power

Further up Ga. 400, Chattahoochee will also be gunning for a chance to get past the second round. To advance, the Cougars will have to knock off AAAA state power Marist. War Eagle head coach Alan Chadwick has been at the Atlanta area private school for 26 years and his team has never missed the playoffs under his guidance. It's tough to pick against Chadwick, mainly because I was playing diaper tag with my friends when Chadwick started coaching.

Marist and their triple-option attack advanced to the state finals in 2008 and won a state championship as recently as 2003.

If the Cougars can knock off Marist, they will advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1999. The '99 team made a run all the way to the state semifinals before losing.

The Marist defense only surrendered over 20 points once this season (in a loss to Tucker); Chattahoochee never scored under 31.

So who am I going to pick, before I tell you, I have to share with you something I wrote back in August for our regular season preview, in my award winning column (I gave myself an award two weeks ago), I offered this about Chattahooochee, "I think Chattahoochee can dominate AAAA football. Not only do I think Hooch is going to qualify for the playoffs, I think they're going to stun some people and make it to at least the state quarterfinals. Byerly, I expect twice as many touchdowns as you had last year."

Timmy Byerly came through on his end of the bargain (I think he ended the year with 90 touchdown passes and 80 touchdown runs), so I'm going to come through on mine.

Last week, I predicted a 42-21 Cougar win, the final score was 42-14. This week, I don't think Chattahoochee will score in the 40's, but I definitely think they're going to win. I'll take the Cougars 31-21.

Fredericks Pick: I don't care who Marist has played this season, they haven't seen an offense like the one they're going to see at Chattahoochee tomorrow. Until someone, somewhere, stops the Cougar offense, I'm going to pick them to win every week. Hooch 35-21 over the War Iggles.

Tim's Take: Marist is traditionally a big-time program and should be a good test for a Chattahoochee team that hasn't really been tested all season. Neither team played a game outside of its region until the first round of the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how well some of the stats hold up. For example, Chattahoochee hasn't scored fewer than 31 points in a game all season. However, the most the Marist defense has allowed is 31, in an overtime loss to region champion Tucker. Something's got to give, and I'm guessing it won't be the Hooch offense. Timmy Byerly is a true dual-threat quarterback and Kane Whitehurst is one of the fastest skill players in AAAA. Those two will find the end zone enough to send Hooch to the third round for the first time since 1999.

Hooch 34, Marist 28