By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

The Callaway Cavaliers have suffered their first loss of the playoffs.

Head coach Pete Wiggins met with Fitzgerald coach Robby Pruitt Saturday morning in Macon for a coin flip to determine which team would be at home for Friday’s Class AA third-round playoff game.

The flip went Fitzgerald’s way, so the Purple Hurricanes will host the game.

It will be a monumental challenge for the Cavaliers (10-2), who have beaten Riverside Military Academy and Westminster Academy to reach this point.

Fitzgerald is 12-0, and it has scored at least 42 points in every game but one this season.

In the playoffs, the Purple Hurricanes have handled Greene County 42-21 and Swainsboro 64-36.

The Cavs come into the game with plenty of confidence, though.

They’ve won 10 straight games, and they beat a talented Westminster team 35-31 Friday night to reach this round of the playoffs for the first time in school history.

“We believe in what we’re doing, and we’re getting better every week,” Wiggins said. “Its just another step as we try to get to that goal.”

Callaway senior wide receiver said as big as the Westminster victory was, no one on the team is satisfied.

“We’ve got more to go,” he said.

Still, the task is a tall one for the Cavaliers,.

The Hurricanes came into the season as one of the favorites to win it all, and they’ve played like a team capable of collecting the championship trophy.

Fitzgerald is averaging 48 points per game, and it reached its high-water mark for the season in points against a Swainsboro team that came into last week’s game with a 10-1 record.

The Hurricanes built a 43-36 lead with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and they busted the game open from there.

The winner of the Callaway-Fitzgerald game will host either Cook County or Buford next week in the semifinals.

The Class AA championship game will be held in the Georgia Dome on Dec. 11 at 4:30 p.m.