The Eagles traveled to Waycross, GA to take on the Ware Co. Gators in the semifinals of the AAAAA state playoffs. Ware Co. defeated Northside in overtime by a score of 24-17 to advance to the state championship game as the Eagles' season ended in the semi-finals for the second straight year.

Ware Co. opened the scoring at 4:15 of the first quarter on an 8 yard touchdown pass. With 10:38 left in the second, the Eagles tied the game on a Glenn Smith 16 yard touchdown run and John Tignor PAT. Ware Co. kicked a 28 yard FG with 40 seconds left in the first half to give the Gators a 10-7 halftime lead.

Ware Co. extended their lead to 17-7 with a 43 yard touchdown run at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter. Northside moved the ball better in the second half but could not turn the drives into points. After a Northside drive ended with a interception midway through the fourth quarter, Ware Co. began a clock draining drive before the Eagles finally forced a punt. The Gator punt pinned the Eagles on their own 10 yard line with about 2 minutets left in the game. Down by 10, the Eagles did not quit. In the next minute and a half, the Eagles drove 83 yards in 18 plays to the Ware Co. 7 yard line. Glenn Smith then hit senior Justin Burnam with a 7 yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left in the game. Tignor's PAT narrowed the Gator lead to 3 points at 17-14. The Eagles lined up for the expected onside kick. Tignor squibbed the kick to the short side of the field over the Ware Co. defenders. The Eagles rushed by the defenders and miraculously recovered the kick at the Gator 25 yard line. Northside ran one play for no yardage before sending out the field goal team. Junior Isaac Rivera, out for the last 2 weeks with a knee injury limped out and calmly drilled a 42 yard game tying field goal with 7 seconds in the game. Northside had scored 10 points in 13 seconds to unexpectedly send the game into overtime.

The Gators scored a TD on their first possesion and an Eagle penalty forced them to start at the 30 instead of the 15. The Eagles season ended on the Gator 5 yard line on fourth down and Ware Co. advanced to the state championship game with a 24-17 overtime victory.