So much went wrong for the Chestatee War Eagles on Friday night, yet they still battled back.

In the end though, six turnovers, three returned for touchdowns, was too much to overcome as Chestatee fell to LaGrange 59-46 in the opening round of the state playoffs at War Eagle Stadium in Gainesville.

The Grangers (6-5) play Ridgeland on Friday in Rossville. The War Eagles’ season, the most successful in program history, is finished.

"This is the best thing that can be said about this team, that at no point did we ever quit," Chestatee coach Stan Luttrell said. "But you can’t make our mistakes tonight and beat good football teams."

Senior defensive back/wide receiver Demoton Boyd returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and caught three passes for 83 yards and another score. Running back Benny Gray ran for 167 yards and three scores to overcome a once-again potent War Eagles attack, which surpassed 40 points scored for the seventh time this season.

Senior running back Quan Clark (198 yards) ran for four touchdowns to lead Chestatee (8-3), which rallied from 20 points down and came within two touchdowns a couple of times late, but was unable to convert any of its onside kicks nor stop the Grangers offense.

The two offenses combined for more than 1,000 yards, with LaGrange rolling up 524 total yards and Chestatee 545.

Grangers quarterback Zach Giddens went 17-for-24 passing for 322 yards and two scores, including one to Dee Smith (four catches for 170 yards), while Chestatee’s Jordan Degraff finished 9-of-18 for 228 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown to Kelly Arthur (three catches for 94 yards).

LaGrange, which won its last state title in 2004, advances to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

"We’re one of the best programs in the state," Grangers coach Donnie Branch said. "But we were down for a little while and, while we have coaches with three rings, these seniors have never been to the second round."

For Chestatee, a program that started in 2002 and played its first playoff game at home and third overall, keeping up with the Grangers’ offense and having chances to win was a good sign for the coach.

"We had a lot of missed opportunities, but, like I said to them, I’m proud of the way they played," Luttrell said. "I think our program’s come a long way."

Friday night, the War Eagles were looking for their first playoff win, but the night could have hardly started any worse.

Chestatee opened the game with two straight offsides penalties on defense. Then on the Grangers’ first play, Giddens shoveled a quick pass to Boyd on a sweep, and he ran 62 yards for the touchdown.

Clark set up the War Eagles first drive with a return all the way to the LaGrange 34-yard line. After a 5-yard offside call on LaGrange, AJ Sijiye ran 29 yards for a touchdown. Degraff rolled out and hit Khalil Cantrell to tie the game at 8-8 just 34 seconds into the contest.

The Grangers went up again on their next drive, finishing a two-play — and two penalty — drive with a 74 yard run by Gray, his first of three first-half touchdowns. The extra point was missed, and LaGrange went ahead 14-8 with 10:34 left in the first.

Chestatee fell 1 yard shy of extending its second drive beyond six plays when Degraff was stopped just short on a keeper.

The Grangers took their time on their third drive, taking nine plays and three minutes to go 61 yards, and scored once again to take a 21-8 lead with 4:06 left in the first. Gray finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Chestatee responded, going 80 yards on nine plays, capped off by a 15-yard Clark touchdown run, to get within six at 21-15 with 38 seconds left in the opening quarter.

LaGrange wouldn’t let up, scoring a fourth touchdown on its fourth drive, culminating in a 1-yard touchdown run by Gray less than 30 seconds into the second quarter.

Chestatee took its ensuing drive down to the LaGrange 19-yard line, but the Grangers’ defense sniffed out a reverse play to stop a second War Eagles’ fourth-down try.

The War Eagles defense finally came up with a stop on a fourth-and-4 try thanks to a pass break-up by War Eagles defender Cody Humphries. But on the first play of the ensuing Chestatee drive, LaGrange defensive end Joe Sanders stripped the War Eagles’ running back and ran 30 yards to the end zone to put Chestatee in a sudden 35-15 hole after Giddens’ two-point run.

Each offense had two more possessions before halftime, but the once-potent offenses were stymied as LaGrange took a 20-point lead into the half despite racking up 11 penalties. The Grangers finished with 16 for 107 yards.

Chestatee closed the gap after halftime, driving 73 yards on 10 plays, capped off by a 12-yard Clark touchdown run, to get back within 35-22.

LaGrange kicker Michael Ward answered with a 34-yard field goal, and Boyd grabbed the first of his two interceptions return on Chestatee’s next drive to put the visitors ahead 46-22.

Degraff found Arthur for a 60-yard touchdown on Chestatee’s next possession to make it 46-30 after three quarters.

Giddens threw an 87-yard touchdown pass to Smith midway through the fourth, and Clark responded with another touchdown run to make it 52-38.

Boyd recorded his second interception return for a score of the game, from 45 yards out, with under two minutes remaining, but Clark scored once more with under a minute to account for the final score.

Chestatee missed both onside kick attempts in the second half.