FLOWERY BRANCH — Being a No. 4 seed apparently didn’t bother North Paulding on Friday ... unfortunately for Flowery Branch.

The Wolfpack raced out to a 35-point halftime lead in their playoff debut, weathered a third-quarter surge from the Region 8-AAAAA champions and pulled away late for a 63-43 victory in the first round of the state playoffs.

The loss marked only the second first-round exit for the Falcons six seasons. North Paulding (8-3) moves on to face Tucker, a 42-25 winner over Creekview in the second round.

"Getting in the playoffs was a history-making event," North Paulding coach Scott Jones said. "Getting a win in our first game is even better, especially against a great team like Flowery Branch. We’re trying to build a tradition like theirs. This is a great start."

Quarterback Chase Noonan threw for 293 yards and five touchdowns, and ran for another in the upset. Corn Collins ran 29 times for 130 yards, and Matt Mixon caught six passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns.

Noonan, a junior, completed 20 of 27 passes including 11 of his first 12. Two of his touchdown throws came in the fourth quarter, as did his scoring run.

North Paulding amassed 530 yards of offense, numbers that are familiar to Flowery Branch (8-3) only because the Falcons were so proficient in the regular season. Friday was a rare instance where Flowery Branch was outgained; the Falcons had 496 yards.

Flowery Branch’s Cameron Davis caught seven passes for 87 yards, and quarterback Jackson McDonald threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for another.

Looming largest though was the Falcons’ inability to get North Paulding off the field in the first half. The Wolfpack converted five times in seven chances and averaged 16.4 yards on third-down conversions. Success came on fourth down as well with two conversions in as many chances for 52 yards and a touchdown.

"Third downs are a big part of the game," Noonan said. "We had to complete them and got some big momentum. Those led to touchdowns, fortunately. We had to believe in what we do."

On the flip side, Flowery Branch was just 1-of-7 on third down in the first two quarters.

Down 42-7 at halftime, Flowery Branch scored 22 unanswered points in the third quarter. McDonald ran for a 67-yard score on the Falcons’ second play of the third quarter, and he closed the period with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jamaad Stephens.

In between, Flowery Branch got 2 points when North Paulding was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, and Justin Curry scored on a 5-yard run on the Falcons’ next possession.

Curry scored again in the fourth quarter, and Davis caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from senior Stephens on a halfback pass. But the Falcons couldn’t slow down the Wolfpack offense.

"We were kind of prepared but kind of shaky," Davis admitted. "In the third quarter, we knew we had been in that situation before of having to come back. We thought if we kept fighting then we could get back in it."

North Paulding did its best Flowery Branch impression in the first half. The Wolfpack scored on each of its six possessions and amassed 354 yards in the first two periods. Noonan went 14-of-18 for 238 yards and three touchdowns — two to Kayden Bishop. Noonan, a junior, also connected with Collins for a 50-yard touchdown on North Paulding’s first drive, and the junior added 4-yard run at the end of the first quarter.

Bishop scored three touchdowns in the second quarter alone. He had runs from 3 and 15 yards out, and Noonan hit Mixon for a 33-yard score on a fourth-down play late in the first half.

"Chase made great decisions all year long," Jones said. "Coming into this game I didn’t think it would be any different. He’s very savvy and just knows how to make plays. All we could do is hang on in the end. If we hadn’t put as many points on the board then it might have been a different story. Fortunately for us, we did."

On the flip side, Flowery Branch’s prolific offense looked downright pedestrian. McDonald was 10-of-13 in the first half, but the junior only had 58 yards passing. The Falcons’ lone score in the first half was a 5-yard completion to Stephens on a fourth-down play midway through the first quarter.