It is the last week of the regular season but the playoff picture remains a fight to the finish in every classification across state, including the Class AAA’s field. Here is the breakdown of all the scenarios to look for this weekend.
Region 1 (Faces Region 4 Round 1)
The 13-team sub-divided region has four games to look for. Savannah will visit undefeated Dodge County and Appling County will visit Southeast Bulloch. Beach at Pierce County and Cook at Jenkins will also determine the playoff seeding. There is no definitive region championship game, but Dodge County can clinch the top seed with a victory, since it defeated Southeast Bulloch in a cross-region contest this season.
Region 4
Blessed Trinity and Cedar Grove play for the Region 4 championship on Friday and the loser will take the No. 2 seed. The winners of Westminster (3-2) at North Clayton (3-2) and Douglass (3-2) at Jackson (4-1) will fill the No. 3 and No. 4 seed.
Region 2 (Faces Region 3 Round 1)
Peach County finished its season with a 7-1 region record last week, but the lone loss was to Jackson in a rare 3-2 game. Jackson enters Friday night 6-1 in region play and its only loss was to a two-loss Spencer team, so a Jackson win over Rutland Friday night would improve the Red Devils to 7-1 and they would take the tie-breaker over Peach County for the top seed. Spencer (5-2) will take the No. 3 seed with a win over Jordan. If Spencer loses and both Central and Westside win, there is a three-way tie at 5-3. If Spencer and Westside lose and Central wins, then Central will take the No. 3 seed. If Spencer and Central both lose and Westside wins, then Westside would still take the No. 4 seed because of its loss to Spencer.
Region 3
Only the No. 4 seed is still to be determined in Region 3. Laney clinched the No. 1 seed in Region 3, regardless of the outcome of Friday’s home game versus Glenn Hills. Washington County (4-1) clinched the No. 2 seed and will face Westside-Augusta (1-4) in its season finale. Josey finished its season last week with a 4-2 region record and owns the No. 3 seed. The No. 4 seed will be determined between Butler (2-3) and host Hephzibah (2-3) Friday night.
Region 5 (Faces Region 8 Round 1)
Undefeated Central-Carroll (9-0, 4-0) hosts Callaway (8-1, 4-0) for the No. 1 seed and the loser will take the No. 2 seed. Peperrell (2-2) is guaranteed the No. 3 seed as it finishes the regular season at Haralson County (0-4). Rockmart (1-3) visits Cedartown (1-3) and the winner will take the fourth seed.
Region 8.
Elbert County, Jefferson, Hart County and Oconee County are all guaranteed playoff spots, but the seeding is completely up for grabs with all teams sitting in a four-way tie at 4-1 entering the final week. Elbert County’s loss was to Jefferson, Jefferson’s loss was to Oconee County, Oconee County’s loss was to Hart County and Hart County’s loss was to Elbert County. Elbert County will face Oconee County and Jefferson will face Hart County.
If Elbert County (loss was to Jefferson) defeats Oconee County, they can clinch the No. 1 seed with the tiebreaker if Hart County (lost to Elbert County) beats Jefferson. If Oconee County (loss was to Hart County) defeats Elbert County, Oconee County would clinch the No. 1 seed if Jefferson (lost to Oconee County) defeated Hart County.
Jefferson would need a win over Hart County and an Elbert County win to clinch No. 1 and Hart County would need a win over Jefferson and an Oconee County win over Elbert County to clinch No. 1.
Region 6 (Faces Region 7 Round 1)
Calhoun clinched the Region title and top seed regardless of Friday’s matchup with Coahulla Creek and Adairsville (6-1) will receive the No. 2 seed after already defeating Sonoraville, which is next in line for a playoff berth at 5-2. Sonoraville is automatically the No. 3 seed since it closes the year with Murray County and already defeated Ringgold (4-3) to ensure the edge in any tiebreaker situation. The fourth seed will go to the winner of Ringgold (4-3) at North Murray (4-3).
Region 7
Dawson County clinched the program’s first region title last Friday and will close the regular season with a non-region trip to Johnson-Gainesville. East Hall already clinched the No. 2 seed. Franklin County (3-2) can clinch the No. 3 seed with a win over Fannin County (2-3) on Friday. If Franklin County beats Fannin County, Fannin County could still take the No. 4 seed if Banks County (2-3) falls to East Hall. Banks County would have to beat East Hall and see Fannin County beat Franklin to force a three-way tie with Fannin and Franklin at 3-3. West Hall also sits at 2-3 with wins over Banks and Fannin County entering its final game versus Lumpkin County. If Franklin County beats Fannin County and Banks County falls to East Hall, then Franklin County will take the No. 3 seed and West Hall would own the tie-breaker for No. 4.
Loading ...
