Region 3-AAAAAA has struggled to find its footing since the current configuration was created before the 2016 football season.
None of its six teams has won more than nine games in a season since the most recent reclassification. None has advanced past the second round of the playoffs. And, as it heads into region play this weekend, Region 3 is the only one in Class AAAAAA that does not have a team with a winning record.
That doesn’t bode well for the postseason, where Region 3 has gone 3-8 the past two year, including 0-4 in 2016. But it should make for an interesting second half of the regular season, especially since no team has separated itself from the pack.
We continue our Tuesday series examining the playoff outlooks for every Class AAAAAA team as region play kicks off (or shortly after it begins) with a preview of 3-AAAAAA, which has its first three region games of the season on Friday. Here’s a closer look at each of the teams, broken down by playoff likelihood, in alphabetical order within each group:
Safest bet
*Heritage-Conyers (2-3): The Patriots won the region title in 2016, then slumped a bit last year. They finished in third place behind Evans and Grovetown but upset Stephenson in the first round of the playoffs. Heritage is the favorite to win the region this season, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings. Another playoff berth would be the Patriots' third in a row and seventh in nine years.
In the hunt
*Alcovy (2-3): Can a team that has gone 1-19 in region games since the start of the 2014 season be considered a playoff contender? One good thing about a six-team region is that it usually only takes a couple of league wins to get you to the postseason, and Alcovy might have a shot at doing that. Its two victories have been decent ones, against Rockdale County (AAAAAAA) and Salem.
*Evans (0-5): The Knights struggled in the first half of the season, but their losses have come against a tough schedule that included five teams with a combined record of 21-7. Evans is the defending region champion and a team that won nine games and reached the second round of the playoffs before losing to eventual runner-up Coffee last year. Count on the Knights being in the playoff picture.
*Lakeside-Evans (2-2): The Panthers are the only team in the region without a losing record, and even they are only 2-2. Lakeside remains a question mark because three of its four games have come against South Carolina teams, and another (against Aiken, S.C. on Sept. 14) was canceled because of Hurricane Florence. Lakeside was a playoff team the past two seasons and five of the past seven.
*Grovetown (1-4): The Warriors can't be ruled out because of their slow start. They were just 1-3 after four games in each of the past two seasons but rallied to earn a playoff berth both times (third place in 2016 and second place last year). We should have a pretty good idea about the Warriors' playoff chances when they meet Alcovy (home) and Greenbrier (away) in the first two region games.
Not this year
*Greenbrier (0-5): The Wolfpack went 5-0 in non-region games the past two seasons but failed to make the playoffs both times, winning one region game each year and finishing in fifth place. So, Greenbrier's 0-5 start this season, albeit against a much tougher schedule, isn't a good sign. Neither is having to face Heritage in the region opener. Greenbrier hasn't made the playoffs since 2003.
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Next week: Region 1-AAAAAA
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