The playoff brackets have been set with the exception of one outstanding seed -- an "At Large" selection which will be determined later. There's some bracket speculation ahead, but first, here's how things progressed Friday night when three games decided the No. 1 seeds from Regions 2, 3 and 4.
Region 2: In Ryan Herring's first year of coaching the Bears, No. 3 Pierce County successfully put together back-to-back undefeated seasons with a 42-7 victory against Liberty County. It was the Bears second consecutive and sixth overall region championship. Pierce finished 10-0, 5-0 under head coach Jason Strickland last season in the first unbeaten regular season at Pierce since 1982. The Bears will host Central-Macon in the first round.
Region 3: Jenkins got its first victory against Benedictine since 2011 with a 34-9 victory to capture its fourth region title. The Warriors have won three of the four 3-AAA championships, including titles in 2016 and 2017. Benedictine won the 3-AAA title last year. The Warriors will host the winner of XXXX-XXXX n the first round.
Region 4: Top-ranked Peach County made a statement with a 68-21 victory against Westside-Macon to capture its fourth consecutive and 18th overall region title. Peach will host Brantley County in the first round.
And just for the record: It's playoff time, and as usual, Westminster finds a way to play its best football. The unranked Wildcats program yanked the No. 2 seed from Region 5 from Lovett after beating the No. 6 Lions 31-21 in a game the Wildcats never trailed. The game was tied 14-14 at the break, but Westminster (6-4, 5-1) pulled away in the second half to beat Lovett for the 20th time in the 32 previous meetings. Westminster will host Dawson County in the first round.
Class AAA First Round (Nov. 15-16)
R8 #3 Morgan County at R6 #2 Calhoun
R2 #4 Brantley County at R4 #1 Peach County
R1 #3 Monroe at R3 #2 Benedictine
R7 #4 Fannin County at R5 #1 Cedar Grove
R6 #3 Haralson County at R8 #2 Hart County
R4 #4 Central-Macon at R2 #1 Pierce County
R3 #3 Beach at R1 #2 Cook
R5 #4 Pace Academy at R7 #1 Greater Atlanta Christian
R4 #3 Westside-Macon at R2 #2 Appling County
R6 #4 Sonoraville at R8 #1 Jefferson
R5 #3 Lovett at R7 #2 North Hall
R3 #4 Windsor Forest at R1 #1 Crisp
R2 #3 Liberty County at R4 #2 Jackson
R8 #4 Monroe Area at R6 #1 North Murray
R7 #3 Dawson County at R5 #2 Westminster
At Large at R3 #1 Jenkins
Class AAA Rankings
1. Peach County (9-1, 6-0) beat Westside-Macon 68-21 to win the 4-AAA title.
2. Cedar Grove (7-2, 5-0) faces Stone Mountain in a Region 5 game Saturday.
3. Pierce County (10-0, 5-0) beat Liberty County 42-7 to win the 2-AAA title.
4. Greater Atlanta Christian (9-1, 6-0) beat Fannin County 42-21 in Region 7 game.
5. Crisp County (7-3, 3-0) off. Will host Windsor Forest in the first round of the playoffs next week.
6. Lovett (7-3, 4-2) lost to Westminster 31-21 in a Region 5 game and will be the No. 3 seed from the region.
7. Jefferson (8-1, 6-0) off. Will host Sonoraville in the first round of the playoffs next week.
8. Appling County (8-2, 4-1) beat Tattnall County 48-0 in a Region 2 game.
9. Jenkins (9-1, 8-0) beat Benedictine 34-9 for the 3-AAA title.
10. North Murray (9-1, 8-0) beat Sonoraville 45-21 in a Region 6 game.
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