Class AAAA blog: A look into every Week 6 matchup

Westover at Cairo: The stakes are extremely high in this clash between two Region-1 championship hopefuls. Cairo is 3-1 with its only loss coming in a 14-10 battle against defending Class AAAAA state champion Bainbridge. The Syrupmakers are also off to a 2-0 start in region play with wins over Hardaway (21-7) and Northside-Columbus (53-7)—they have also taken 18 of the last 19 matchups against Westover and own a 24-4 overall record in the all-time series. Westover is off an impressive 4-0 start that includes big region victories over Columbus (43-14) and Northside-Columbus (42-21). Those two dominant performances against the region competition indicate that Westover will likely be one of the biggest challenges facing Cairo on its remaining region schedule. Last year, Westover tried to rally in the second half, but eventually fell short to Cairo 27-25.

Dougherty vs. Monroe (Mills Stadium): Dougherty is taking a break from its region lineup with a midseason clash with Class AAA Monroe. Dougherty is 0-4 overall and has already dropped region losses to Americus-Sumter (19-12), Shaw (20-7) and Carver-Columbus (44-8). Monroe is 2-3 and was defeated 28-6 by Westover so this will be a good litmus test to see how the Patriots and Dougherty stack up against a common opponent.

Northside-Columbus vs. Harris County (Kinnett Stadium):

Northside Columbus (0-4) is taking on Class AAAAA Harris County (2-2) in search for its first win of the year. Like Dougherty, the winless program has also opened up with a 0-3 start in region action (47-26 Shaw, 53-7 Cairo, 42-21 Westover). Harris County came away with a 49-31 win over the Patriots last year.

Region 2-AAAA won’t play its first region games until next week and West Laurens and Perry are the two teams out of the six-team region that are not on byes this week.

West Laurens at Statesboro: West Laurens takes on its second-straight Region 2-AAAAA challenger after falling short 31-30 to South Effingham last Friday. That loss dropped West Laurens to 3-1. The Raiders previously defeated East Laurens 53-0, Crisp County 16-13 and Dodge County 42-28. As for Statesboro, the Blue Devils come into the matchup with 3-0 record that includes impressive wins over Greenbrier (31-0), Veterans (29-19) and Effingham County (35-0). West Laurens won this matchup 22-6 last year, but ended up stumbling in region play with a 1-4 effort and missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

Perry at Veterans: The Perry Panthers (2-2) are coming off a bye week after beating Monroe 45-20 on Sept 13. Class AAAAA Veterans is 4-1 with its loss coming 29-19 to Statesboro. The Warhawks notably scored a 7-2 win over Houston County this past week. Veterans won this matchup 31-24 last season.

The Region 3-AAAA lineup features three non-region matchups against Class AAAAAA opponents, while Richmond Academy and Cross Creek are off on their bye weeks.

Burke County at Effingham County: Burke County is off to a 3-1 start with its only defeat coming in a 23-10 matchup with Ware County. The Bears are the only team in the region with a winning record at this point of the season and won this matchup against Class AAAAAA Effingham County 31-14 last season.

Baldwin at Greenbrier: It's familiar territory for Baldwin, which takes an 0-4 record into Friday's trip to Class AAAAAA Greenbrier. The Braves were 0-4 at this point last season as well, and proceeded to score a 14-0 win over Greenbrier that kick started their seven-game winning streak and eventual trip to the state quarterfinals. Greenbrier is also currently winless with an 0-3 start.

Thomson at Grovetown: Thomson opened the year with a 26-0 win over North Augusta (SC) and a 35-0 win over Eagle's Landing, but has experienced back-to-back losses (48-41 to Clarke Central and 38-19 to Greater Atlanta Christian) in its latest outings. Thomson won this matchup 20-13 last season. As for Class AAAAAA Grovetown, the Warriors are 2-2 and that record features a 13-7 win over Region 3-AAAA's Richmond Academy and a 17-16 loss to North Augusta (SC).

Region 4-AAAA has its lightest schedule of the season this week with six of its eight teams resting on bye weeks and just one region contest.

McDonough at Salem: This is a matchup between two playoff teams from a year ago, with Salem earning the No. 2 seed and McDonough earning last year's No. 4 seed. Salem is limping into the matchup this year with an 0-4 start and a 20-13 loss to Hampton last week in the Seminoles' region opener. McDonough is 1-3 overall and opened up region play last week with a 47-7 loss to Woodward Academy. Salem won this matchup 42-40 last year and will need a win this year to avoid its first 0-5 start since the 1999 season.

Undefeated Sandy Creek is off with a bye this week, but six of the seven teams in Region 5-AAAA will be kicking off region play with a trio of intriguing matchups.

Cedartown at Cartersville: Cedartown started the season 0-3, but just picked up a 57-14 win over Region 6-AAAA's Southeast Whitfield this past week. No. 1 ranked Cartersville is a flawless 4-0. The undefeated Hurricanes have won 52-straight regular season matchups and also have an active-streak of 47-straight region victories coming into this matchup. Interestingly, the Canes' last region loss came in an 18-10 defeat to Cedartown in 2011. Their last regular season loss was a 27-26 defeat to North Cobb on Sept. 5, 2014.

Troup at Chapel Hill: Troup has the highest scoring offense in the classification at 51.25 ppg, but its 28.5 ppg allowed on the defensive side of the ball opens up a potential opportunity for teams capable of keeping pace. Class AA Callaway did exactly that last weekend and was able to spoil Troup's 3-0 start by handing the Tigers a 56-43 loss. Chapel Hill also boasts a 3-1 record, but the Panthers are 0-3 against Troup in the all-time series—falling victim to Troup's potent offense in each of the defeats (42-21, 48-12 and 56-24).

LaGrange vs. Central-Carroll (Callaway Stadium): LaGrange is 2-1 and followed up its 56-10 loss to Callaway with an 18-14 win against Region 4-AAAA's Hampton before taking a bye last week. The Grangers averaged just 6.9 points per game offensively in 2018, but the program has put up 17.3 ppg so far this season. Central-Carroll comes in with a 2-2 record. The Lions and Grangers each have lost to Heard County—Central-Carroll fell 33-14 and LaGrange lost 24-9. It's worth noting that LaGrange has given Central-Carroll its only region wins in each of the last two seasons, including last year's 13-10 loss to the Lions. As for LaGrange, they are 1-17 in region play over the last three years with its only win coming in 2016's 30-12 triumph over the Lions.

Similar to the seven-team Region 5-AAAA lineup, Region 6-AAAA has one team on a bye this week (Northwest Whitfield) and a trio of region matchups on the slate.

Pickens at Gilmer: Gilmer entered this season with the longest active-losing streak in the state and its 41-9 loss to Fannin County in its opener extended that inglorious streak to 31 games. The Bobcats, however, responded by picking up consecutive victories (56-12 vs. Towns County and 6-3 vs. Gordon Central) before last week's hard-fought 29-21 loss to Lumpkin County dropped them to 2-2 overall. As for Pickens, the (2-2) Dragons have struggled to match the same success experienced during last year's perfect regular season run and they recently fell short 27-20 to Region 7-AAAA's White County. Pickens defeated Gilmer 55-6 last season and has won its last five meetings with the Bobcats.

Ridgeland at Heritage-Catoosa: Heritage-Catoosa got off to a 3-0 start, but dropped a 20-17 battle with a tough Pepperell team to enter its Week 5 bye with a 3-1 record. Ridgeland is also coming off its bye week, but is still searching for the win column after opening the season with a disappointing 0-3 start. Ridgeland earned the No. 2 seed and Heritage-Catoosa earned the No. 3 seed behind region champion Pickens a year ago, so this matchup will be very relevant in determining this year's playoff field. Ridgeland scored a 53-28 win over Heritage in 2018 and moved to 10-1 in the all-time series. The Generals' only victory against Ridgeland came in 2014 (31-16), E.K. Slaughter's first season as Heritage head coach.

LaFayette at Southeast Whitfield: Lafayette is 2-2 coming into the matchup and will need this win badly if the Ramblers are going to be able to produce the program's first winning season since 2008. As for Southeast Whitfield, they enter the matchup 0-4. The Raiders were defeated by Cedartown 57-14 this past week, and came up short to LaFayette 28-21 a year ago.

Region 7-AAAA is stepping into region play this week, with the exception of Flowery Branch, which is hosting Class AAAAAA rival Gainesville.

Chestatee at Denmark: Chestatee is 1-3 heading into its trip to undefeated Denmark (3-0). Last year, the Danes won a 61-47 shootout that gave the brand new program its first-ever region victory. Denmark has outscored its three opponents 142-24 this season and its talent-packed roster is determined to reach the playoffs this year after just missing out in 2018.

Gainesville at Flowery Branch: Class AAAAAA Gainesville was able to beat Region 2-AAAA's Mary Persons 27-21, but the Red Elephants were dominated by Class AAA Jefferson 41-7 this past week and have been hindered by inconsistencies. Gainesville's offense especially struggled to get anything going against Jefferson, and that could present major problems when they face this Flowery Branch team on Friday. The undefeated Falcons have relied on a strong running attack offensively and have been buoyed by an outstanding defensive effort through their first three games. The team has outscored its opponents 95-0 to fuel its 3-0 start (East Hall 50-0, Clarke-Central 38-0, Winder-Barrow 7-0).

White County at Marist: It would be a fair statement to make to say that Marist has had the most impressive start in the classification so far. The 4-0 War Eagles already have a 49-0 win over Lovett, a 45-8 win over Canyon Springs (NV), a 14-0 win over Westminster and a 30-0 win over St. Pius on this year's resume. The Marist offense is running like a well-oiled machine and the defense is allowing just 2 ppg heading into this matchup. That level of execution is a bad sign, even for a solid 3-1 White County team with a 27-20 win over Region 6-AAAA's Pickens on its resume. Marist has stalled White County in each of its three all-time previous meetings scoring victories of 35-0, 35-7 and 41-6.

Blessed Trinity at West Hall: Two-time defending champion Blessed Trinity responded to its last second 13-10 loss to Woodward Academy with a 28-7 win over Benedictine and entered last week's bye with a 3-1 start. West Hall is 0-4 under its second-year head coach Kroften Montgomery and was defeated by Jefferson 62-7 and Dawson County 34-0 before taking last week's bye. Blessed Trinity won 45-3 last year to improve to 3-0 in the all-time series.

All five teams in Region 8-AAAA will take on opponents outside the classification this week and will not open region play until Week 7.

Stephens County at Cedar Shoals: Class AAAAA Cedar Shoals was defeated by Region 8-AAAA's Oconee County 34-0 last week so this will be a good chance to see how Stephens County stacks up against a common opponent. The Indians have opened the year 1-4, but their competitive losses against Hart County, Rabun County and Habersham Central in particular provide optimism that the program is capable of earning a spot in this year's playoffs. Stephens County won this matchup 26-19 last year.

Madison County at Commerce: Madison County fell 18-8 to Cedar Shoals, but beat Habersham Central 26-20 and is 3-2 on the year. Class A Commerce is 3-1 with its lone loss coming to Hart County (40-20). The Tigers defeated Madison County 35-8 a year ago.

Walnut Grove at North Oconee: Winless Class AAAAA Walnut Grove (0-4) is taking a trip to undefeated North Oconee (5-0). North Oconee sophomore receiver Eli Warrington led the Titans with 115 yards and a touchdown off his five receptions in this past Friday's 35-14 win over Franklin County and is a player to watch for. The Titans defeated Walnut Grove 34-19 last year and went on to produce an impressive 9-3 overall record. That 9-3 finish last season followed a 1-9 finish in 2017 and a winless 0-10 campaign in 2016. This year's Titans are the first team in the classification to reach 5-0, and are looking for their first region title since 2012 after finishing runner-ups to top seed St. Pius a year ago.

Winder-Barrow at Oconee County: Class AAAAAA Winder-Barrow opened the year with losses to Clarke Central (44-36), Cedar Shoals (49-43) and Flowery Branch (7-0) before finding the win column with a 34-21 victory over Loganville. Oconee County started its season with a 21-20 win over Jefferson, lost 28-21 to Clarke Central, and then strung together an impressive three-game winning streak heading into the matchup (35-13 Spalding, 34-6 Morgan County, 34-0 Cedar Shoals). Oconee County cruised to a 27-0 victory last year.

Loganville at St. Pius: Class AAAAA Loganville takes an 0-4 record into its trip to St. Pius (2-3) and will look to avoid the program's first 0-5 start since 1997. The Red Devils are 0-1 against Region 8-AAAA this year—having previously fallen short 23-14 to North Oconee. St. Pius has wins over Dunwoody (10-8) and Decatur (21-0), but the Golden Lions were outpaced by Blessed Trinity (28-10), Westminster (42-14) and then Marist this past week (30-0). Last season, St. Pius defeated Loganville 45-21 in what marked the first-ever meeting between the schools.