The regular season has just three weeks of games left on its schedule, but the current playoff picture is still very much up for grabs across the board. Here are five of the most significant region matchups to watch for this Friday night.
Cairo at Americus-Sumter
Cairo has already suffered a region loss to Carver-Columbus and Americus-Sumter has already lost to Hardaway in region action. As a result, this game could determine which team takes the No. 2 seed. Americus-Sumter still has to face Carver later in the year, so a win over Cairo could set up a potential region championship showdown with the Tigers. As for Cairo, they will need Carver to lose its final two games (Shaw, Americus-Sumter) in order to have any shot at the No. 1 seed. Americus-Sumter and Westover each have defeated Shaw—which closes out its region schedule with Carver-Columbus tonight and Cairo next week. At this point, it looks like Carver is going to take the top seed, but the final three playoff spots will be a fight to the finish.
West Laurens at Mary Persons
West Laurens and Mary Persons each enter this matchup with 2-0 region starts and this game. Perry is also 2-0 in Region 2-AAAA and will face Spalding this Friday before closing out the year with Mary Persons and West Laurens. As a result, the winner of this game will likely be facing off with Perry for the region title, either next weekend if Mary Persons wins, or in its season finale if West Laurens is able to defeat Mary Persons.
Baldwin at Burke County
Defending Region 3-AAAA champion Baldwin fell 35-21 to Thomson last Friday and needs this win badly in order to remain in the hunt for the region title. Burke County is in control of its own destiny and can take the top seed with a win over Baldwin this Friday and a win over Thomson in the season finale. Thomson’s win over Baldwin snapped a 4-game losing streak and moved the Bulldogs to 1-0. They will take on Cross Creek this week and
Marist at Flowery Branch
Undefeated Marist still has to face Blessed Trinity in its season finale next week. The Titans, of course, were able to hold off Flowery Branch in OT this past week to remain unbeaten in region play. Marist will need a win over the Falcons to set up a region championship with the Titans next week.
Pickens at Ridgeland
Ridgeland and Pickens have a major opportunity to reassert themselves as the favorites to take the Region 6-AAAA title. The two schools join Northwest Whitfield and Heritage-Catoosa as one-loss teams in the region. Heritage’s loss is to Ridgeland (25-20), Ridgeland’s loss is to Northwest Whitfield (27-16), Pickens’ loss is to Heritage-Catoosa (21-20) and Northwest Whitfield’s loss is to Pickens (35-10).
***There are 25 undefeated teams left in all of the classifications heading into Week 10’s schedule and Class AAAA is home to four of them: Woodward Academy (7-0), Cartersville (8-0), Marist (8-0) and North Oconee (8-0).
Woodward Academy has previously completed perfect regular seasons on five separate occasions in its history (2015, 1997, 1996, 1985, 1973). The War Eagles have won two state titles in their history (1970, 1980), however, neither of those seasons saw the team close out a flawless record. There is another historical aspect to this year’s team that is worth pointing out. Woodward Academy’s defense has allowed just 34 total points through its first seven games, giving the defense a 4.86 points allowed per game average. That mark is a significant improvement from last season’s 27.92 points allowed per game.
Cartersville is much more familiar with going undefeated in the regular season than they are with losses over the last several seasons. The Canes sit two wins away from closing out their fifth-straight perfect regular season and their seventh in the past eight years. Cartersville is coming off a 52-42 win over Sandy Creek and will close out the year with a home game against Chapel Hill this Friday and a showdown with Troup following a Week 11 bye to cap the regular season slate. Cartersville is 5-0 all-time against both opponents.
Marist is closing out its regular season with top 10 region showdowns versus Flowery Branch this Friday and Blessed Trinity the following week. If the War Eagles manage to win both contests, then it would mark the 10th time in Alan Chadwick’s 35 seasons at the school, that Marist closes out a perfect 10-0 regular season.
North Oconee has only been around since 2004, but the Titans did celebrate their first undefeated regular season in 2011. That perfect record, however, came in Class AA and the program has needed a few seasons to build up to the level that this year’s team has been playing under third-year head coach Tyler Aurandt. North Oconee carries a 26.13 average margin of victory into its final two regular season games—thanks to last Friday’s 44-0 win over St. Pius. The Titans visit 1-6 Stephens County this Friday and will host rival Oconee County (7-1, 2-0) the following Friday night.
Here are the rest of the state’s undefeated teams as of Week 10:
Class AAAAAAA: Lowndes (8-0), McEachern (7-0)
Class AAAAAA: Harrison (8-0), Dacula (7-0), Lanier (7-0)
Class AAAAA: Jones County (7-0), Riverwood (7-0), Carrollton (8-0), Buford (8-0)
Class AAAA: Woodward Academy (7-0), Cartersville (8-0), Marist (8-0), North Oconee (8-0)
Class AAA: Pierce County (7-0)
Class AA: Dublin (7-0), Rockmart (7-0), Rabun County (7-0), Union County (7-0)
Class A: Pelham (7-0), Irwin County (6-0), Savannah Country Day (7-0), Holy Innocents' (7-0), Darlington (7-0), Mount de Sales (7-0), Athens Academy (7-0)
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