Richmond Hill became the first Class AAAAAA team this season to clinch a region championship when it beat Bradwell Institute 34-24 Friday to secure the Region 2 title.
This week, at least one and possibly as many as five regions will crown their champions on the next-to-last Friday of the high school football season.
The one region that is certain to be decided is 7-AAAAAAA, where Alpharetta and Johns Creek will meet for the title at Johns Creek. Both teams are 6-0 in the region, and no other team has fewer than three losses, so the winner will be the champion and the loser will be the runner-up, guaranteeing both a home playoff game in the first round. The two north Fulton rivals have combined to win the past three region titles, Johns Creek in 2016 and 2018 and Alpharetta in 2017.
“This win was a great one for our program,” Alpharetta coach Jacob Nichols told E. Marcel Pourtout for the North Fulton Neighbor after his team’s 28-12 victory over Northview last week. “It punched our ticket to the region championship this week at Johns Creek, and guarantees us a first-round home playoff game. This will be another huge week for us as we prepare for a very talented Johns Creek football team.”
Another region in which the top two teams will go head to head this weekend is 8-AAAAAA, but only one team – top-ranked Dacula – can clinch the title Friday without some help. That’s because No. 5 Lanier has a game remaining against third-place Gainesville, which is one game behind the leaders but has already lost to Dacula. Unless Gainesville loses to Apalachee on Friday, Lanier would also need to beat the Red Elephants to avoid a likely three-way tie for first place. Three-time defending region champion Dacula is 18-0 in the region since moving into it in 2016.
“We're excited,” Lanier coach Korey Mobbs told Steve Conyers of the Gwinnett Daily Post. “It's one game and we know they'll be ready but we will be ready as well. We had to take care of business to afford to put ourselves in this situation, and there's a lot more football left to be played after that. We're going to take it as one single game, and we'll be excited for the opportunity and glad that we will be at our house.”
Here are three more games this weekend that could propel a team to a championship:
*Evans at Alcovy (Sharp Stadium): Evans of Region 3 can win its second region title in three years with a victory this week or by beating Grovetown in the season finale. The Knights have a one-game lead over Lakeside-Evans and Heritage-Conyers but beat both by a combined five points. Lakeside and Heritage will play next weekend in a game that probably will settle second and third place.
*Mays at Alexander: Mays of Region 5 put itself in position to claim its third region title in four years with wins the past two weeks against its closest pursuers, Creekside and South Paulding. The Raiders can close the deal by winning this week or against Northgate next week. Alexander can clinch a playoff berth by beating Douglas County next week, regardless of the outcome against Mays.
*Sequoyah at Harrison: Harrison can win its second Region 6 title in three years with a win Friday against Sequoyah or next week against defending champion Creekview. The more interesting race is the one for the region's other three playoff berths. Allatoona, Creekview, Dalton, Sequoyah and Sprayberry all have a path to the playoffs. Dalton and Sprayberry missed the postseason last year.
The two other Class AAAAAA region titles won’t be decided until next weekend.
In Region 1, two-time defending state champion Lee County can clinch its third consecutive region title with a victory against Coffee, regardless of what happens when its plays Houston County on Friday. If Coffee beats Lee, it likely produces a three-way tie for first place that would include Valdosta.
The Region 4 title will come down to next week’s game between Tucker and Stephenson, assuming both teams win their games on Friday (both are projected as favorites by at least 12 points by the computer Maxwell Ratings). Tucker and Stephenson have one loss each in region play, ahead of a group of two-loss teams that includes Morrow, Lovejoy and M.L. King. Morrow and Lovejoy still have a remote path to the title, but they would need to win out and get a ton of help.
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