Region play in Class AAAAAA began, on a limited basis, in 4-AAAAAA last week when Lovejoy beat Mundy’s Mill and Morrow defeated Forest Park.
However, most teams in that region have this week off, so the full Region 4 schedule of league games doesn’t begin in earnest until Sept. 12.
That moves the spotlight this week to the kickoff of region play in 6-AAAAAA, where Creekview is coming off the best season in school history and seeking to defend the first region title in program history but will try to do so with a new head coach. Trevor Williams is in charge now, taking over when Adam Carter left after one season to become the coach at Grayson.
Williams and the Grizzlies will jump straight into the fire of region play Friday night when they travel to Allatoona for a battle of top-10 teams and leading region-title contenders.
On Tuesdays over the next few weeks, we’ll examine the playoff outlooks for every team as region play kicks off (or shortly after it begins). We begin today with Region 6.
Here’s a closer look at each of the teams, broken down by playoff likelihood, in alphabetical order within each group:
*Defending champion: Creekview
*Safest playoff bets: Allatoona, Creekview, Harrison
Sixth-ranked Creekview (2-0) and No. 5 Harrison (2-0) have gotten off to strong starts in 2019 after finishing as the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds for the playoffs last year. Creekview has had little trouble in victories over Cambridge and Woodstock, while Harrison has routed Lassiter and Hiram. No. 8 Allatoona (0-1) lost its opener to Class AAAA No. 2 Cartersville 14-13 but had a chance to win late. Creekview made its first quarterfinal appearance last year. Harrison has won at least one playoff game in three consecutive seasons. Allatoona has made nine straight playoff trips and won a state title in 2015. Expect to see all three back in the postseason this year.
*In the hunt: Dalton, Sequoyah
Sequoyah joined Creekview in the quarterfinals in 2018, but a season-opening 14-0 loss to Cherokee (Sequoyah beat the Warriors 21-7 last year) at least raises some questions. Still, the Chiefs (0-1) have earned three consecutive playoff berths out of this region. The real wild card in the bunch is Dalton (2-0). The Catamounts missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2010, but they have been the hottest team in the state this year, averaging 67.5 points in victories over Ringgold and rival Northwest Whitfield. The star has been Georgia Tech-committed running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who has rushed for 603 yards and 12 touchdowns in two games.
*Long shot: Sprayberry
Sprayberry (1-1) went 3-7 in 2018 but has already avenged one of those losses when it beat Wheeler 21-14 last week. But that was in non-region play. The Chiefs finished in sixth place in the nine-team region last year, losing to the five teams above them in the standings, although three of the losses (21-14 vs. Harrison, 21-13 vs. Dalton, 22-11 vs. Creekview) were by 11 points or less. If the Yellow Jackets can turn just a couple of those losses around, they would have a shot. They open region play against South Cobb.
*Not this year: Osborne, River Ridge, South Cobb
These three teams finished at the bottom of the standings in 2018 and had a combined overall record of 3-27. They are off to an 0-5 start this year, with no game decided by fewer than 18 points. Osborne, in fact, is in the midst of a 22-game losing streak. South Cobb (0-2) hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2011. Osborne (0-2), which began playing football in 1957, has played in two region playoff games but never advanced to the state playoffs. River Ridge (0-1) started its program in 2009 and has never reached the postseason.
*Games to watch:
The week’s matchup between Creekview and Allatoona could set the tone for the playoff race, but the matter likely won’t be decided until the final week of the season, when Creekview travels to Harrison and Allatoona visits Sequoyah. Last year when those teams met at the end of the regular season, all four had clinched playoff berths but none of the seeds had been secured. Also, keep an eye on the games in which Dalton plays one of the top four contenders. A victory in any of those games could put the Catamounts in the playoffs.
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Next week: Region 4-AAAAAA
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