The Region 8-AAAAAA championship will be determined on Friday, and as many as six more region titles could be secured on the next-to-last weekend of the high school football regular season.
Dacula and Lanier are tied for first place in Region 8, two games ahead of the pack, so the winner of their game Friday in Dacula will clinch the title.
Champions also could be crowned in regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, although in three of those cases the current first-place team would need some help to get the job done this week.
Only Region 4 is assured of coming down to the final weekend. Stephenson and Tucker are tied for first place, and if both win this week, they’ll meet for a winner-take-all game on Nov. 2 at Hallford Stadium. Even if either one loses on Friday, first place won’t be locked up until next weekend.
Here’s a look at the region championship scenarios in each Class AAAAAA region, and the games that will impact the races:
*Region 1: Lee County (2-0 in region play), the defending state champion and No. 1-ranked team, can clinch the title with a victory Friday against last place Houston County (0-2) or next week against 10th-ranked Coffee (1-2). If Lee County is upset by Houston County and loses to Coffee, the winner of this week's game between Northside (1-1) and Valdosta (2-1) probably takes the title.
*Region 2: Glynn Academy (2-0) can clinch its third consecutive region title this week if it beats Effingham County (1-1) and Bradwell Institute (1-1) loses to Brunswick (0-3). If Bradwell wins, Glynn Academy would need to beat Bradwell next weekend to avoid a potential tie for first place that could include Glynn, Bradwell and either Effingham County or Richmond Hill (2-1).
*Region 3: First-place Grovetown (3-0) can claim the first region championship in school history this week if it beats Heritage (1-2) and Evans (2-1) loses to Alcovy (0-3). Evans, the defending champ, can win the region if it wins its last two games – the Knights play Grovetown next week – and Lakeside (2-1) loses one of its remaining two games. If things break right, Lakeside could still win it, too.
*Region 4: Tucker (6-0) and Stephenson (6-0) are the only unbeaten teams in region play, and their matchup next weekend would appear to settle the region championship. However, Stephenson's opponent this week is third-place Lovejoy (5-1), which is just one game back. If Lovejoy knocks off Stephenson on Friday and then Stephenson beats Tucker, the three teams would finish tied for first.
*Region 5: Douglas County (6-0) can capture its first region title since 2002 with a victory over second-place Creekside (5-1) on Friday. If Creekside wins, it would still need to beat South Paulding (2-4) in the regular-season finale to win the title. Creekside went 0-10 last year and could become the first team since Adairsville in 2000 to go winless one season and win a region title the next.
*Region 6: Creekview (6-0) has a one-game lead on Harrison, Sequoyah and Allatoona (all are 5-1) and can clinch the title this week if it beats Sprayberry (2-6) and Harrison loses to Sequoyah. Even if it loses, Creekview would still win the title if it beats Harrison next week. If Creekview and Harrison both win Friday, it'll set up a crazy final weekend, with the top four teams going head-to-head.
*Region 7: Johns Creek (6-0) can wrap up its second region title in three years with a victory Friday at Alpharetta or next week at Dunwoody (0-6). Losses by the Gladiators in both games probably would hand first place to Centennial (5-1), which won its last region title in 2002, although it also would open the door for Alpharetta (4-2) or Northview (4-2) to work into a tie for first place.
*Region 8: Dacula (3-0) and Lanier (3-0) are the only unbeaten teams in the region, and everybody else has at least two losses, so the Dacula-Lanier winner Friday night will be the region champion. Dacula has won all 13 of its region games since dropping from the highest class before the 2016 season and won the past two Region 8 championships. Lanier won region titles in 2014 and 2015.
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