Eight of the 58 Class AAAAAA football teams head into the final two weeks of the regular season with no hope of making the playoffs.
Tri-Cities and New Manchester of Region 5, Sprayberry, River Ridge, South Cobb and Osborne of Region 6, and Dunwoody and Chattahoochee of Region 7 have no chance of working their into even a tie for fourth place in their regions (the top four teams from each region make the postseason).
More teams – like Morrow and Mount Zion-Jonesboro of Region 4 and North Atlanta of Region 5 – in theory could still finish at least tied for fourth place, where things would then turn to the individual regions’ tiebreakers or GHSA mini-games, but the reality is that they’re probably not going to make the playoffs.
However, other teams currently on the outside looking in have a shot of working their way in. Here are five teams that reached the playoffs last year that, if things go their way, could make it back again this season:
*Brunswick: The Pirates (3-6, 0-3) were the No. 2 seed from Region 2 last year, but they head into the regular-season finale against Bradwell Institute (3-5, 1-1) on Friday without a win in region play. A loss to Bradwell would eliminate the Pirates, while a win would keep Brunswick alive but not guarantee a playoff berth. Bradwell could still get in over the Pirates if it were to beat first-place Glynn Academy on Nov. 2. And if Brunswick wins, Bradwell loses to Glynn Academy and Effingham County (5-3, 1-1) loses out, all three would finish 1-3 and tied for third place. They would be 1-1 against each other and headed for mini-games.
*Drew: The Titans made the playoffs out of Region 4 last year with a 4-6 record, and that's where they'll need to be if they want to return to the postseason. But at least Drew (2-6, 2-4) controls its fate. If the Titans win their final two games against M.L. King (1-7, 1-5) and fourth-place Mundy's Mill (5-3, 3-3), they will be the No. 4 seed. Mundy's Mill will be the fourth-place team if it beats Drew, regardless of what happens in its game against Forest Park this week. It Mundy's Mill and Drew both lose this week and then Drew beats Mundy's Mill, it's possible that as many as five teams could tie for fourth place. But that would require major upsets.
*Hughes: The Panthers, the No. 3 seed from Region 5 last year, started the year 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the region, but they have won three straight to get back into contention. Hughes (4-5, 4-3) has been the master of the low-scoring game, averaging just 6.8 points per game while giving up only 13.0. The Panthers are in fifth place, a half-game behind Northgate and Mays, which are tied for third place. Too many teams are bunched together in the middle of the pack to say that a victory this week will get Hughes to the playoffs, but a loss almost certainly knocks the Panthers out. Even sixth-place Alexander (3-5, 3-3) still has a shot but would need a miracle.
*Dalton: The Catamounts, who won the Region 6 title in 2016 and finished in third place last year, are two games out of the fourth spot, but they still have a realistic shot. To get there, Dalton would need to win both of its remaining games and hope seventh-ranked Allatoona loses its final two. Fortunately for Dalton (5-3, 3-3), it gets its shot at Allatoona (6-2, 5-1) this week and closes out the regular season against last-place Osborne (0-9) on Nov. 2. It Allatoona loses to Dalton, the pressure will be on the Buccaneers the following week when they close the regular season against sixth-ranked Sequoyah (7-1, 5-1).
*Pope: The Greyhounds, the No. 4 team in Region 7 last year, started the season 0-4 but have since won four of five and are in fifth place heading into their regular-season finale against Northview on Friday. A victory against Northview would get Pope back to the playoffs if Northview loses again the following week against second-place Centennial or if Alpharetta either wins or loses both of its remaining two games. If, after losing to Pope, Northview were to win next week and Alpharetta lost one of its final two, the teams will finish in a three-way tie (having gone 1-1 against each other) for the final two playoff spots.
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