Three of the eight region titles have been decided as the season moves into its final week. That means that five other region champions will be crowned either on Friday or shortly thereafter if tiebreaker scenarios are needed.
Of the three regions that have been decided – 5, 7 and 8 – two teams defended their 2017 titles. Cedar Grove (Region 5) and Greater Atlanta Christian (Region 7) repeated. Monroe Area (Region 8) clinched its first region title since 2013 in 8-AAAA and fourth region title overall – 1969, 2012, 2013 and this year.
Let's look to see what we can expect on Friday from the undecided regions:
-- Region 1: Crisp County (6-3, 2-0) will host Monroe (5-4, 2-0) for the region championship. Crisp has won the title the past two seasons under coach Shelton Felton (2016) and Brad Harber (2017). In the 30 times the teams have played, Crisp has won 20. The last time Monroe defeated Crisp was in 2013.
-- Region 2: Pierce (9-0, 4-0) and Liberty County (6-2, 3-1) will play for the region title. If Liberty wins and pulls even with Pierce County, due to tiebreaker rules for their region, Liberty will be the region champion. Liberty has won the region the past two seasons. The teams have met four times and split games, 2-2.
-- Region 3: Benedictine (8-1, 7-0) is looking for its sixth consecutive region title after reclassifying from AA to AAA this year. Benedictine has the lead over Jenkins (7-2, 6-1) and Southeast Bulloch (8-1, 6-1). Benedictine will face Jenkins on Friday, and if Jenkins wins against Benedictine and Southeast Bulloch wins against Johnson-Savannah, all three teams will be tied at 7-1 in the region and a mini-game scenario on Monday would break the tie.
-- Region 4: Peach County (7-2, 5-0) will host Westside-Macon (7-2, 5-0) for the region championship in Fort Valley. Peach has won the title three of the last four seasons after missing out in 2015 following a 3-2 loss to Jackson, which handed the Red Devils the title. Westside's last region championship came in 2012 when it was in Class AAAA.
-- Region 6: Calhoun (9-0, 7-0) will host Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (7-2, 6-1) for the Region 6 title. Calhoun has won the region each year since 2001 across Class AA and AAA. Calhoun hasn't lost a region game since 2001. If Lakeview finds a way to upend the Yellow Jackets, it would be a victory that would shake up the classification during the transition to the playoffs.
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