Region 1-AAAAAA is widely considering the strongest in Class AAAAAA, if not the entire state.
It has provided the past two state champions in the second-highest classification – Lee County last season and Valdosta in 2016. Four of its five teams have reached at the least semifinals in the past two seasons, and all four of those teams are in the top seven in this week’s AJC/GHSF Daily rankings and the top five in the computer Maxwell Ratings.
The final order of the seeding for this year’s playoffs may still be up in the air, as evidenced by Northside-Warner Robins’ mild upset of then-No. 2 Coffee last week. But two things are clear after eight weeks of the regular season – Lee County is the heavy favorite to win the region, and Houston County’s going to have a tough time slipping into the playoffs.
We continue our Tuesday series examining the playoff outlooks for every Class AAAAAA team as region play kicks off (or shortly after it begins) with a preview of 1-AAAAAA, which began league play last week. Here’s a closer look at each of the teams, broken down by playoff likelihood, in alphabetical order within each group:
Safest bet
*Lee County (6-0, 0-0): The top-ranked Trojans won their first state title in 2017 and might be even better this year. Lee County has given up just 16 points in six games, no more than seven in any game. Maxwell has Lee County projected as a 12-point favorite this week at Northside, which is his second-highest rated team from the region. The Trojans' 12-game winning streak is a school record.
Not far behind
*Coffee (6-1, 0-1): Coffee, currently ranked No. 7, went 10-4 last year and reached its first state championship game, where it lost (in overtime) to Lee County for the second time in six weeks. Coffee was undefeated until its 30-20 loss to Northside in the region opener last week. That loss leaves it with little margin for error if it hopes to win the region title or even host a first-round playoff game.
*Northside (4-3, 1-0): The Eagles were the No. 3 team from the region last year, their lowest seeding for the playoffs since 2004, and their 8-4 record was their worst since 1996. Northside took a big step toward moving back into the top two seeds with its win over Coffee last week that boosted them to No. 3 in Class AAAAAA. All of their losses came against teams that were ranked at the time.
*Valdosta (4-3, 1-0): After winning the state championship in 2016, the Wildcats took a step back with a 4-7 season that was their worst since 2006 and were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Glynn Academy. Valdosta, ranked No. 4, is clearly on the way back up, having already matched their win total from last season. They have one region win in hand and face Coffee this week.
Long shot
*Houston County (2-5, 0-1): The Bears have missed the playoffs both seasons since the region's current configuration came into place in 2016. One region victory might be enough to get them in this season, but it's difficult to see where that might come from, considering they're just 1-7 in region play over the past two seasons and lost to Valdosta 55-14 in the region opener last week.
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Next week: Region 2-AAAAAA
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