In a game that could determine the No. 3 and 4 seeds from Region 5, No. 8 Lovett will play host to No. 9 Pace Academy at Memorial Stadium at Conley-Oakley Field in Atlanta. Both teams are tied at 3-2 in region play and trail Westminster and Cedar Grove in the standings.
"It is interesting," Pace coach Chris Slade said. "Obviously we have played all the same teams except for non-region games, and if you go back and look at the region scores they have been pretty similar, except they did a better job than we did against Cedar Grove."
Cedar Grove slipped past Lovett 28-21 and defeated Pace 49-0.
"Mike Muschamp has done a great job there for a long time, and he gets the most out of his players than probably anybody we will play against all year," Slade said. "It is going to be a very good football game. Obviously Westminster, for all intents and purposes, has won the region, so it will be more of a pride game than anything else. I think, it looks like, (Pace and Lovett) will be in the playoffs, and it looks to be more of a seeding type of deal. Moreover, it will be a game for pride and neighborhood rivalry. They have been good for a long time, and we are looking forward to the game."
Slade is correct. This game will be about pride, but it will also be very important to avoid being the No. 4 seed from Region 5. Why? Because the No. 4 seed from Region 5 could face the peaking offense of Davis Mills and Greater Atlanta Christian (8-1, 5-0) from Region 7. The No. 1-ranked Spartans are the favorite to win Region 7 title. GAC is off this week before playing a solid Dawson County team (6-1, 4-0) next week.
Here are other Class AAA games to monitor this weekend:
-- No. 2 Peach County (7-1, 4-0) will travel to Pike County (5-3, 2-2) for a Region 4 game. The Trojans have shut out their last three opponents and are tied with Jackson (6-2, 4-0) for the top seed from Region 4. Peach will play Jackson next week.
-- No. 3 Westminster (6-2, 5-0) will travel to Towers (4-4, 3-2) for a chance to clinch the Region 5 title. The Wildcats defeated Lovett 17-10 last week.
-- No. 4 Calhoun (6-2, 3-0) will host Bremen (5-3, 2-1) in a Region 6 game. The Yellow Jackets lead Region 6/South and are coming off a 34-0 victory against Sonoraville.
-- No. 5 Crisp (8-0, 2-0) will travel to Dougherty (2-6, 1-2). The Cougars are tied with Worth County for the top spot in Region 1. It should be noted that the Maxwell Projection bracket after Week 10 has Crisp going to the championship game against Greater Atlanta Christian.
-- No. 6 Cedar Grove (6-2, 4-1) will play host to McNair (3-5, 1-4) in a Region 5 game. The Saints have all but locked up the No. 2 seed and have won the last seven games against McNair.
-- No. 7 Liberty County (7-1, 3-0) will play host to Brantley County (5-2, 2-1) and will need a victory to stay tied with No. 10 Pierce County (6-2, 3-0) for the top seed from Region 2. Speaking of Pierce County, it will play Appling County (4-3, 1-2). If Pierce and Liberty win this week, they will play next week for the region title.
-- Westminster and Jenkins from Savannah (Region 3) are the only two teams that can clinch No. 1 seeds this weekend. Jenkins (7-1, 5-0) can clinch its first region championship since 1966, when it plays rival Windsor Forest (4-4, 3-3).
