Here’s what to look for this weekend in the first round of the Class AAAAA playoffs:
- First-round playoff games are often seen as good measuring sticks of a region’s strength, and the matchups to watch this year are the ones between Regions 5 and 6. The four teams from Region 5 – Allatoona, South Paulding, Alexander and New Manchester – are all ranked among the top eight of the computer Maxwell Ratings. The Region 6 teams – Creekside, Stephenson, Mays and Carver-Atlanta – have all spent time in the GHSF Daily/AJC top 10 this season, including three that are in the current top 10. Both regions went 3-1 in the first round last season. Defending state champion Creekside was a member of Region 4 in 2013.
- Winder-Barrow could be without its star player when it makes its first playoff appearance since 2003. Running back CeCe Green, who has rushed for 1,625 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, injured his hand during a victory against Heritage-Conyers last week, and he is questionable for the first-round game at third-ranked Kell, according to the Barrow County News. First-year coach Heath Webb has led Winder-Barrow to a 6-4 record, its best season since the 2003 team went 8-3 and lost to Westlake in the first round.
- Top-ranked Ware County (10-0) and coach Franklin Stephens will be trying to extend first-round winning streaks when they take on Starr’s Mill (6-4). Stephens’ teams advanced to at least the second round in each of his first seven seasons as a head coach (5-0 with Tucker and 2-0 with Lamar County). Ware County also has won seven consecutive first-round games, a streak that goes back to a 37-6 loss to Starr’s Mill in 2006. That was the only previous meeting between the two schools.
- Northside of Warner Robins and Northside of Columbus share the same name but will have little else in common when they meet at McConnell-Talbert Stadium. Northside-Warner Robins (9-1) has won 14 region titles, including 12 in the past 17 seasons, and failed to reach the second round only once since 1996. A victory this week would extend the Eagles’ state-record streak of 10-win seasons to 17. Northside-Columbus (4-6) is in the playoffs for just the third time in its 11-year history, going 1-2 in its previous appearances.
- Fifth-ranked Lanier (10-0), the Region 8 champ, will try to extend the best season in the program’s history when it meets Sequoyah. The Longhorns, who began their football program in 2010 but did not play a full varsity schedule until 2012, already have set a school record for victories, topping their nine wins in 2013 when they reached the AAAA second round. Sequoyah (5-5) opened the season 2-5 but won their final three games, including a 42-28 upset of Sprayberry in a play-in game last week to qualify for the playoffs.
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