Three of the eight regions in Class AAAAA are subdivided and will hold championship games on Nov. 6 matching the winners of each subregion.
One of the teams earning a spot in those championship games, the 4-AAAAA Div. B champion, will be determined this weekend, and as many as four more teams could earn their spots.
Here’s a look at the subregion races:
- Region 4: The winner of the Stockbridge-Woodland game will be the subregion B champion. The subregion A winner won't be determined until next week when Northgate plays Starr's Mill. Both are undefeated in subregion play. The only other team with a shot is Drew (5-2, 3-1), which must win its remaining games – including against Northgate this week – and hope Starr's Mill loses twice, against Mundy's Mill and Northgate.
- Region 6: Mays can clinch the subregion B title with a victory this week against Carver-Atlanta. If Carver wins, Mays are Carver are likely to finish in a three-way tie for first place with Creekside that will be broken with the region's tiebreakers, as was the case in 2014. Stephenson is alone in subregion A and can clinch this week if it beats M.L. King and Southwest DeKalb loses to Druid Hills. If that doesn't happen, the winner of next week's Stephenson-Southwest DeKalb winner is likely to take the title.
- Region 7: Dalton and Creekview are tied for first place in subregion A, but Dalton won the head-to-head meeting and controls its fate. All the Catamounts need is a victory this week against Woodland-Cartersville (1-6, 1-3) to clinch the title. Cambridge is alone in first place in subregion B and can clinch the title with a victory this week against Riverwood. A Riverwood victory likely produces a three-way of Cambridge, Riverwood and Kell that will be settled by points allowed in games among the three teams.
Of course, the races are still going on in the regions that don’t have championship games. Here’s a look at those regions and how this weekend’s games will impact those races.
- Region 1: Northside-Columbus is 3-0 in region play and tied with Carver-Columbus for first place. But the Patriots are about to hit the roughest part of their schedule, beginning on Friday against Columbus and followed by games against Carver and LaGrange. Six of the seven teams are in contention for a playoff berth, and the Columbus-Northside winner is almost certain to be in the postseason.
- Region 2: The only team with a chance to break through the big four of Northside-Warner Robins, Houston County, Jones County and Warner Robins is Lakeside-Evans. The Panthers (3-4, 3-3) are a game behind fourth-place Warner Robins (5-2, 4-2), which they play this week. Lakeside also has the easier schedule in the final two weeks, as Warner Robins meets No. 6 Jones County on Nov. 6.
- Region 3: This is one of the wildest races of them all. Five teams are in playoff contention, and the region's three-time defending champion (Ware County) is sitting in fifth place. This week's big game matches Glynn Academy (5-2, 4-1) against Effingham County (6-2, 4-2), which moved into fourth place by beating Ware (5-2, 3-2) last week. Barring an upset, Coffee will win the region title.
- Region 5: Allatoona, Alexander and East Paulding have one loss each in region play. East Paulding, which plays Alexander this week, is in the driver's seat because it beat Allatoona to open the season. The Raiders can win the title with victories in their final three games. Alexander would need to win its remaining games, against a more difficult schedule, and hope for an Allatoona loss.
- Region 8: Salem started the season 4-0 but has since lost three consecutive games to fall out of playoff position. Ending that slump this week will be no easy task as the Seminoles host No. 4-ranked Lanier, which is alone in first place, and another loss will end Salem's playoff hopes. Lanier can clinch its second consecutive region title with victories in two of its final three games.
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