The second round of the 2-AAAAA round-robin scheduling that matches the region’s likely playoff teams takes place on Friday, when No. 1 Northside faces cross-town rival Warner Robins and No. 2 Houston County travels to No. 7 Jones County.
Northside and Houston County are tied for first place and unbeaten in region play. Victories by both teams this week would set up a region-championship showdown on the final Friday of the regular season. Warner Robins and Jones County are tied for third place with one region loss each. The only other team in the region with a realistic shot of making the postseason is fifth-place Grovetown, which would need to upset Warner Robins on Oct. 30.
The Houston County-Jones County game will be the air show. Houston County’s Jake Fromm, who recently committed to Alabama, is 87-for-146 passing for 1,521 yards and 15 touchdowns. Jones County’s Bradley Hunnicutt is 68-for-103 for 1,108 yards and 12 TDs. Of the two teams, Houston County has more rushing attempts (163-116) and yardage (966-738).
Warner Robins-Northside will be the more run-oriented game. Warner Robins is led by Javian Bradford-Jackson (125 carries, 831 yards). Northside’s leader is Desean Dinkins with 523 yards and 11 touchdowns on 87 carries, but quarterback Tobias Oliver (78-442-5) also is a significant contributor to the run game.
Here are some of the other top games involving Class AAAAA teams this weekend:
- Ware County (5-1, 3-1) at Effingham County (5-2, 3-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Effingham County is just outside playoff position in 3-AAAAA, in fifth place and trailing Ware County and three other one-loss teams. The Rebels probably need at least one victory against one of them, but they're running out of opportunities – their only other game against a top-four team is at Glynn Academy next week.
- M.L. King (2-4, 1-1) at Miller Grove (4-2, 1-1), 7:30 p.m. Saturday, North DeKalb Stadium: M.L. King won just one of its first five games, but the Lions are in the hunt for a spot in the 6-AAAAA play-in games after a 39-14 win against Druid Hills last week. M.L. King and Miller Grove are among four teams tied in Division A behind Stephenson, but the winner this week likely will finish in second place.
- Riverwood (6-1, 4-0) at Kell (4-2, 2-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Riverwood made the playoffs once in the past 13 seasons, and winning 7-AAAAA Division B would guarantee a return trip. To do that, Riverwood needs two victories in the toughest part of its schedule – this week at Kell and next week against Cambridge. Either way, the Raiders are in good shape for a spot in the region play-in games.
- Loganville (6-1, 5-1) at Salem (4-2, 3-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday: This is almost a must-win game for Salem, which has lost two consecutive games after a 4-0 start. The Seminoles are tied with Winder-Barrow for fourth place in 8-AAAAA, but the two teams have similar schedules down the stretch and Winder-Barrow won the head-to-head matchup 35-34 to gain the tiebreaker advantage.
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