There are five weeks remaining in the high school football regular season, but the races for Class 6A region championships are already coming into focus.
Four teams have seized control of their regions, including three – Effingham County, Gainesville and Roswell – that picked up big region victories last weekend.
Here are the four teams that are well positioned to win region titles, and a look at where things stand in the other four Class 6A title chases.
*Douglas County: The Tigers became the front-runners in Region 5 after their 30-27 victory over defending state and region champion Hughes two weekends ago. Douglas County is 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the region. East Paulding is also 3-0 in the region but hosts Hughes this week and plays at Douglas County on Oct. 20. Douglas County, No. 4 in Class 6A, has its highest ranking since spending one week at No. 4 in 2018 before losing to Creekside. The Tigers have not won a region championship since 2002.
*Effingham County: The Rebels (3-3, 2-0) are in the driver’s seat in Region 2 after a surprisingly lopsided 42-3 victory last week over Glynn Academy, which appeared to be the team to beat after defeating defending champion Brunswick the previous week. Glynn Academy was projected as a six-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings. Effingham County has games remaining against Evans, which also is undefeated, and Brunswick, but the Rebels control their fate in trying to win their first region title since 1995.
*Gainesville: The Red Elephants cleared the tallest hurdle standing between them and a second consecutive Region 8 title when they beat Lanier 35-0 last week. Maxwell has Lanier rated as the second-best team in the region. Gainesville’s last big obstacle is likely an Oct. 27 game at North Forsyth. Both teams are 2-0 in region play, and North Forsyth gave Gainesville its toughest region game last season when it lost to the Red Elephants 34-21. Gainesville beat all five of its other region opponents by at least 28 points in 2022.
*Roswell: No team in Class 6A is in better shape for a region title than the ninth-ranked Hornets, who are 2-0 in Region 7 games and got their biggest test behind them when they beat rival Blessed Trinity 29-19 last week. Roswell’s toughest remaining challenge will come in the season finale on Nov. 3 when it hosts Alpharetta, which is also 2-0 in league play but ranked No. 24 in the class by Maxwell. We’ll find out more about Alpharetta’s chances when the Raiders play at Blessed Trinity on Oct. 27.
*Elsewhere: No. 2 Thomas County Central and No. 4 Lee County are the highest-rated teams in Region 1, and it appears that their game on Oct. 27 will decide the region title. But No. 6 Houston County, which lost to Lee County last week, is still in the mix, and Northside-Warner Robins could be a spoiler. … No. 2 Woodward Academy and unbeaten Mundy’s Mill appear headed for a showdown on Oct. 27 that will decide the Region 3 title. … No. 8 Marist is the favorite to win the Region 4 title, but they’ll need to get past North Atlanta on Oct. 19 to repeat as region champion. North Atlanta is 6-0 for the first time in school history and has won its six games by an average of 31.8 points. … Region 6 is the most wide open in Class 6A at this point, as defending champion Rome, Creekview and Sequoyah are all 2-0 in league play. Rome plays at Sequoyah this week and at Creekview on Oct. 27.
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