Class 4A Blog: Troup, Stockbridge and Stephenson look to seize opportunity in high-stake region battles

The Stephenson High School Jaguars take the field during a GHSA high school football game between Stephenson High School and Miller Grove High School at James R. Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, GA., on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Photo/Jenn Finch)

Credit: Jenn Finch

Credit: Jenn Finch

The Stephenson High School Jaguars take the field during a GHSA high school football game between Stephenson High School and Miller Grove High School at James R. Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, GA., on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Photo/Jenn Finch)

The 2022 regular season has just two weeks left and we witnessed undefeated North Oconee become the first region champion of the year as the Titans secured the top seed out of Region 8. North Oconee still has two games left on the slate and will attempt to improve to 9-0 on Friday at home against an East Hall team that comes in with an 0-6 region mark. Region 8′s remaining playoff spots are going to be a log jam as Walnut Grove and Madison County share 4-2 records, Cedar Shoals sits at 4-3, East Forsyth and North Hall sit at 3-3 and Cherokee Bluff comes in with a 3-4 record. Chestatee will host East Forsyth, Madison County and Walnut Grove will square off and the winner can guarantee a playoff berth and North Hall will battle with Cedar Shoals in another high stakes battle.

In Region 1, No. 7 ranked Bainbridge will face Hardaway and can set up a region championship game next week with Cairo with a victory. Cairo is off this week with Shaw and Westover and is at the top of the standings with a 3-0 region mark. In Region 2, the biggest showdown will be No. 3 Perry and a Spalding team that can clinch the region title with a victory. Spalding upset Perry a year ago, but this time the Panthers are riding a seven-game win-streak and have not lost since a one-point loss to Houston County in their season opener. Burke County, New Hampstead and Wayne County all enter this week with just one region loss and Benedictine is at the top of the Region 3 table with a 3-0 region mark. Burke County and Wayne County will actually be returning to action on Nov. 1.

In Region 4, Troup and Trinity Christian will faceoff for the first time in program history for the region crown. No. 4 Troup is 8-0 and 5-0 in the region, while Trinity Christian is coming off a 24-10 loss to LaGrange that dropped their region record to 4-1. As a result, LaGrange can still position itself quite well in the playoff picture, but it is still crowded with Starr’s Mill and Whitewater joining the Grangers at 3-2. LaGrange will face Fayette County on Thursday, Starr’s Mill will host North Clayton and Whitewater will host Riverdale in preparation for a wild season finale this following week.

In Region 5, Stockbridge is on track to clinch the region title and will take on Pace Academy in a massive showdown. Stephenson is the team with a similar opportunity in its Region 6 showdown with Holy Innocents’ and that game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Finally, in Region 7, No. 1 ranked Cedartown will host Southeast Whitfield and Heritage-Catoosa will face Sonoraville in a game that could ultimately determine home field and the No. 2 seed.

Here’s what happened this past week in Class 4A: In Region 1, Cairo stamped its sixth-straight win in a a 28-2 home game against Westover and Shaw earned its first region victory with a 21-7 win over Hardaway. No. 7 Bainbridge was off on its bye and will visit Cairo in two weeks for the Region championship. In Region 2, Spalding picked up a 39-18 win over Westside-Macon on Thursday to set up a region championship game with No. 3 ranked Perry in its season finale. Perry was off on its bye this week, Griffin produced a 35-16 win over Howard Baldwin came up with a 42-21 win over West Laurens. No. 5 ranked Benedictine defeated No. 9 Wayne County 31-10 to take sole position at the top of the Region 3 standings and New Hampstead handled business in a 35-7 win over Islands after falling last week to Wayne County. Region 4 experienced another wild week with Troup dominating Fayette County 49-21, LaGrange serving Trinity Christian’s its first region defeat 28-10, Starr’s Mill defeating Riverdale 41-19 and Whitewater furthering the logjam for the four playoff berths with its 64-0 win over Whitewater on Thursday. As it currently stands, Troup is leading at 5-0 in the region, Trinity Christian moves to 4-1 and LaGrange, Starr’s Mill and Whitewater all stand at 3-2. …Region 5′s Hampton moved closer to securing a playoff spot with a 41-0 win over McDonough, Lovett cruised past Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 44-0, Pace Academy joined Lovett at 4-1 with a 35-21 win over Luella and region front-runner Stockbridge improved to 5-0 in region play with a 43-14 victory over Woodland-Stockbridge. There were no region games played in Region 6 this week, but both teams in action scored wins with Druid Hills topping Johnson-Gainesville 56-15 and Clarkston defeating Midtown 29-6. In Region 7, No. 1 ranked Cedartown toppled Sonoraville 48-0 to improve to 8-0, Heritage-Catoosa survived a wild 40-36 game with Northwest Whitfield and Central-Carroll cruised past Southeast Whitfield 51-6. Finally, North Oconee clinched the Region 8 championship on Friday with its 44-0 win over Walnut Grove. Madison County came up with a 42-34 win over East Forsyth on Thursday and Cherokee Bluff earned a must-win 34-20 triumph over East Hall.

CLASS 4A STANDINGS

REGION 1

Cairo 7-2, 3-0

Bainbridge 4-4, 2-0

Shaw 4-5, 1-2

Hardaway 2-7, 1-2

Westover 2-7, 0-3 Friday, Oct. 28

Bainbridge vs. Hardaway

REGION 2

Perry 7-1, 4-0

Spalding 6-3, 4-1

Griffin 3-6, 3-2

Baldwin 3-5, 2-2

Howard 5-3, 1-3

Westside 5-3, 1-3

West Laurens 1-7, 0-4

Thursday, Oct. 27

Howard vs. West Laurens

Friday, Oct. 28

Perry vs. Spalding

Westside-Macon vs. Baldwin

REGION 3

Benedictine 6-2, 3-0

New Hampstead 6-2, 2-1

Wayne County 6-2, 2-1

Burke County 6-1, 1-1

SE Bulloch 2-6, 1-2

Islands 0-9, 0-4

Friday, Oct. 21

Burke County vs. New Hampstead

Islands vs. Benedictine

Southeast Bulloch vs. Wayne County

REGION 4

Troup 8-0, 5-0

Trinity Christian 5-3, 4-1

LaGrange 6-2, 3-2

Starr’s Mill 6-2, 3-2

Whitewater 6-2, 3-2

Riverdale 3-6, 2-4

Fayette County 1-7, 1-4

North Clayton 1-8, 0-6

Thursday, Oct. 27

LaGrange vs. Fayette County

Friday, Oct. 28

Starr’s Mill vs. North Clayton

Troup vs. Trinity Christian

Whitewater vs. Riverdale

REGION 5

Stockbridge 6-2, 5-0

Pace Academy 7-1, 4-1

Lovett 4-4, 4-1

Hampton 6-2, 3-2

Woodland 4-4, 2-3

McDonough 3-5, 1-4

Luella 1-7, 1-4

Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0-8, 0-5

Thursday, Oct. 27

Mt. Zion-Jonesboro vs. Woodland-Stockbridge

Friday, Oct. 21

Hampton vs. Lovett

McDonough vs. Luella

Pace Academy vs. Stockbridge

REGION 6

Stephenson 5-2, 3-0

Holy Innocents’ 5-3, 2-1

Westminster 5-3, 2-1

Miller Grove 3-5, 1-2

Hapeville Charter 1-7, 1-2

Southwest DeKalb 2-6, 0-3

Druid Hills 4-4, X-X

Stone Mountain 2-6, X-X

Clarkston 1-7, X-X

Thursday, Oct. 27

Clarkston vs. Johnson-Gainesville

Hapeville Charter vs. Miller Grove

Friday, Oct. 28

Druid Hills vs. Lakeside-DeKalb

Holy Innocents’ vs. Stephenson

Stone Mountain vs. Midtown

Westminster vs. Southwest DeKalb

REGION 7

Cedartown 8-0, 3-0

Heritage-Catoosa 7-1, 2-1

Sonoraville 5-3, 2-1

Central-Carroll 5-3, 1-2

NW Whitfield 5-3, 1-2

SE Whitfield 4-4, 0-3

Friday, Oct. 28

Cedartown vs. Southeast Whitfield

Central-Carroll vs. Northwest Whitfield

Heritage-Catoosa vs. Sonoraville

REGION 8

North Oconee 8-0, 6-0

Walnut Grove 6-2, 4-2

Madison County 5-3, 4-2

Cedar Shoals 4-5, 4-3

East Forsyth 5-3, 3-3

North Hall 3-5, 3-3

Cherokee Bluff 3-6, 4-4

Chestatee 1-7, 1-5

East Hall 2-6, 0-6

Johnson-Gainesville 0-8, X-X

Seckinger 0-6, X-X

Thursday, Oct. 27

Johnson-Gainesville vs. Clarkston

Friday, Oct. 21

Chestatee vs. East Forsyth

Madison County vs. Walnut Grove

North hall vs. Cedar Shoals

North Oconee vs. East Hall

Seckinger at Berkmar