There will be 24 Friday games and one Thursday night matchup to close out the 2023 regular season and four of the eight regions will crown their champions—joining Spalding (Region 2), Benedictine (Region 3), Stockbridge (Region 5) and North Oconee (Region 8) as the programs that have already secured No. 1 seeds. In Region 1, Westover and Shaw already secured the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds last week and closed out their regular season. The only remaining matchup left in Region 1 will be for the crown as No. 3 Bainbridge and No. 8 Cairo play for the top seed. Both programs are 3-0 in the region and have not lost within Class 4A this season. Cairo’s (8-1) only loss was to Thomas County Central and Bainbridge’s only losses were to Coffee and Thomas County Central before their current six-game winning streak. Cairo will be the seventh ranked opponent for Bainbridge this season and the Bearcats join Benedictine as the duo of Class 4A schools that defeated Ware County this season.
In Region 2, Spalding secured the region title last week with a win over Perry, who earned the No. 2 seed. Now, Perry will face West Laurens before the playoffs and the other two region matchups will be Westside-Macon at Howard and Baldwin at Griffin. Westside-Macon, Howard, Baldwin and Griffin are all still capable of earning playoff bids with just two spots open. Region 3 will hinge on the result of Southeast Bulloch at Bainbridge. If Bainbridge ears the victory, then it will force a three-way tie with Wayne County and New Hampstead. If Southeast Bulloch defeats Burke County, then Wayne County would get the No. 2 seed, New Hampstead would get the No. 3 and Southeast Bulloch would clinch the No. 4.
Region 4 features a huge showdown with Troup at LaGrange. Starr’s Mill defeated both Troup and LaGrange and so the Panthers can secure the No. 1 seed with a win over Whitewater. If Starr’s Mill falls to Whitewater, then the winner of Troup and LaGrange will take the title. Trinity Christian is in the opposite situation as Starr’s Mill and its 4-2 region record includes losses to Troup and LaGrange, but a win over Starr’s Mill.
All four seeds are set for Region 5 heading into Week 12 with No. 1 Stockbridge, No. 2 Luella, No. 3 Lovett and No. 4 Pace Academy. Stockbridge will close out the year with McDonough, Pace Academy will host Mt. Zion-Jonesboro, Lovett will visit Woodland-Stockbridge and Luella will visit Hampton before their playoffs begin next week. In Region 6, Westminster’s matchup with Miller Grove on Thursday will be the first piece of the Week 12 puzzle as the Wildcats can remain in contention for a top seed. If Westminster wins and Hapeville defeats Stephenson then Westminster will be the region champion. Stephenson is the team that controls its destiny and so a win by Stephenson would put the Jags at No. 1, Westminster at No. 2 and then Hapeville could find itself in a tie with Holy Innocents’, who would leap the Hornets for No. 3.
In Region 7, Central-Carroll can clinch the crown with a win over Heritage-Catoosa and a Lions win would put Cedartown at No. 1 if the Bulldogs defeat Northwest Whitfield. Northwest Whitfield sits one game back on Heritage-Catoosa and Cedartown, but could force a three-way tie with a win over Cedartown and a Heritage loss to Central-Carroll.
In Region 8, East Forsyth and North Hall will battle for the potential No. 3 seed behind North Oconee and Madison County as Cherokee Bluff takes on the Titans needing to win to guarantee a berth against the undefeated top seed.
FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS Region 1 vs. Region 4
Region 2 vs. Region 3
Region 5 vs. Region 8
Region 6 vs. Region 7
CURRENT CLASS 4A STANDINGS
Region 1
Cairo 3-0, 8-1
Bainbridge 3-0, 7-2
Westover 2-2, 5-5 [3]
Shaw 1-3, 4-6 [4]
Hardaway 0-4, 0-10
Friday, Nov. 3
Bainbridge vs. Cairo
Region 2
Spalding 6-0, 10-0 [1]
Perry 4-1, 7-2 [2]
Westside-Macon 3-2, 7-2
Baldwin 2-3, 5-4
Howard 2-3, 5-4
Griffin 1-4, 1-8
West Laurens 0-5, 2-7
Friday, Nov. 3
Griffin vs. Baldwin
Howard vs. Westside-Macon
Perry vs. West Laurens
Region 3
Benedictine 5-0, 10-0 [1]
Wayne County 3-2, 7-3
New Hampstead 3-2, 4-2
Burke County 2-2, 7-2
Southeast Bulloch 1-3, 4-5
Islands 0-5, 0-10
Friday, Nov. 3
Burke County vs. Southeast Bulloch
Region 4
Troup 5-1, 8-1
LaGrange 5-1, 7-2
Starr’s Mill 5-1, 6-3
Trinity Christian 4-2, 5-4
Whitewater 3-3, 5-4
North Clayton 2-5, 4-6
Fayette County 1-5, 1-8
Riverdale 0-7, 0-10
Friday, Nov. 3
LaGrange vs. Troup
Trinity Christian vs. Fayette County
Whitewater vs. Starr’s Mill
Region 5
Stockbridge 6-0, 7-2 [1]
Luella 5-1, 5-4 [2]
Lovett 4-2, 4-5 [3]
Pace Academy 3-3, 4-5 [4]
McDonough 3-3, 6-3
Hampton 2-4, 3-6
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 1-5, 1-8
Woodland-Stockbridge 0-6, 0-9
Friday, Nov. 3
Hampton vs. Luella
Pace Academy vs. Mt. Zion-Jonesboro
Stockbridge vs. McDonough
Woodland-Stockbridge vs. Lovett
Region 6
Stephenson 3-1, 7-2
Westminster 3-1, 6-3
Hapeville Charter 3-1, 5-4
Holy Innocents’ 2-2, 7-2
Miller Grove 1-3, 5-4
Southwest DeKalb 0-4, 2-7
Druid Hills 0-0, 7-1-1
Clarkston 0-0, 1-8
Stone Mountain 0-0, 1-8
Thursday, Nov. 2
Westminster vs. Miller Grove
Friday, Nov. 3
Clarkston vs. Lakeside-DeKalb
Druid Hills vs. Stone Mountain
Holy Innocents’ vs. Hapeville Charter
Southwest DeKalb vs. Stephenson
Region 7
Central-Carroll 4-0, 9-0
Cedartown 3-1, 6-3
Heritage-Catoosa 3-1, 6-3
Northwest Whitfield 2-2, 6-3
Sonoraville 0-4, 2-7
Southeast Whitfield 0-4, 1-8
Friday, Nov. 3
Cedartown vs. Northwest Whitfield
Heritage-Catoosa vs. Central-Carroll
Sonoraville vs. Southeast Whitfield
Region 8
North Oconee 7-0, 9-0 [1]
Madison County 5-2, 7-2 [2]
North Hall 5-2, 7-2
East Forsyth 4-3, 6-3
Cherokee Bluff 4-3, 4-5
Cedar Shoals 4-4, 4-6
Walnut Grove 2-5, 3-6
East Hall 1-6, 2-7
Chestatee 0-7, 0-9
Johnson-Gainesville 0-0, 4-5
Seckinger 0-0, 3-7
Friday, Nov. 3
Chestatee vs. Walnut Grove
Johnson-Gainesville at Midtown
Madison County vs. East Hall
North Hall vs. East Forsyth
North Oconee vs. Cherokee Bluff
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