There are six Thursday games and 23 Friday matchups with 26 of the 29 total matchups being region battles this week in Class 4A. In Region 1, Bainbridge moved up a spot to No. 3 in this week’s poll and is going to open its region schedule at home against Westover Thursday night. The Bearcats scored an emphatic 42-0 win over Brooks County last week. On Friday, Cairo will look to be the first team in the Region to improve to 1-0 after opening its region slate last week with a 38-0 win over Shaw. Cairo’s active six-game win-streak has propelled the Syrupmakers to No. 8 in the latest poll and the team is coming off back-to-back shutouts. Cairo will not meet with Bainbridge until the final week of the regular season.
In Region 2, Region frontrunners Spalding and Perry will play Howard and Griffin, respectively. No. 4 Perry is 5-1 and has won five-straight since its loss to Class 5A Houston County and No. 6 Spalding is 6-0 and coming off a 41-0 win over Griffin last Saturday—giving both ranked rivals a 2-0 start in the region.
This week’s premier showdown may reside in Region 3 with host Burke County and Benedictine facing off in a battle of 6-0 teams. Both No. 1 Benedictine and No. 5 Burke County opened up region play last Friday with hard-fought victories over New Hampstead (39-31) and Wayne County (37-32), respectively. Wayne County will visit 0-6 Islands and New Hampstead will take on Southeast Bulloch, who joined Benedictine and Burke County at 1-0 in region play last Friday in its 30-7 win over Islands.
Region 4 remains extremely crowded heading into the fourth week of region action. Trinity Christian sits in the driver’s seat at 3-0 in region play and there are three teams with 2-1 records, North Clayton is at 2-2 and Whitewater joins Fayette County at 1-2.
No. 9 ranked Stockbridge can move closer to repeating as Region 5 champion in a crucial home game against Lovett. Stockbridge opened its season 0-2 with close losses to powerhouses Douglas County (35-28) and Colquitt County (47-27) and has responded with four-straight victories.
In Region 6, Westminster shook up the landscape with a 9-3 win over Holy Innocents’ to open region play and now Holy Innocents’ will look to bounce back against a phenomenal 5-1 Miller Grove team that is one win away from matching its single-season school-record win-total. Miller Grove’s active five-game win-streak is the longest in school history and matches the team’s 2012 streak that helped produce a school-record 6-4 finish. Miller Grove has made the playoffs four separate times since the 2016 season, but is still searching for the program’s first-ever playoff victory.
In Region 7, Central-Carroll will visit Sonoraville looking to improve to 7-0 and Cedartown will host Heritage-Catoosa one week after its 35-21 loss to the Lions. The major showdown in Region 8 will be East Forsyth at Cherokee Bluff as the Broncos look to take the next step to achieving the program’s first-ever playoff berth. East Forsyth currently sits at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in region play after last week’s 42-0 win over East Hall. Cherokee Bluff, meanwhile is sitting at 2-2 and a win would go a long way in returning the Bears to the playoffs.
Class 4A Week 8 Standings and Schedule
Region 1
Cairo 1-0, 6-1
Bainbridge 0-0, 4-2
Westover 0-0, 3-3
Hardaway 0-0, 0-6
Shaw 0-1, 3-4
Thursday, Oct. 5
*Bainbridge vs. Westover
Friday, Oct. 6
*Cairo vs. Hardaway
Region 2
Spalding 2-0, 6-0
Perry 2-0, 5-1
Baldwin 1-1, 4-2
Griffin 1-1, 1-5
Westside-Macon 0-1, 4-1
Howard 0-2, 3-3
West Laurens 0-1, 2-3
Friday, Oct. 6
*Howard vs. Spalding
*Perry vs. Griffin
*West Laurens vs. Westside-Macon
Region 3
Benedictine 1-0, 6-0
Burke County 1-0, 6-0
Southeast Bulloch 1-0, 4-2
Wayne County 0-1, 4-2
New Hampstead 0-1, 2-3
Islands 0-1, 0-6
Friday, Oct. 6
*Burke County vs. Benedictine
*Islands vs. Wayne County
*Southeast Bulloch vs. New Hampstead
Region 4
Trinity Christian 3-0, 4-2
Troup 2-1, 5-1
LaGrange 2-1, 4-2
Starr’s Mill 2-1, 3-3
North Clayton 2-2, 4-3
Whitewater 1-2, 3-3
Fayette County 1-2, 1-5
Riverdale 0-4, 0-7
Thursday, Oct. 5
*Riverdale vs. Troup
Friday, Oct. 6
*Fayette County vs. Starr’s Mill
*LaGrange vs. North Clayton
*Trinity Christian vs. Whitewater
Region 5
Stockbridge 3-0, 4-2
McDonough 2-1, 4-1
Pace Academy 2-1, 3-3
Lovett 2-1, 2-4
Luella 2-1, 2-4
Hampton 1-2, 2-4
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0-3, 0-6
Woodland-Stockbridge 0-3, 0-6
Thursday, Oct. 5
*Mt. Zion-Jonesboro vs. Hampton
Friday, Oct. 6
*Luella vs. Woodland-Stockbridge
*McDonough vs. Pace Academy
*Stockbridge vs. Lovett
Region 6
Miller Grove 1-0, 5-1
Westminster 1-0, 4-2
Hapeville Charter 1-0, 3-3
Holy Innocents’ 0-1, 5-1
Stephenson 0-1, 4-2
Southwest DeKalb 0-1, 2-4
+Druid Hills 0-0, 3-1-1
+Clarkston 0-0, 1-4
+Stone Mountain 0-0, 0-5
Thursday, Oct. 5
Clarkston vs Stone Mountain
Druid Hills vs. Midtown
Friday, Oct. 6
*Hapeville Charter vs. Southwest DeKalb
*Holy Innocents’ vs. Miller Grove
*Westminster vs. Stephenson
Region 7
Central-Carroll 1-0, 6-0
Northwest Whitfield 1-0, 5-1
Heritage-Catoosa 1-0, 4-2
Cedartown 0-1, 3-3
Sonoraville 0-1, 2-4
Southeast Whitfield 0-1, 1-5
Thursday, Oct. 5
*Southeast Whitfield vs. Northwest Whitfield
Friday, Oct. 6
*Cedartown vs. Heritage-Ringgold
*Sonoraville vs. Central-Carroll
Region 8
East Forsyth 3-0, 5-0
North Oconee 3-0, 5-0
North Hall 3-1, 5-1
Madison County 2-1, 4-1
Cedar Shoals 2-2, 2-4
Cherokee Bluff 2-2, 2-4
East Hall 1-3, 2-4
Walnut Grove 0-3, 1-4
Chestatee 0-4, 0-6
+Johnson-Gainesville 0-0, 2-4
+Seckinger 0-0, 1-5
Friday, Sept. 29
*Cherokee Bluff vs. East Forsyth
*East Hall vs. Walnut Grove
*Madison County vs. North hall
*North Oconee vs. Cedar Shoals
Seckinger at Heritage-Newnan
About the Author
