The Week 9 schedule will kickoff with four Thursday games and just 20 games in total. All of Region 4 and 7 will be off this week and there are also no region contests scheduled in Region 5. In Region 1, Bainbridge will look to improve to 2-0 in region play at home against Shaw ahead of its showdown with 2-0 Cairo, who is off on a bye. The other region contest will feature Westover and 0-7 Hardaway. Westover can move up to third in the region with a win over the Hawks. In Region 2, Griffin and Westside-Macon kickoff Thursday night and the other two region matchups will be Baldwin at Perry and West Laurens at Spalding. Perry and Spalding remain undefeated within Class 4A this year with Perry standing at 6-1 after its season opening loss to Class 6A Houston County and Spalding cruising with a 7-0 record.
There are big-time playoff stakes on the line in Region 3 with Wayne County’s trip to New Hampstead. Benedictine is the only team without a region loss and will visit Southeast Bulloch and Burke County will look to bounce back from last week’s loss to Benedictine at winless Islands.
Region 4 is off this week and the lone matchup in Region 5 will be a non-region contest with McDonough against Region 6′s Stone Mountain. The bulk of Region 6′s headliner matchups this week will take place Thursday night as Miller Grove hosts Stephenson and region frontrunner Hapeville Charter hosts Westminster. Westminster previously fell to Stephenson last week and Miller Grove is fresh off a 47-7 disappointing loss to Holy Innocents’. Hapeville Charter is the lone team with a 2-0 record and there are four teams sitting at 1-1 with Holy Innocents’, Miller Grove, Stephenson and Westminster all looking to secure key wins this week. Southwest DeKalb will visit Holy Innocents’ on Friday looking for its first region win, while Holy Innocents’ looks to pick up consecutive region victories after previously falling to Westminster.
All of Region 7 will be off this week and Region 8 will be busy with four region showdowns. North Oconee can move closer to capturing the region crown against East Forsyth—who is coming off a 10-3 defeat to Cherokee Bluff that served the Broncos their first loss of the season. Madison County’s only region loss came to North Oconee and a win at Cedar Shoals could help the Red Raiders move closer to earning a home playoff game and No. 2 seed. Meanwhile, Cherokee Bluff and North Hall are both at 3-2. North Hall beat Cherokee Bluff head-to-head and will host Chestatee, while the Bears get set to visit Walnut Grove.
This week has a lot of the top performers this season off on a bye and I have been particularly impressed with Stockbridge, who scored a 48-0 win over Lovett last Friday before its off week. Here is my take on what is on the line with the Tigers this season.
Can Stockbridge become Henry County’s first-ever football state champion?
When the new alignments were set for the 2022-23 GHSA cycle, the Stockbridge Tigers were one of the dozens of schools that were sent to new classifications. In the case of Stockbridge, the team went from Class 5A into Class 4A and it saw a jump from a 5-5 finish in 2021 to a 10-3 run to the quarterfinals this past season. Stockbridge is a prominent program that won four-straight region titles (2014-2017) and five in a six-year span (2012-17) with seven-straight quarterfinals appearances. It was during this time that Stockbridge emerged as the strongest contender to bring Henry County its first-ever football state title.
The team produced three-straight undefeated regular seasons from 2015-17 and its 12-2 finish in 2018 was the third time that Stockbridge made a run all the way to the semifinals. Longtime head coach Kevin Whitley stepped down after the 2018 season and Stockbridge produced an 8-3 record in 2019 and a 3-7 finish in 2020 under Steve Boyd. In 2021, longtime assistant Thomas Clark took over and Stockbridge closed out its final season in Class 5A with the aforementioned 5-5 finish.
In 2022, Stockbridge’s 10-3 record produced its first region championship since 2017 and the Tigers were undefeated within the classification prior to its 34-14 loss to state champion Benedictine in the quarterfinals. This promising result generated an excitement within the program that hadn’t been felt since the historic run experienced during the 2014-18 span. This season, Stockbridge has returned as a serious contender and is off to a 4-0 start in Region 5. As a result, Stockbridge is 15-1 against 4A opponents since entering the classification, with its lone defeat coming to Benedictine in last year’s quarterfinals. The latest computer models predict Stockbridge as a 98 percent favorite to repeat as region champs and the team is enjoying a bye after its dominant 48-0 win over Lovett. In Stockbridge’s four games against fellow Class 4A opponents this season, the Tigers have accrued a 202-28 scoring advantage. A win over Woodland-Stockbridge and Pace Academy would secure the region title before their season finale against McDonough.
Coach Clark joined Wednesday’s Alfa Insurance Georgia Prep Sports: Drive for the GHSA State Title for an exclusive interview and it is worth checking out as Stockbridge attempts to be the first school in Henry County to win a state title this season. The interview can be viewed HERE.
Class 4A Week 9 Results and Current Standings
Region 1
Cairo 2-0, 7-1
Bainbridge 1-0, 5-2
Westover 0-1, 3-4
Shaw 0-1, 3-4 Hardaway 0-1, 0-7
Friday, Oct. 13
*Bainbridge vs. Shaw
*Hardaway vs. Westover
Region 2
Spalding 3-0, 7-0
Perry 3-0, 6-1
Westside-Macon 1-1, 5-1 Baldwin 1-1, 4-2
Griffin 1-2, 1-6
Howard 0-3, 3-4
West Laurens 0-2, 2-4
Thursday, Oct. 12
*Griffin vs. Westside-Macon
Friday, Oct. 13
*Perry vs. Baldwin
*Spalding vs. West Laurens
Region 3
Benedictine 2-0, 7-0
Burke County 1-1, 6-1
Wayne County 1-1, 4-3
Southeast Bulloch 1-1, 4-3
New Hampstead 1-1, 3-3
Islands 0-2, 0-7
Friday, Oct. 13
*Islands vs. Burke County
*New Hampstead vs. Wayne County
*Southeast Bulloch vs. Benedictine
Region 4
Trinity Christian 3-0, 4-2
Troup 3-1, 6-1
LaGrange 3-1, 5-2
Starr’s Mill 3-1, 4-3
North Clayton 2-3, 4-4
Whitewater 1-4, 3-4
Fayette County 1-3, 1-6
Riverdale 0-5, 0-8
Friday, Oct. 13
*Region-wide BYE
Region 5
Stockbridge 4-0, 5-2
Pace Academy 3-1, 4-3
Luella 3-1, 3-4
McDonough 2-2, 4-2
Lovett 2-2, 2-5
Hampton 2-2, 3-4
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0-3, 0-6
Woodland-Stockbridge 0-3, 0-6
Friday, Oct. 13
McDonough vs. Stone Mountain
Region 6
Hapeville Charter 2-0, 4-3
Holy Innocents’ 1-1, 6-1
Miller Grove 1-1, 5-2
Stephenson 1-1, 5-2
Westminster 1-1, 4-3
Southwest DeKalb 0-2, 2-5
+Druid Hills 0-0, 4-1-1
+Clarkston 0-0, 1-5
+Stone Mountain 0-0, 1-5
Thursday, Oct. 12
Clarkston vs. Druid Hills
*Hapeville Charter vs. Westminster
*Miller Grove vs. Stephenson
Friday, Oct. 13
*Holy Innocents’ vs. Southwest DeKalb
Stone Mountain vs. McDonough
Region 7
Central-Carroll 2-0, 7-0
Northwest Whitfield 2-0, 6-1
Heritage-Catoosa 1-1, 4-3
Cedartown 1-1, 4-3
Sonoraville 0-2, 2-5
Southeast Whitfield 0-2, 1-6
Friday, Oct. 13
*Region-wide BYE Week
Region 8
North Oconee 4-0, 6-0
East Forsyth 3-1, 5-1
Madison County 3-1, 5-1
North Hall 3-2, 5-2
Cherokee Bluff 3-2, 3-4
Cedar Shoals 2-3, 2-5
East Hall 1-4, 2-5
Walnut Grove 1-3, 2-4
Chestatee 0-4, 0-6
+Johnson-Gainesville 0-0, 2-4
+Seckinger 0-0, 2-5
Friday, Oct. 13
*Cedar Shoals vs. Madison County
*East Forsyth vs. North Oconee
Johnson-Gainesville at Towns County *North Hall vs. Chestatee
Seckinger at Duluth
*Walnut Grove vs. Cherokee Bluff
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