Week 4 of the 2022 football season kicks off with two Thursday night games (Hardaway at Newnan and LaGrange at home against Upson-Lee) before a 38-game lineup Friday night. The 40 total games also includes the first significant region action we’ve seen this season with seven total region games to watch for. Today’s blog will highlight what to expect in each of Class 4A’s eight regions and I will also touch on what I find to be the most intriguing overall matchups on the slate.
In Region 1, Hardaway will look for its first win of the season on the road at Newnan. The Golden Hawks are 0-3 with tough losses to Carver-Columbus (41-10), Troup (49-21) and Northside-Columbus (34-7) this past week. A loss would result in Hardaway’s first 0-4 start since 2014, while a win would produce the program’s first-ever victory over the Class 7A Newnan Cougars. Hardaway’s tough non-region games are a trend seen throughout Region 1 and the result is that only Shaw currently has a winning record heading into Week 4. Shaw will host Northside-Columbus, offering a great opportunity to see how the Raiders stack up against the Patriots’ after last week’s win over Hardaway. Additionally, Bainbridge clashes with Thomasville, Westover hosts Monroe and Cairo will face Godby, FL in one of the three out-of-state matchups this week; Region 3′s New Hampstead will be taking on South Lake, FL on the road and Region 6′s Holy Innocents’ is visiting Ensworth, TN.
In Region 2, all seven teams will have non-region games Friday night. Baldwin will look to find the win column after an 0-3 start and bounce back from last week’s 41-3 loss to Ware County on the road at Washington County. Griffin is coming off a 35-21 loss to Whitewater and will visit Northgate and West Laurens is fresh off its tough 58-0 loss to Houston County and will host Vidalia. As for Perry, the Panthers fell short 57-56 to Houston County in its opener before shaking up the state with last week’s 42-14 win over Jones County, which was ranked No. 3 in Class 5A at the time. Perry’s next opponent will be Veterans and the No. 6 ranked Panthers will serve as host in their home opener.
Ware County just had its 41-3 win over Baldwin and will be hosting Class 4A’s No. 1 ranked Benedictine this Friday. The Cadets notably scored a 49-42 win over Ware County last season—part of their 13-game winning streak. Benedictine has not lost to an in-state opponent since 2020 when it fell 42-35 in the semifinals to eventual state runner-up Jefferson.
Region 4 has a light Week 4 slate and will be full tilt next week when the region schedule opens. LaGrange returns off its bye to host Upson-Lee on Thursday and Friday will see North Clayton visit Chattahoochee County and Riverdale host Drew. Starr’s Mill, Troup, Whitewater, Fayette County and Trinity Christian are all off on their bye weeks. LaGrange will take on Starr’s Mill next week to open up Region 4.
Region 5 kicks off its region schedule this week with four great matchups. Pace Academy scored wins over Holy Innocents’, Westminster and Greater Atlanta Christian in non-region play and will look to complete the private school sweep with its home opener against Lovett. Hampton, who is also 3-0 will host Woodland-Stockbridge, Luella will host Stockbridge and McDonough will host Mt. Zion-Jonesboro.
Region 6 has all eight teams hitting the field on Friday. Holy Innocents’ will be in Tennessee taking on Ensworth, Miller Grove is visiting Campbell, Stephenson is hosting Carver-Atlanta and Southwest DeKalb gets set to visit Class 7A Westlake.
In Region 7, No. 3 ranked Cedartown will visit Class 5A No. 6 Calhoun in a big top 10 showdown. Central-Carroll, Heritage-Catoosa, Northwest Whitfield, Southeast Whitfield and Sonoraville are also off to hot starts and have Region 7 as the lone region in Class 4A that has all of its teams currently owning winning records. Southeast Whitfield will be off on its bye.
Region 8 offers three region matchups to keep an eye on this Friday. Chestatee will host East Hall, Madison County will host Cherokee Bluff and North Hall will host Walnut Grove. East Forsyth, North Oconee, Cedar Shoals, Johnson-Gainesville and Seckinger will all be off on byes.
In summary, the top games I will be covering this week that I believe will offer greater insight to the current state of Class 4A will be Cedartown’s visit to Calhoun, Pace Academy’s home opener against Lovett, and Benedictine’s trip to Ware County.
Class 4A Week 4 Schedule
REGION 1
Shaw 2-1
Bainbridge 1-2
Cairo 1-2
Hardaway 0-3
Westover 1-2
Thursday, Sept. 8
Hardaway at Newnan
Friday, Sept. 9
Bainbridge vs. Thomasville
Cairo vs. Godby, FL
Shaw vs. Northside-Columbus
Westover vs. Monroe
REGION 2
Howard 2-0
Westside 3-0
West Laurens 1-1
Spalding 2-1
Baldwin 0-3
Griffin 0-3
Perry 1-1
Friday, Sept. 9
Baldwin at Washington County
Griffin at Northgate
Howard at Harris County
Perry vs. Veterans
Spalding vs. Dutchtown
West Laurens vs. Vidalia
Westside-Macon vs. Rutland
REGION 3
Burke County 2-0
New Hampstead 3-0
Benedictine 2-1
Wayne County 2-1
Islands 0-3
Southeast Bulloch 0-2
Friday, Sept. 9
Benedictine at Ware County
Burke County vs. Evans
Islands vs. Windsor Forest
New Hampstead at South Lake, FL
Southeast Bulloch at Effingham County
REGION 4
Riverdale 1-2, 1-0 LaGrange 2-0
Starr’s Mill 3-0
Troup 3-0
Whitewater 3-0
Fayette County 0-3
Trinity Christian 1-2
North Clayton 1-2
Thursday, Sept. 8
LaGrange vs. Upson-Lee
Friday, Sept. 9
North Clayton at Chattahoochee County Riverdale vs. Drew
REGION 5 Hampton 3-0
Pace Academy 3-0 McDonough 1-1
Stockbridge 1-2
Woodland-Stockbridge 2-1
Lovett 0-2
Luella 0-3
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0-2
Friday, Sept. 9
*Hampton vs. Woodland-Stockbridge
*Luella vs. Stockbridge
*McDonough vs. Mt. Zion-Jonesboro
*Pace Academy vs. Lovett
REGION 6
Holy Innocents’ 2-1
Miller Grove 2-1
Westminster 1-2
Hapeville Charter 0-3
Southwest DeKalb 1-2
Stephenson 1-1
Druid Hills 1-1
Clarkston 0-2
Stone Mountain 0-3
Friday, Sept. 2
Clarkston vs. Cross Keys
Druid Hills vs. Dunwoody
Hapeville Charter vs. Dougherty
Holy Innocents’ at Ensworth, TN
Miller Grove at Campbell
Southwest DeKalb at Westlake
Stephenson vs. Carver-Atlanta
Stone Mountain vs. Douglass
REGION 7
Cedartown 3-0
Central-Carroll 2-1
Heritage-Catoosa 3-0
Northwest Whitfield 3-0
Southeast Whitfield 2-1
Sonoraville 2-1
Friday, Sept. 2
Cedartown at Calhoun
Central-Carroll vs. McIntosh
Heritage-Catoosa vs. Ridgeland
Northwest Whitfield at North Murray
Sonoraville at LaFayette
REGION 8
East Forsyth 2-0, 1-0
East Hall 2-0
North Oconee 2-0
Walnut Grove 2-0
Madison County 1-1
Cedar Shoals 0-3, 0-1
Cherokee Bluff 0-2
Chestatee 0-2
North Hall 0-2
Johnson-Gainesville 0-3
Seckinger 0-2
Friday, Sept. 9
*Chestatee vs. East Hall
*Madison County vs. Cherokee Bluff
*North Hall vs. Walnut Grove
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