With one week left in the regular season, here are the playoff scenarios for Class 5A. There remains a lot to be decided.
Region 1: The four playoff teams have been determined; Veterans was eliminated last week. Warner Robins (7-1, 2-0) has already clinched first place, regardless of the outcome of Friday’s game against Veterans. Ware County (7-1, 2-1) finishes with the annual Swamp War against Wayne County (3-6, 1-2); a victory will give the Gators second place. Coffee, which is off this week, will be the No. 2 seed if Wayne County knocks off Ware; otherwise the Trojans are No. 3
Region 2: Starr’s Mill (8-1, 5-0) is the region champion and had its final game cancelled by Northside Columbus because of COVID concerns. Griffin (6-4, 5-1) earned second place after its win over Harris County. The final two spots got to Harris County (6-3, 3-2) and Whitewater (4-5, 3-2), with the winner of their game on Friday taking the third seed and the loser the fourth seed.
Region 3: Woodward Academy (6-3, 6-0) plays at Creekside (5-3, 5-0) to determine the region championship. Jonesboro (6-2, 4-2) will be the No. 3 playoff seed with a win over Mundy’s Mill (4-5, 3-3). If Mundy’s Mill wins, it will be the third seed and Jonesboro falls to No. 4. If Mundy’s Mill loses, the Tigers could drop into a three-way tie with Tri-Cities and Banneker.
Region 4: Jones County (6-3, 6-0) will win the region if it defeats reigning champion Dutchtown (6-3, 5-1). If Jones County wins, Ola (8-1, 5-1) would be the No 2 seed and Dutchtown would be No. 3.
If Dutchtown wins and Ola (8-1, 5-1) defeats Locust Grove, there would be a three-way tie for first place. The three-way tiebreaker in Region 4 is points allowed against the other two teams. Ola has allowed 44 points against Jones and Dutchtown. So, if Dutchtown beats Jones but allows 24 more points, Ola would be the region champion. If Dutchtown beats Jones, but allows 23 or fewer points to Jones County, Dutchtown would be No. 1, Jones No. 2 and Ola No. 3. If Ola loses to Locust Grove, it will finish third.
The winner of the Woodland (6-3, 3-3) game at Union Grove (5-4, 3-3) will finish fourth.
Region 5: The winner of this week’s showdown between St. Pius (7-1, 5-0) and Decatur (6-0, 5-0) will be the region champion. Southwest DeKalb (3-3, 3-2) has already nailed down the No. 3 seed. The winner of the game between Lithonia (3-4, 2-3) and King (2-5, 2-3) will earn the final playoff spot.
Region 6: The winner of the game between Chapel Hill (6-3, 4-1) and New Manchester (4-3, 2-1) will win the region championship.
If Chapel Hill wins, and Villa Rica and Lithia Springs both win, there would be a three-way tie for second place between New Manchester, Villa Rica and Lithia Springs and require mini-games.
If New Manchester wins, Chapel Hill would be No. 2. If Villa Rica and Lithia Springs both win, they would finish three-four.
If Chapel Hill wins and Jackson defeats Villa Rica and Lithia Springs defeats North Springs, Lithia Springs would be No. 2 based on a head-to-head win over New Manchester and Jackson would be No. 4.
Region 7: Blessed Trinity (5-0, 3-0) can win the region by beating Woodland (4-3, 1-3) in the final game. Cartersville (8-1) finishes second and Calhoun (7-3) takes third place. If Woodland beats Blessed Trinity, it will be the No. 4 playoff seed. If Woodland loses to Blessed Trinity, Hiram (1-9) would get the final playoff spot.
Region 8: Clarke Central (7-2, 6-0) has clinched first place, Eastside (7-2, 5-1) has nailed down second and Greenbrier (7-2, 4-2) is third. Loganville (4-5, 3-3) can earn the final place if it beats local rival Walnut Grove (3-6, 2-4). A win by Walnut Grove would create a three-way tie for fourth place with the winner of the game between Jackson County (3-6, 2-4) and Apalachee (2-7, 2-4).
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