Defending champion Carrollton was the preseason pick of the computer Maxwell Ratings to win the Region 5-6A championship, and it has lived up to the hype through the non-region portion of the schedule.
The Trojans, in their first season under former Cartersville head coach Joey King, have won games against New Manchester (49-13), Johns Creek (41-28) and Jonesboro (48-7) by an average of 30 points, climbed to No. 3 in the Class 6A rankings and established themselves as the favorites as Region 5 heads into league play this weekend.
Carrollton gets about 75 percent of its offense from a passing game led by M.J. Morris. The senior is 37-of-53 passing for 802 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception. Morris, a three-star prospect and top-50 player in Georgia, has committed to N.C. State.
The top receivers are Takare Lipscomb (11 catches, 263 yards, three touchdowns), Ace Williamson (10-138-2) and Terrell Carmichael (7-295-4). Bryce Hicks has rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns to lead a running game that averages 93.7 yards per game.
The Trojans begin region play Friday night at Dalton.
Here’s a preview of how the rest of the 5-7A playoff race could shake out.
Rome was the only team in the region rated anywhere close to Carrollton in Maxwell’s preseason forecast. The Wolves finished second behind Carrollton in the region last year, the difference being the Trojans’ 34-12 victory over Rome in the second week of region play.
Rome has played three consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 10 of their classifications and emerged with a 2-1 record. Its only loss came last week against Collins Hill, the top-ranked team in Class 7A. With 18 playoff appearances over the past 21 seasons on their resume, it’s a good bet the Wolves will be there again this season.
After that, the picture becomes a little less clear. Douglas County and Alexander appear to be the front-runners among the remaining six teams. Both made the playoffs last season and both are undefeated entering region play, although neither has played a team above Class 5A. Douglas County and Alexander play each other on Sept. 24, and the winner will have taken a big step toward a playoff berth.
Also expect South Paulding to be in the race. The Spartans have made the playoffs just once in the past five seasons, but they narrowly missed out in 2020, finishing in fifth place with a 6-3 overall record and 4-2 region mark. South Paulding is 17-7 since the start of the 2019 season. We’ll learn a lot about their playoff chances on the front end of their region schedule, as their first four games are against Rome, Dalton, Carrollton and Douglas County.
The two teams with the worst records heading into region play – Dalton (1-2) and East Paulding (1-2) – have played what likely are the most difficult schedules. Dalton has a lopsided victory against Ridgeland to go along with losses to Calhoun (No. 7 in Class 5A) and North Forsyth (3-1 in Class 7A). East Paulding picked up its first victory last week against Hiram after losing to two undefeated teams, ninth-ranked Kennesaw Mountain and Class 7A Campbell.
Dalton could be the wild card in the playoff mix. The Catamounts’ 3-6 record in 2020 marked their first losing season, not including forfeits, since 1959. However, this is a proud program, and it’s hard to imagine the Catamounts will be down for long. Dalton certainly could make a run at a playoff berth this year.
East Paulding made the playoffs just once in the past five seasons and will have a tough road to get there this year, but be aware of the Raiders. They’ve had a habit of starting slowly but improving in the second half of the season.
Paulding County is 2-1, the same record it had at this point last year. However, the Patriots won just won more game in 2020 and finished in last place with a 1-6 region record. The Patriots made the playoffs just once over the past 13 seasons, and the odds are against them again this year.
Here are the Maxwell preseason projections for the final Region 5 standings:
1. Carrollton
2. Rome
3. Alexander
4. Douglas County
5. Dalton
6. South Paulding
7. East Paulding
8. Paulding County
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