Lee County became the first Class 6A team to clinch a region title this season when it locked up Region 1 last week, and Hughes can wrap up the Region 4 title with a victory this week.
At least two more titles can be decided on Friday, if some unexpected results take place, but it’s more likely that the championship in six of the eight 6A regions will go down to the wire.
Here’s how the playoff picture is shaping up heading into Week 11. Records in parentheses are region records.
*Region 1: Second-ranked Lee County (2-0), the state runner-up last season, claimed its fifth consecutive region championship with a 41-7 victory over Northside-Warner Robins last week. The winner of this week’s game between Northside (0-1) and Houston County (0-1) game will be the region’s No. 2 seed, and the loser will be the No. 3. Valdosta was banned from the 2021 postseason over alleged recruiting violations in 2020.
*Region 2: Fourth-ranked Brunswick (4-0) can clinch the title if it beats Bradwell Institute and Effingham County (3-1) loses to Statesboro (3-1) this week. If Effingham wins, its game against Brunswick next weekend will decide first place. Fourth-place Richmond Hill (3-2) can lock down a playoff berth by beating South Effingham (0-4) this week. Glynn Academy (2-3) will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2007 unless it beats Statesboro next week and Statesboro loses to Effingham County on Friday.
*Region 3: Defending champion Evans (3-0) and Alcovy (3-0) are two games ahead of the pack, and their game on Nov. 5 will settle the top two seeds. Grovetown (1-2), Lakeside-Evans (1-2), Heritage-Conyers (1-2) and even Rockdale County (0-3) are fighting for the other two spots. Grovetown and Lakeside face off this weekend in a game that most likely settles third place. The loser will make the playoffs as well, provided it wins its regular-season finale (Grovetown hosts Heritage and Lakeside travels to Rockdale County).
*Region 4: First-place Hughes (3-0), ranked No. 3, can clinch its first region title since 2013 with a victory Friday against Tucker (2-1). No. 5 Westlake (2-1), Lovejoy (2-1) and Tucker are tied for second place. North Atlanta still has a way into the playoffs despite its 0-3 region record, but it would require the Warriors to win this week against Morrow (0-3) and next week against Lovejoy, and for Lovejoy to lose to Westlake. Morrow has been eliminated, and Lakeside-DeKalb is playing a non-region schedule.
*Region 5: Carrollton (4-1), Douglas County (4-1), Rome (4-1) and South Paulding (4-1) are tied for first place entering Week 11. Douglas County has the most difficult remaining schedule of the four, with games against Rome and Carrollton. If Douglas County loses those games (and the Tigers will be underdogs in both), it’s likely that Carrollton, Rome and South Paulding finish tied for first, with 1-1 records against each other. Rome holds the advantage in point differential in head-to-head games. Fifth-place Alexander (3-2) isn’t out of the race, but the Cougars have games remaining against Carrollton and South Paulding.
*Region 6: Kennesaw Mountain (6-1), Pope (5-1) and Allatoona (4-1) have one loss each at the top of the standings, but Kennesaw Mountain is in the driver’s seat after beating both teams. The Mustangs can clinch the first region title in school history with a victory against last-place Osborne (0-5) on Nov. 5. Pope plays Allatoona next weekend, as well, with the winner likely to finish as the No. 2 seed. The battle for the other playoff berth probably will be decided when Kell travels to Lassiter on Nov. 5. Kell hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2007, and Lassiter hasn’t been since 2016.
Region 7: Riverwood (4-1), Cambridge (4-1) and Johns Creek (4-1) are tied for first place, and all are 1-1 against the other two. Johns Creek holds the point-differential tiebreaker, but the Gladiators have the most difficult remaining schedule, with games against the two teams tied for fourth place, Creekview (3-2) and defending region champion River Ridge (3-2). The four playoff teams will come from that group of five. Creekview holds the advantage over River Ridge because of its head-to-head victory.
*Region 8: Defending champion Buford (4-0) and Dacula (4-0) have a two-game lead on the pack, and their game at Dacula next week will decide the top two seeds. Winder-Barrow (2-2), Lanier (2-2) and Shiloh (2-2) are tied for third and fighting for the final two playoff spots. Those berths are likely to go to the winners of the Lanier/Shiloh and Lanier/Winder-Barrow games. If Lanier wins both games, Shiloh holds the tiebreaker over Winder-Barrow. Habersham Central (1-4) and Central Gwinnett (0-5) are out of the race.
