Either Lee County or Valdosta has won the Region 1-6A title each of the past four seasons, and that streak will be officially extended to five when the teams meet Friday night in Leesburg to settle the 2020 championship.
Both teams are 2-0 in region play and ranked in the top three in Class 6A as they head into their regular-season finales before taking a week off to prepare for the playoffs, which begin on Nov. 27. The winner of Friday’s game will be a No. 1 seed in the playoffs and guaranteed to be at home for at least two games. The loser will be the No. 2 seed and play at least one playoff game at home.
Lee County was the region champion the past three seasons, going on to win state titles in 2017 and 2018. Valdosta won region and state championships in 2016.
“We have had a lot of big games here in Leesburg over the years, but this ranks right up there and is as big a regular-season game as we have had,” Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio told the Albany Herald. “You have the region championship on the line, two teams ranked in the top three in the state, great players on both teams. It will be a great atmosphere in Leesburg Friday night.”
Top-ranked Lee County (7-1) has the two leading rushers in Region 1, Caleb McDowell (689 yards) and Preston Simmons (632). No. 3 Valdosta (4-3) counters with the region’s No. 2 passer (Amari Jones, 1,139 yards) and Nos. 2, 3 and 4 receivers (Tajh Sanders, 460 yards; Javonte Sherman, 350; and Allah Brown, 252).
Houston County will meet Northside-Warner Robins in the other Region 1 game this week to determine the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds for the playoffs.
Here are some other games worth watching this weekend in Class 6A:
*River Ridge at Johns Creek: River Ridge is the only unbeaten team in 7-6A play and can clinch the first region title in its 12-year history with a win this week. Johns Creek is tied for second place with Creekview, which it plays next week, and can claim its fourth region title in five years by winning its final two games. River Ridge (8-0) has tied the school record for victories in a season.
*Lovejoy at Westlake and Tucker at Hughes: These are almost certain to be the four playoff teams from Region 4. Westlake is in first place, 3-0 in region play. Lovejoy, Tucker and Hughes are tied for second at 2-1. Westlake can clinch the region title this week if it beats Lovejoy and Tucker loses to Hughes. Lovejoy clinches the title if it wins out and Tucker beats Hughes, and Tucker finishes first if it wins out and Lovejoy loses either of its final two games. Hughes has the least chance of winning the region title because it already has lost to Westlake, but a victory against Tucker would put the Panthers in the driver’s seat for a second-place finish.
*Sprayberry at Kell: With Allatoona on the verge of clinching the Region 6 title, Sprayberry and Kell are fighting it out for second place. Both suffered their only region losses against Allatoona in the past two weeks, Sprayberry 20-10 on Oct. 30 and Kell 30-15 last week. Kell, which moved up from 5A this year, will be making its 13th consecutive playoff appearance. Sprayberry will be making its second straight after missing out the previous seven seasons.
*Effingham County at Statesboro: Glynn Academy and Richmond Hill are assured of going to the playoffs out of Region 2, and Brunswick is likely to clinch a berth this week. That leaves only one spot, and the winner of this game will fill it. Both teams are 2-2 in region, and the winner will move into sole possession of fourth place and hold the tiebreaker advantage if it were to lose next week.
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