River Ridge and Creekview entered the 2021 high school football season as the favorites in Region 7-6A.
Now, just games into region play, the two Cherokee County teams are fighting for their playoff lives, and their game Friday night at River Ridge could go a long way in determining which one gets one of the region’s four playoff berths.
River Ridge and Creekview both are 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the region, tied for fourth place behind Johns Creek (3-0 in region play), Cambridge (2-0) and Riverwood (2-1).
River Ridge was the surprise of Class 6A last season, when it won its first region title, advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time and finished with a school-best 11-1 record. The winning continued in 2021 as the Knights started off 4-0, but a 44-15 loss to Riverwood last week ended their 13-game winning streak in regular-season games and left them with a lot less room for error.
Creekview was the region runner-up last year, ultimately missing out on the region title because of its 20-17 loss to River Ridge. The Grizzlies were the computer Maxwell Ratings’ preseason pick to win the region this season.
The Grizzlies won their three non-region games this season but stumbled in the region opener with a 7-0 loss to Cambridge, which is 4-0 for the first time in its 10-season history. Creekview rebounded last week with a 31-7 victory over Sequoyah.
Both teams will play first-place Johns Creek in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Here are five more top games involving Class 6A teams. All games are Friday unless noted, and all are subject to change:
*Brunswick at Statesboro: No. 5 Brunswick (6-0, 2-0) is off to its best start since 1999, and the Pirates are the favorites to win Region 2. Statesboro (3-2, 1-0) made some noise when it beat Richmond Hill 27-21 in its region opener last week and enters this game tied with Effingham County, a half-game behind Brunswick. Statesboro would be no worse than tied for first with an upset this week.
*Douglas County at South Paulding: Seventh-ranked Douglas County is the only remaining unbeaten team in Region 5 play after South Paulding’s 40-13 loss to Carrollton last week, which dropped the Spartans into a second-place tie with Carrollton, Alexander and Rome. Barring an upset this week, a victory by South Paulding would create a five-way tie for first with three games remaining.
*Sprayberry at Lassiter: Kennesaw Mountain and Pope, unbeaten in Region 6 play, are rolling toward what appear to be inevitable playoff berths, and it’s hard to imagine that Allatoona won’t grab another spot from the nine-team region. That would leave Sprayberry, Lassiter and Kell to fight for the other berth. Sprayberry has made two straight trips to the playoffs. Lassiter hasn’t been since 2016.
*Tucker at Lovejoy: Tucker started the season 0-5, but a 28-3 victory against North Atlanta in the teams’ Region 4 opener last week put the Tigers a giant step closer to a return to the playoffs. Lovejoy also won last week, leaving both teams in a three-way tie for first place with No. 3 Hughes. Both still have to play Hughes and No. 6 Westlake, but the winner of this game is a virtual playoff lock.
*Winder-Barrow at Shiloh (Thursday): Shiloh got a much-need first victory when it beat Central Gwinnett 21-14 last week in its Region 8 opener, a win that left the Generals in third place, half a game behind No. 1 Buford and Dacula. Winder-Barrow dropped into fourth place after losing to Dacula 40-15. Winder-Barrow’s 35-28 victory last year ultimately determined the fourth playoff berth.
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