PLAYOFF RACE: Which regions will come down to the wire?
by Alex Ewalt
IN THE HUNT: Lassiter QB Hutson Mason has the Trojans in position for a region title in a tough Region 6-AAAAA.
photo credit: Ed Turlington/et images.
We’ve reached the stretch run of the ’09 high school football campaign, when single games define seasons and playoff dreams can be made or broken on a single play. Every year, region races offer an abundance of drama, and this one is no different. Here are a few of the leagues to keep an eye on as the playoff picture begins to take shape.
CLASS A …
Region 7-A: Lincoln County has long been the undisputed class of their league (7-A since 1998, then 4-A before that, and so on), but the Red Devils have some serious competition. Wilkinson County, which matched Lincoln County’s semifinals appearance last season (the teams lost to Emanuel County Institute and Wesleyan, respectively, both by eight points), will present a challenge, and Washington-Wilkes is strong once again; all three teams are 1-0 in the region. With star running back A.G. Middlebrooks gone for the year with a knee injury, Larry Campbell’s Lincoln County team will have to be at its best to finish 2-0 against its two aforementioned rivals. The Red Devils play Washington-Wilkes this Friday and Wilkinson County on Oct. 30.
CLASS 2A …
Region 6-AA: This race is always interesting and competitive in this league, which incorporates teams from Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties. Buford has been king of the region since the Wolves moved from 8-AA in 2006, but Lovett holds the tiebreaker over the Wolves this season due to the Lions’ advantage in the head-to-head department; Lovett beat Buford 28-21 earlier in the year, although they turned around and dropped a game to Westminster two weeks ago. Both teams have one loss in league play. Speaking of Westminster, the Wildcats have come from nowhere to achieve a 3-0 region mark and have beaten Lovett. An Oct. 30 rumble at Buford will test Westminster’s mettle. And for that fourth spot? Darkhorse Decatur is sitting at 2-1, but must face two 1-2 teams in Avondale (one of the feel-good turnaround stories of the year so far) and Blessed Trinity.
CLASS 3A …
Region 5-AAA: Dunwoody lost a lot of talent — and a great coach — from last year’s 12-1 squad, but looks like it could duplicate an unbeaten region record if things fall in place. The top team in the 5A subregion for now, the Wildcats are looking across the subdivide at two other unbeatens, St. Pius X and Grady. St. Pius has run past six teams on the strength of its dynamite ground game, led by prolific rusher Cole Moon, but an Oct. 23 date with Grady will likely determine the subregion winner. Dunwoody is looking at matchups with Columbia, McNair and Druid Hills to close things out, which have a 5-15 record combined. Interesting to watch will be the race for the second spot out of subregion 5A, which looks like it’s between Towers and Cedar Grove, two one-loss teams that will meet in two weeks. And then the region playoff caps the regular season, pitting the two subregion leaders against one another for the No. 1 seed, and the fringe playoff teams against each other to see who’s dancing in November.
CLASS 4A …
Region 6-AAAA: We may see an unfamiliar face in the playoff discussion when it’s all said and done after the regular season. While Tucker, Marist and Southwest DeKalb are predictably on top of the league standings as the playoff picture starts to materialize, Stone Mountain and Lithonia (4-1 and 3-2 in region play, respectively) are looking to get into the postseason mix for the first time in a while. Chamblee, on the other hand, is at 2-3 and in grave danger of missing out on the playoffs after making the postseason the previous two years and three of the last four; remaining games with Tucker and Stone Mountain won’t help. Tucker received a humbling loss (its only one in region) to Marist for the second year in a row earlier in the year, and still has SWD to deal with on Oct. 30. Southwest will rumble with similarly undefeated Marist on Oct. 23 with a region title on the line.
CLASS 5A …
Region 6-AAAAA: Lassiter, Walton, Roswell: all undefeated as of press time and all looking like they could be worthy of a region title. Not to mention, all these teams will play each other before the end of the regular season. Milton is in the mix as well, having only lost to Walton in region play in a tight 28-23 game, and should be assured of a rare second straight playoff appearance for the school. The Eagles will have to contend with the likes of Lassiter and Roswell in the next two weeks, followed by winnable games against Pope and Kell to close the regular season. After Milton, which currently occupies the fourth seed, 2-3 Centennial and Kell, 1-4 Pope and Alpharetta, and winless Wheeler and Campbell make up the rest of the region standings, meaning the real question in 6-AAAAA as the season unfolds is who among the top teams will get that region championship. Lassiter’s high-powered air attack takes on Milton this Friday, Walton next Friday, and Roswell to close things out, while head coach Rocky Hidalgo and Walton get Roswell on Oct. 30.
Region 7-AAAAA: This could end up being the best grouping of 1-4 seeds in the state. Yes, Norcross isn’t quite what it has been the past few years, but the Blue Devils are 3-1 in region play — with just a 10-point loss to Class 5A No. 3 North Gwinnett — and in line for the program’s fifth straight playoff berth under head coach Keith Maloof. The class of the region so far lies in league undefeateds North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill, and Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill will duke it out this Friday for region supremacy; Collins Hill and North Gwinnett, interestingly, will not meet. Norcross is still a player as well with a game disadvantage, as it will meet Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill in the season’s final two weeks. As it happened last year, Peachtree Ridge trumped North Gwinnett 19-7 in the regular-season finale to grab the region’s top seed and a perfect 8-0 record. This year, the Bulldogs will get the Lions at home and will surely be thinking revenge.
Ewalt can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.