Prep football week 8: Pretenders will fall by the wayside

After tonight there are only three weeks remaining in the prep football regular season schedule -- so it's safe to say that this is crunch time.

There are a number of teams still battling for their postseason lives, especially in Region 7A-AAA, where it seems like everyone still has a shot. But this week will begin to eliminate a lot of the contenders. And those teams left standing will start to gain some confidence that they've got bonus football to look forward to.

With Region 8-AA rejoining the rest of the area -- the entire region had a bye date last Friday -- the slate is once again full.

This week is marked by a few big region clashes: Chestatee at White County, Collins Hill at Peachtree Ridge, Riverside at Fannin County, Wesleyan at Commerce. But there's also a key non-region battle to keep an eye on: Buford at Thomson.

With that in mind, read on below and find out everything you need to know about Week 8, as Access North Georgia takes you around prep football in north Georgia.

-- PICKENS at NORTH HALL

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday

WHERE: The Brickyard, North Hall

RADIO: 102.9 FM

PICKENS (1-5, 1-2 Region 7A-AAA): The Dragons fell to Lumpkin County 17-0 at home last Friday.

NORTH HALL (3-3, 2-0 Region 7A-AAA): The Trojans fell at Flowery Branch 35-7 last Friday.

LAST MEETING: North Hall won 56-0 on Sept. 7, 2007. The Trojans lead the series 14-9, including wins in six of the last seven contests.

NOTABLE: North Hall has no time to dwell on last weekâ