Playoff possibilities endless on final week of regular season

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

Posted 5:37PM on Wednesday, November 5, 2014

GAINESVILLE -- If you're interested in talking state football playoff scenarios, we hope you've got your calculator and a bottle of aspirin handy. All kidding aside, with the final week of the 2014 season upon us, area teams are getting down to serious business as they jockey for playoff positioning, and for some, their very playoff lives. Teams like Banks County in Region 7-AAA and two-time defending Class AAAAAA state champion Norcross in Region 7-AAAAAA face must-win scenarios just to get into the playoffs. Others, like Jefferson in Region 8-AAA and Rabun County in Region 8-AA just need wins to clinch region titles. In between more than a dozen area teams in more than half-a-dozen regions face a variety of possibilities to get into the playoffs. Below we take a look at the seven area regions we cover at accessnorthga.com with all the possible scenarios. We recommend something at your side to soothe the impending migraine. Region 8-A: Commerce is in a good place for the postseason. The Tigers (7-2, 6-1 Region 8-A) sit fifth in the Class A Public power rankings and will play host to Lakeview Academy Friday night in the regular season finale. The only question for Commerce is how high will it be seeded. Expect the Tigers to get at least one home game during the playoffs, maybe two, if they can crack the top four in the power rankings. Commerce could face a three-way tie for the 8-A title on Friday, as it enters the night knotted with Athens Christian and Prince Avenue Christian. Athens Christian (6-3, 6-1) takes on Hebron Christian (5-4, 3-4), while Prince Avenue (7-2, 6-1) faces Providence Christian (0-9, 0-7). According to Commerce coach Michael Brown, if all three win on Friday and finish in a three-way Prince Avenue will win the region championship by virtue of the tiebreakers set by the region. For Commerce to win the region outright, Prince Avenue would have to lose to Providence Christian. Commerce has not won a region title since 2003. Lakeview Academy would certainly move up in the Class A Private rankings if it can knock off Commerce but the Lions (3-6, 2-4) currently are in 26th position and may be too far down to crack the top 16. Region 8-AA: We know all the players we just don't know which roles they will be performing in. Heading into Friday's finales, Rabun County (7-2, 5-0 Region 8-AA) is first with Union County (8-1, 4-1) and Greene County (5-4, 4-1) tied for second. Washington-Wilkes (6-3, 3-2) is fourth. One thing is simple. If Rabun wins, it clinches the region title -- which would be the team's first since 1998 (which was also shared, between Commerce and Greater Atlanta Christian). If Rabun wins and Washington-Wilkes wins, Rabun is the region champ and the other three are tied for Nos. 2-4. If Rabun County wins and Union County wins, the Wildcats are region champs, Union County is second, Greene County third, and Washington-Wilkes fourth. If Greene County wins and Union County wins, it creates a three-way tie for Nos. 1-3 between Greene, Rabun and Union -- in which case the plus-12/minus-12 tiebreaker comes into play. The Wildcats currently have a plus-12 differential after defeating Union County by 14 points. Union County is currently at 0 (zero) after defeating Greene County by 15 points but falling to Rabun by 14. Greene County, meanwhile, is at minus-12 and would need to defeat Rabun County by 12 or more points. Should that happen, all three teams would be sitting at 0 -- meaning a coin-flip could decide first. If Greene County wins and Washington-Wilkes wins, Greene County is region champ, Rabun County is second, Washington-Wilkes third, and Union County fourth. Region 7-AAA: According to Grady Turner, the Dawson County Athletic Director, who is in charge of figuring out all the possibilities, only one thing is for sure in this region. West Hall and Lumpkin County meet in Oakwood on Friday and the winner is the region champ and the loser will be second. After that, it requires a lot of Tylenol to figure things out. Four teams are still alive for the final two playoff spots. Only Dawson County has been eliminated from any playoff consideration. The other key games have Banks County (5-4, 2-3 Region 7-AAA) traveling to East Hall (5-4, 3-2) and Fannin County (4-5, 2-3) traveling to Franklin County (3-6, 1-4). We'll start with the easy ones. If Banks County loses, the Leopards are out in any scenario. If East Hall wins, the Vikings are the third seed. If Fannin County wins and Banks County loses, the Rebels are fourth behind East Hall. Here's where the fun starts. If Fannin County and Banks County both win, and Banks County wins by 10 or more points, the Leopards would slide into the No. 3 spot and East Hall would be fourth with Fannin eliminated. If Fannin and Banks both win, and Banks wins by more than three but less than 10 points, East Hall takes third, Banks is fourth and Fannin is eliminated. If Fannin and Banks both win, but Banks wins by two points or less, East Hall is third and Fannin takes fourth with the Leopards eliminated. If Banks County and Franklin County both win, Banks would take third and East Hall would be fourth with Fannin County and Franklin County both eliminated. Banks County coach Biff Parson said the only thing anyone can count on is trying to get a win. "All I know is that if we win, we have a better chance to make it. We know we can't lose so we're looking at it like the first playoff game," Parson said. Franklin County can still sneak into the playoffs but will need LOTS of help. The Lions have to win and get a Banks County loss. Plus, the Lions have to win by more than seven points to take the fourth spot behind East Hall. If Franklin wins by five points or less it is eliminated. If the Lions win by exactly six points, it would go to a point differential for all region games. Oy vey! Region 8-AAA: It's a similar situation to the one in Region 8-AA in that all four teams -- Jefferson, Hart County, Elbert County, Oconee County -- have wrapped up playoff spots but there won't be any possible coin flips to decide seedings. Jefferson (9-0, 5-0 Region 8-AAA) and Hart County (9-0, 5-0) will meet in Hartwell Friday for the region title in a winner-takes-all battle. Elbert County (6-3, 3-2) will play host to Oconee County (7-2, 3-2) for third place. Region 8-AAAA: It's a little simpler at the top for 8-AAAA. A Buford (9-0, 6-0) win over Stephens County (7-2, 5-1) and the Wolves are region champs. However, if the Indians can shock the No. 1-ranked Wolves it would throw both of them into a three-way tie for first with North Oconee (6-3, 5-1) unless Madison County (5-4, 3-3) knocks off the Titans, in which case the Indians could win the region title. A Buford win and a North Oconee win gives Buford the title with North Oconee second and Stephens County third. Fourth place is a mess. If White County and Madison County each finish with the same record, then the Warriors will go to the playoffs thanks to a head-to-head win over the Red Raiders earlier this season. Region 8-AAAAA: Finally, a region where some things have already been decided. Lanier (9-0, 8-0) wrapped up its first-ever region title last week with a win over Winder-Barrow and Gainesville (7-2, 7-1) will be the second seed. It is up for grabs for the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds with several possibilities. Winder-Barrow (5-4, 5-3) and Salem (5-4, 5-3) are in the driver's seat but Flowery Branch (5-4, 4-4) and Clarke Central (4-5, 4-4) are still mathematically alive. Winder-Barrow plays host to Heritage, Conyers, Salem travels to Cedar Shoals, Clarke Central is at Loganville, and Flowery Branch plays host to Gainesville in the key matchups this week. Here are the possibilities: If Flowery Branch loses, Salem is the No. 3 seed and Winder-Barrow is the fourth seed. If Winder-Barrow and Salem both win, Salem is third and the Bulldoggs are fourth. If Winder-Barrow loses and Salem wins, again Salem is third and the Bulldoggs fourth. But, if Winder-Barrow wins, Salem and Clarke Central lose and Flowery Branch wins, Winder-Barrow takes third and the Falcons sneak into the fourth spot. If Winder-Barrow wins, Salem loses, the Branch wins, and Clarke Central wins, Winder-Barrow is third and there is a three-way tie for fourth between Salem, Clarke Central, and the Falcons with mini-playoffs to follow. If Winder-Barrow loses, Salem loses, the Branch wins, and Clarke Central wins, then there is a four-way tie for third. Salem would have a 2-1 record amongst the four teams, Winder-Barrow would have a 2-1 record amongst the four teams, and the Branch and Clarke Central would have a 1-2 records amongst the four teams. The Falcons and Gladiators would be eliminated and Salem and Winder-Barrow would revert back to head-to-head with Salem taking third and Winder-Barrow fourth. If Winder-Barrow loses, Salem loses, the Falcons win, and Gladiators lose, Clarke Central is eliminated and there would be a three-way tie between Winder-Barrow, Salem, and the Falcons. A three-team mini-playoff would then determine the final two spots. If all four teams lose, then Salem would take third and Winder-Barrow fourth. Everyone got that? Good. (Whew!) Region 7-AAAAAA: Fortunately for fans, things are pretty straight-forward here. North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge and Mill Creek are all tied atop the standings with 5-1 records. But, the Bulldogs own tiebreakers over both Peachtree Ridge and Mill Creek. The key games are North Gwinnett (7-2, 5-1) playing host to Mountain View (3-6, 2-4), Peachtree Ridge (7-2, 5-1) playing host to Mill Creek (6-3, 5-1), and Norcross (6-3, 4-2) traveling to Collins Hill (5-4, 3-3). If North Gwinnett wins, the Bulldogs will be region champs. If North Gwinnett loses, then the winner of the Peachtree Ridge-Mill Creek matchup will take the region title, the loser will take third, and the Bulldogs will finish second. If North Gwinnett wins, the Peachtree Ridge-Mill Creek winner will take second and the loser will be third. And finally, the winner of the Norcross-Collins Hill game will be the fourth seed and the loser is eliminated. Mill Creek is the hottest team coming down the stretch with four straight wins. Coach Shannon Jarvis said they are just focused on finishing strong. "Our guys are playing very well right now. We're not thinking about playoffs right now. Our focus is on beating Peachtree Ridge on Friday," Jarvis said. So there you have it. We hope you're still with us (and sane) and a little bit clearer about all the possibilities -- some of them crazy -- coming on Friday. Let's hope for some cut and dried answers.

Jeff Hart Sports Reporter