The high school football regular season seems like the fastest 11 weeks of the year.
The final Friday night of the regular season is upon us -- though that hardly means the season is finished, as numerous area teams have already qualified for the state playoffs. Several more programs enter this week battling for a postseason berth.
With that in mind, let's take a look at every northeast Georgia-based region to see who is in, who is out, and what the rest have to do to make it into the 2016 playoffs -- which begin next week (Nov. 11th).
We will start with the largest classification and work our way down.
(Only records within the region are shown in parenthesis.)
Region 5-AAAAAAA
Lambert, South Forsyth, and 10th-ranked West Forsyth (all 3-1 in region play) are tied for the region lead. Lambert, which beat both South and West, can clinch the region with a win over Forsyth Central while South Forsyth and West Forsyth duke it out. A Lambert loss to the Bulldogs and the winner of South Forsyth-West Forsyth will take the title.
That leaves North Forsyth (1-3). The Raiders have shown remarkable improvement under first-year coach Robert Craft but have suffered three straight losses. They can put all that behind them with a win over Milton (2-2) on Friday, which would give North the No. 4 seed based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Milton, however, was good enough to knock off Lambert last week.
Region 6-AAAAAAA
The only certainties are that No. 1-ranked Mill Creek is region champ and that Discovery and Duluth have been eliminated from playoff contention. Four teams -- Mountain View (4-2), Peachtree Ridge (3-2), North Gwinnett (3-2), and Collins Hills (2-3) -- all are still alive for the final three spots.
And it could get complicated.
Mountain View has completed its regular season. Peachtree Ridge and North Gwinnett wins on Friday would send those three teams into a series of tiebreakers for the Nos. 2-4 spots. Based on the 13-plus/13-minus tiebreaker point system, Peachtree Ridge would finish as the No. 2 seed, North Gwinnett the No. 3 seed and Mountain View No. 4.
However, a North Gwinnett win over Discovery and a Collins Hill win over Peachtree Ridge on Friday would give the Bulldogs the No. 2 seed (based on a head-to-head win over Mountain View) and put Collins Hill in the No. 4 spot, knocking out Peachtree Ridge.
A North Gwinnett loss to Discovery would give Mountain View the No. 2 seed. And, should Peachtree Ridge also defeat Collins Hill then the Lions would grab the No. 3 seed and North Gwinnett would finish fourth.
A North Gwinnett loss and a Collins Hill win by more than one point would give Mountain View the No. 2 seed, with the Bulldogs taking third and Collins Hill fourth.
Region 8-AAAAAA
Most of the drama in this region played out over the past two weeks. Dacula’s (4-0) win over Lanier last week clinched the region title and threw the Longhorns (3-1) into a tie for second place with Gainesville (3-1).
Those two will battle for a home playoff spot this week in Sugar Hill. The loser will take the No. 3 seed and Winder-Barrow (2-2) secured the No. 4 seed last week with its win over Habersham Central. The Bulldoggs take on Dacula this week in what is essentially a playoff warm-up contest.
Region 8-AAAAA
No. 2-ranked Buford (5-0) clinched the No. 1 seed last week thanks to last week's dominating win over No. 10 Loganville (4-1). The Red Devils are the No. 2 seed by virtue of their win over Clarke Central (4-2) -- which has completed its regular season and and already has clinched the No. 3 seed.
The only drama left involves the final playoff spot. Walnut Grove and Flowery Branch are tied at 2-3 for the final spot, with the Warriors holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Falcons. However, if the Falcons can somehow find a way past Buford and Walnut Grove falls to Cedar Shoals (1-4) then Flowery Branch would grab the fourth seed. However, a Walnut Grove wins eliminates the Falcons no matter what.
There is the possibility of mini-games on Monday in the event of a Cedar Shoals win over Walnut Grove and a Flowery Branch loss, which would result in a three-way tie for fourth.
Region 7-AAAA
The only thing settled here is that White County is eliminated and Chestatee (1-3) will be the No. 4 seed based on its head-to-head win over the Warriors (0-3). Fifth-ranked Blessed Trinity (3-0), Marist (2-1) and West Hall (2-1) are each in the running for the region title.
The Spartans can win the region via a win over Blessed Trinity on Friday and a Marist loss to White County on Friday. Blessed Trinity, meanwhile, can claim the crown with a win over the Spartans -- regardless of the Marist outcome. A West Hall win combined with a Marist win would yield a region title for the War Eagles. The Spartans would then finish with the No. 2 seed over Blessed Trinity by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
A Blessed Trinity win and a Marist win would makes the Titans No. 1, the War Eagles No. 2, West Hall No. 3 and Chestatee No. 4.
UPDATE: Region 8-AAAA
Very little has been determined in this region with every game on Friday having an impact.
We do know that St. Pius and Madison County are both 1-3 in the region and battle in Atlanta on Friday for the No. 4 spot.
Fourth-ranked Jefferson (4-0) is the only unbeaten and the Dragons can win the region outright by defeating Oconee County (3-1) on Friday in Watkinsville. However, an Oconee County win and a Stephens County (3-1) win over winless North Oconee (0-4) would send it to a three-way tiebreaker.
If Jefferson beats Oconee County, the Dragons would win the region outright with Stephens County taking the No. 2 seed and Oconee County the No. 3 seed.
If Oconee County beats Jefferson, it would send things into a three-way tie.
A Warriors win by more than 10 points would give them the No. 1 seed and Jefferson would be the No. 2 based on its head-to-head win over Stephens County, which would be the No. 3 seed. A Warriors win by less than 10 points would give Jefferson the No. 1 seed with Stephens County taking the No. 2 seed and Oconee County would be the No. 3 seed.
Region 7-AAA
The easy part in this region is that No. 1 Greater Atlanta Christian (5-0) and No. 8 Dawson County (5-0) will meet in Dawsonville on Friday for the region title. The loser will be the No. 2 seed.
North Hall (3-3) has also claimed a postseason berth -- though its seeding is yet to be decided, and that's because of the Lumpkin County (2-3) at Union County (3-2) contest on Friday. The Panthers and Indians are each still battling to clinch a playoff berth.
The region uses the plus-12/minus-12 tiebreaker system. As it stands, North Hall is plus-five thanks to beating Lumpkin County by eight points and losing to Union County by three. Union sits at plus-three with the Indians at minus-eight.
If Lumpkin beats Union by six or more points on Friday, the Indians would take the fourth spot and eliminate the Panthers, with North Hall grabbing the No. 3 seed. If Lumpkin wins by five points or less, then Union would grab the No. 3 seed with North Hall taking fourth, and the Indians would be eliminated.
Fannin County and East Hall have already been eliminated.
Region 8-AAA
The only thing decided is that Morgan County (4-0) is the region champ. The Bulldogs play host to Jackson County (2-2) in Madison on Friday.
While Morgan County is already locked in, all five of the remaining teams are still alive with several scenarios possible. East Jackson (1-3) plays host to Hart County (1-3) and the Bulldogs could still advance based on other outcomes.
Jackson County, Monroe Area and Franklin County are all 2-2 with Franklin County traveling to Monroe on Friday. Jackson County beat Monroe Area and Hart County but lost to Franklin County and East Jackson.
The simplest scenario is if Franklin County wins, which would trigger the rest of the seeds regardless of outcome. The Lions would be the No. 2 seed, and Jackson County would take the No. 3 seed, and Monroe Area would finish fourth based on tiebreakers.
Scenario 2: If Monroe Area and Jackson County both win, the Panthers would take the No. 2 seed and the Hurricanes would be third. If Hart County then beats East Jackson, the Bulldogs would take the No. 4 seed over Franklin County.
Scenario 3: If Monroe Area and Jackson County both win, the Panthers would take the No. 2 seed and the Hurricanes would be third. If East Jackson then beats Hart County, Franklin County would take the No. 4 seed.
Scenario 4: If Morgan County beats Jackson County, East Jackson beats Hart County, AND Monroe Area beats Franklin County, Monroe Area takes second, Franklin County third, and East Jackson would take the fourth seed.
Keep an eye on the scoreboard to see how this one plays out.
Region 8-AA
This is by far the most cut-and-dried region. We know the four teams.
Rabun County (5-0) will be the No. 1 seed; Monticello (3-2) is the No. 4 seed, and Elbert County (4-1) and Banks County (4-1) meet Friday at The Granite Bowl to play for the No. 2 seed. Elbert County and Banks County both beat Monticello, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Hurricanes. Plus, the Hurricanes face fifth-ranked and unbeaten Rabun County on Friday to close out the season.
Nothing fancy about that.
Region 8-A
Class A still uses the power rankings for both the Public and Private classifications. Prince Avenue can win the region title outright with a win over Athens Academy on Friday. Commerce faces George Walton at home on Friday.
A Prince Avenue win and a Commerce win would put the Tigers second. It only matters because of power rankings but would give the Tigers some extra clout for those making the rankings decisions.
What is important is that 24 teams in each the Public and Private divisions will qualify for the playoffs in 2016, up from 16 in years past. Region 8-A has five in the Private -- Prince Avenue, Athens Academy, George Walton, Athens Christian, Hebron Christian -- that are ranked in the top 19. Lakeview Academy (27th) and Riverside Military (31st) were knocking on the door as well to get in the top 24.
Commerce is eighth in the latest Public power ratings. A Tigers win over George Walton (15th in Private) on Friday would likely solidify a spot in the top eight -- the top eight teams each receive a first-round bye and then play host to a second-round game.
