While most of Week 11's action featured blowouts, there were some heavy playoff implications to the results for several northeast Georgia teams.
Here are five things we learned from Week 11:
1. Gainesville, Flowery Branch clinch playoffs - set for big battles Friday
Gainesville and Flowery Branch both needed home wins Friday night to clinch another trip to the postseason. Both teams did so in dominant fashion. The Falcons raced past West Hall 44-0 while Gainesville rode their red-hot ground attack to a 51-21 win over Apalachee. With both teams now assured an 11th game this season, they can focus on tough tasks that will determine where exactly they fall in their respective brackets. The Red Elephants are guaranteed at least the number three seed in Region 8-6A, but are set to host top-ten ranked Lanier for an opportunity to move up to the two seed and gain an all-important home playoff game. The Falcons can finish no higher than number three, and to get that high they will need to beat a talented Denmark team in Alpharetta. The difference between a number three and number four seed could be huge, as the four seed has the dubious task of playing Region 5-4A champion Cartersville in the first round.
2. Other area teams' playoff hopes take hits
While Gainesville and Flowery Branch were booking their tickets to the state playoffs, several northeast Georgia teams saw their playoff chances dashed or seriously harmed. Habersham Central was eliminated from playoff contention after a heartbreaking 41-40 home loss to Winder-Barrow, Banks County's last hopes were erased by a 28-0 loss to Monticello and White County was eliminated despite beating Chestatee Friday due to Flowery Branch's win over West Hall. Johnson is still in play for a playoff berth in Region 8-5A, but is now down to a do-or-die game in Loganville after losing at home to Clarke Central 48-14. Riverside Military Academy is now on the outside looking in to the Class A-Private playoffs after dropping to number 28 in the classification's power ratings following Friday's home loss to Commerce. While the Eagles and Knights will still have some hopes on Friday night, the Raiders, Leopards and Warriors will be playing for pride alone in the regular season's final week.
3. Three area teams to play for region titles in regular season's last week
There could be as many as four northeast Georgia teams with region championship trophies after Week 12. Jefferson already clinched the Region 8-3A championship in Week 10 and now three more teams will have opportunities to capture region crowns this week. Two of those teams will be playing each other, Rabun County and Union County in Region 8-2A. The Wildcats and Panthers are both 9-0 and both cruised to wins last Friday. Rabun County will be looking for its sixth consecutive region championship while Union County will looking for just its second in program history and first since 1973. Buford has rolled to a 9-0 start to the season themselves, including last Friday's 49-0 shutout at Walnut Grove, and are now in a very familiar position, just one win away from their seventh consecutive region title. The Wolves will travel to Athens to play Clarke Central in a game that will decide the Region 8-5A championship. The Wolves haven't gone without a region title since 2012, a season which included three forfeited region games that Buford won on the field. To find the last time Buford lost a region championship due to an on-field defeat, you have to go all the way back to 2009.
4. Commerce is back on track
If there were any concerns about the Commerce Tigers after their 21-7 loss to Hebron Christian, those concerns now appear to be a memory. Commerce has won two straight since that defeat, and Friday's 52-21 win at Riverside Military Academy saw the Tigers flex their offensive muscles. After falling behind the Eagles 7-0 in the first quarter, they responded by scoring touchdowns on five straight offensive possessions. With the Tigers firmly in the playoff picture in Class A-Public, the momentum they are gaining is coming at the perfect time. A win in the region crossover game this week could potentially push Commerce to a first-round BYE depending on the power ratings. While the Tigers would no doubt love a chance to play in a region championship game, they will certainly settle for a chance to position themselves for a deep playoff run.
5. Lakeview has its most impressive showing in years
Lakeview Academy's upset win over Riverside Military Academy was certainly big for the program, but last Friday's 41-0 shutout at Towns County was almost equally eye-opening. After starting the season 0-5, the Lions have now won two of their last three, with the only loss in that stretch coming to highly-ranked Prince Avenue Christian. Friday's win over the Indians was the largest margin of victory for Lakeview Academy since a 2013 win over Cross Keys and was only the third time in the program's 11-year history that the Lions have won a game by more than 40 points. The momentum will likely be too little too late for Lakeview to reach the playoffs, but it could provide a spark for a program that has yet to make the postseason and had won just one of its past 21 games prior to its two recent wins.
