Schedules were back to normal last week and Friday night's results moved several teams closer to the state playoffs.
Here are five things we learned Friday night:
1. East Forsyth is ready for a playoff push in year two
Even East Forsyth head coach Brian Allison is surprised how far the Broncos have come in just two short years as a program. "I don't know if at the beginning of the year you had told me 5-1 is where we would be sitting right now if I would have fully believed you," Allison said on the Hardy Chevrolet Scoreboard show after his team came from behind to knock off Cherokee Bluff 14-7 Friday night at home. Believe it. East Forsyth is 5-1 and, more importantly, 3-1 in Region 8-4A play. Not only are they firmly in the playoff picture more than halfway into their second season if existence, but only a tiebreaker with Walnut Grove (who beat the Broncos via a blocked field goal in the final minute) separates them from the number two spot in the standings with just a month left to play. Friday was a perfect example of how they've reached this point - great defense. The Broncos are only allowing 5.1 points per game on the season and have only allowed 10 or more points in a game once this year. If they can continue to play that great defense, there could very well be playoff football on Jot Em Down Road this November.
2. Commerce and Rabun County will enter region play battle-tested
There are only four teams in Region 8-1A Division 1 and that means the teams in it have had to play lengthy seven-game non-region schedules. Commerce and Rabun County have not taken the easy road with those non-region schedules, as both teams have played difficult slates that have them battle-tested entering the final month of the season. The Wildcats are 7-0, which is nothing new for them. It's the fourth time they've started a season 7-0 since 2016. However, this year may be the toughest schedule they've faced to reach that mark of those four times. After facing strong Stephens County and Adairsville teams early, Rabun County has spent the past three weeks squaring off with Atlanta-area private schools Whitefield Academy, Fellowship Christian and St. Francis, winning all three by close margins. Commerce, meanwhile, has faced nothing but close contests all season and have come through it with a 5-2 record. The widest margin of victory in a Tigers' game this season has been 16-point home win over Lincoln County. They've needed late field goals from Ivy Tolbert to earn wins in two of the last three weeks. The region looks to be a tough race, but Commerce and Rabun County appear ready for it and more after what they've faced so far this season.
3. North Forsyth is the top challenger to Gainesville in Region 8-6A
Last week, this feature named Gainesville the team to beat in Region 8-6A. If that is still true, we likely now know who their top challenger will be in the season's final month: North Forsyth. The Raiders are 3-0 in region play after Friday night's 21-7 win over Lanier in Coal Mountain. That 3-0 record is made more noteworthy by the fact that those three wins have come against the teams currently placed third through fifth in the region standings, meaning North Forsyth has likely faced the tougher half of the region with one noticeable exception: Gainesville. The Red Elephants will host the Raiders on October 28 and that is now all but guaranteed to be the defacto region championship game. Historically, North Forsyth has been a thorn in Gainesville's side, having only lost once in eight all-time meetings dating back to 1998. Gainesville's lone win in the series came two years ago in a 17-0 shutout at City Park Stadium. This year's Gainesville team has looked unstoppable under first-year head coach Josh Niblett, but North Forsyth looks like the best contender they'll face in region play.
4. Region 7-3A is set for a wild race to the finish line
Every region in the North Georgia area has either one or two teams that have separated themselves as clear favorites. Not Region 7-3A. The region is still a four-lane pileup of football after the first three weeks of region play. While the top four teams in the region remain clear so far (Dawson County, Lumpkin County, Gilmer and Wesleyan) sorting out the rest is far more complicated. Dawson County currently holds the top spot in the region with a 3-0 record, but they have yet to face any of the other top teams so far. That will change Friday when they travel to Wesleyan. Lumpkin County, Gilmer and Wesleyan are all tied for second place and are in a classic, rock-paper-scissors tie with Gilmer having beaten Wesleyan, Wesleyan having beaten Lumpkin County and the Indians coming from behind to knock off the Bobcats in Ellijay 31-28 Friday night. At this point, all four teams mentioned above are still very much alive for the region title race and all four can say at this point that they control their own destiny. This week's aforementioned Dawson County-Wesleyan matchup will be another big piece of the puzzle. If the Tigers win, we could be headed on a collision course between them and their biggest rival, Lumpkin County, on Halloween weekend.
5. Union County is clicking on all cylinders in Perry's second year
Much is often made of a coach's second season at a program. Many consider it the year that things are supposed to start turning around as the coach has had a couple of offseasons to instill his systems and culture. That naturally comes with expectations of increased win totals. All of that appears to be true of Michael Perry's second season at Union County. After a 3-7 season in his first year in Blairsville, the Panthers have been on a tear to start 2022. They are 5-1 and have started 1-0 in Region 8-2A play after a blowout 42-7 road win at Banks County Friday night. Junior quarterback Caden Tanner appears to be perfectly comfortable in Perry's air raid system, as he threw for over 200 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three scores in the game. It's the best start to a season for Union County since 2019 and they have blown out every opponent they've faced since a Week Two loss to Lumpkin County. Their last four wins have come by a combined score of 181-31. A home game against a struggling Providence Christian team awaits them next and a win could secure them a playoff spot and further prove that what Perry is doing is working for the Panthers.
