Week 10: Prep playoff picture comes sharply into focus

The playoff picture became much clearer for some teams while others played themselves into the opportunity for postseason play during Friday night's high school football action.

Gainesville and Stephens County locked up the top spots in their respective subregions in 8-AAA after big road wins Friday. The Red Elephants (8-1, 5-0 Region 8B-AAA) routed West Hall 41-0 at West Hall Stadium, while the Indians (8-1, 5-0 Region 8A-AAA) outscored North Hall 39-14 after the first quarter en route to a 39-14 win at The Brickyard.

The two teams will meet next week at City Park Stadium for the region title and top seed in the state playoffs. In the two 8-AAA play-in games, Franklin County will travel to Oconee County and North Hall will travel to Monroe Area. The winners of those two games will advance to the playoffs with seedings to be determined later.

In Region 8-AA, North Oconee and Banks County will meet in Homer next week for the region title. The Titans clinched the 8S-AA subregion after taking a 17-6 win over No. 7 Elbert County Friday night. In the two play-in games, Jefferson will travel to Dawson County and East Hall will play host to Elbert County with the two winners advancing to the state playoffs.

While there are no play-in games in Region 8-AAAA, its picture also came into better focus after Friday's action. Flowery Branch demolished Salem 54-8 to set up a de facto region championship game next week in Athens. The Falcons will travel to take on Clarke Central next week.

Meanwhile, fellow 8-AAAA competitor Habersham Central earned the final spot in 8-AAAA with a nail-biting 47-45 win over Loganville Friday night. The Raiders led by as many as 21 in the second half but held on in the final minute to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.


OCT. 28 AREA PREP FOOTBALL SCORES

Apalachee 47, Winder-Barrow 0

Athens Academy 44, Riverside Military Academy 6

Dawson County 41, Rabun County 7

East Hall 34, Banks County 17

Franklin County 21, White County 14

Flowery Branch 54, Salem 8

Gainesville 41, West Hall 0

George Walton 24, Commerce 14

Habersham Central 47, Loganville 45

Hart County 22, Jackson County 13

Jefferson 35, East Jackson 7

Lakeview Academy 21, Towns County 0

Lumpkin County 41, Chestatee 18

Milton 30, North Forsyth 14

Monroe Area 21, Johnson 0

North Oconee 17, Elbert County 6

Peachtree Ridge 35, Mill Creek 20

North Gwinnett 44, Duluth 14

Stephens County 39, North Hall 14

Union County 30, Fannin County 15

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