The race for state playoff berths continues on Friday for northeast Georgia area teams as 18 of the 22 teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area will be in action on Friday.
There are several crucial region battles but none will be bigger than in Jefferson when the Dragons play host to North Oconee at Memorial Stadium in a pair of matches that will go a long way in determining the region champions in Region 8-4A. In the girls match, both teams come in undefeated and tied for the region lead. The Lady Dragons (9-0-0, 4-0 Region 8-4A) are ranked third in Class 4A while the Lady Titans (9-0-2, 4-0 Region 8-4A) are ranked second. On the boys side, it will be a key battle for third place as Jefferson (7-2-1, 3-1 Region 8-4A) is ranked sixth and sits in third place and North Oconee (4-3-1, 2-1 Region 8-4A) is trying to hang on to fourth place.
Also in Region 8-4A, the No. 2-ranked Flowery Branch boys (11-0-1, 3-0 Region 8-4A) will try to keep pace with East Hall atop the standings while trying to hold off No. 7 Chestatee (6-5, 1-2 Region 8-4A).
Region 7-3A also has several key showdowns on both the boys and girls side. Lumpkin County plays host to Cherokee Bluff. The Lady Bears (8-2-1, 4-0 Region 7-3A) are second in Class 3A and the Lady Indians (8-4, 2-1 Region 7-3A) are sixth. The North Hall girls (6-2, 2-0 Region 7-3A) have caught fire and winning three straight region matches and can climb into second place in the region with a win over West Hall.
The Class 5A fifth-ranked Johnson boys (9-2-1, 4-0 Region 8-5A) are riding an eight-match win streak and are in a tie atop the Region 8-5A standings with No. 3 Clarke Central. The Knights will travel to winless Walnut Grove (0-10, 0-5 Region 8-5A) looking to avoid a huge upset.
(Check below for the full schedule of matches on Friday and Saturday around the area.)
(Rankings are taken from the March 20 eurosportscoreboard.com rankings.)
AREA SOCCER SCHEDULE FOR Friday, March 26
(Games listed by visiting team in alphabetical order)
(Area teams highlighted in bold)
(Games begin at 5:30 p.m. with girls match, unless otherwise noted)
Cherokee Bluff at Lumpkin County*
Chestatee at Flowery Branch*
Dawson County at East Hall
Grissom (Huntsville, Ala.) at Habersham Central (boys only), 6 p.m.
Greene County at Commerce, 5 p.m.*
Hart County at East Jackson, 5 p.m.*
Johnson at Walnut Grove*
North Hall at West Hall*
North Oconee at Jefferson*
Rabun County at Riverside Military (boys only), 5 p.m.*
St. Francis at Lakeview Academy, 5 p.m.*
Stephens County at Jackson County
Towns County at Lake Oconee, 5 p.m.*
AREA SOCCER SCHEDULE FOR Saturday, March 27
Cookeville (Tenn.) at Habersham Central (boys only), 11 a.m.
(* -- denotes region contest)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/3/991728/soccer-huge-night-on-the-pitch-as-ranked-teams-clash-in-region-play