The race for the state football playoffs has hit full speed going into the final week of the regular season, and there is plenty left to be decided this Friday night.
There is a chance that the Sandy Creek Patriots (8-1, 3-1) could finish somewhere other than first in their region for the first time since its current roster was in elementary school, although a playoff appearance is highly likely.
There is also a chance that five of the six teams in Region 5-AAAA could finish with 3-2 records, which would cause a tiebreaker scenario I don’t even want to think about.
A win by Sandy Creek at Fayette County means the Patriots are either tied for first with Woodward, who defeated them two weeks ago and would win the tiebreaker, or in first place outright should Carrollton defeat Woodward.
Right now Fayette County and Whitewater are in a three-way tie for second in the region at 2-2. Whitewater travels south Friday to face Troup, who has not won a region game this season. If the Tigers and Wildcats both win and Woodward defeats Carrollton, all three Fayette teams from this region are in the state playoffs.
Things in Region 4-AAAAA are a bit different because it is a group of 13 teams split into two subregions.
The seven teams from Clayton and Fayette counties are in what is commonly known as Subregion A. Drew is first in that group by virtue of its head-to-head tiebreaker over Mundy’s Mill, while Starr’s Mill grabbed the third spot last Friday with its win over Northgate. Only the top three teams in each subregion have a shot at the state playoffs.
Drew will face Stockbridge, the top team from Subregion B. Both of those teams are in the state playoffs, but this game will decide who is seeded first and who is second.
The second-place team from each subregion will host the third-place team from the opposite subregion. That means Starr’s Mill travels to Dutchtown for a rematch of the Sept. 12 thriller which, after a 90-minute delay because of lightning, ended around midnight when the Panthers blocked a field goal attempt with five seconds left to escape with a 35-33 victory.
The other play-in game that decides a playoff spot will be Woodland at Drew.
Starr’s Mill gets a fourth seed in the state playoffs with a win regardless of the outcome of the other game. Drew is seeded higher in the subregion and Woodland has a better winning percentage against AAAAA opponents, which would be the tiebreaker since Woodland and Starr’s Mill did not face each other this season.
The McIntosh Chiefs, with a fifth-place finish in their subregion, will conclude their season with a home game against Ola, who finished fifth in the other subregion.
The playoff picture in Region 5-A is even cloudier right now because it will eventually be decided by the power rankings. The GHSA will choose 16 teams for the A Private state playoff field based on those rankings, although the region champion is guaranteed a spot in that bracket.
After starting the season 0-6 against a brutal schedule of teams in higher classifications, ELCA has taken control in the region at 3-0 and has already beaten Landmark and Our Lady of Mercy, the other two strongest contenders in the region. With a final game against Mt. Vernon, who is winless in region play, ELCA is likely to wrap up the title this week.
That means this Friday’s game pitting Landmark at Our Lady of Mercy is of utmost importance. Both teams have excellent overall records, so either team could snag a state playoff spot even with a loss, but that is far from assured.
