Heading Down The Home Stretch

Week seven of the prep football season is here and the action is getting to the point in the 2013 season where each game is crucial. Football teams are heading down the home stretch in anticipation of which one will be selected to advance to the GHSA state playoffs.

Each week during the prep football season, I choose 60 of the top prep football games; ten games in each of the six classifications, as top games this week. I then provide a syndicated radio program which is available to stations and other interested football fans all across the state. Since it is impossible in this week’s blog to list all of the games I feel are top games this week, I have chosen two games in each classification which I feel are games that can set the playoff table for many teams, or upset their apple cart on the way to the playoffs.

In Class A, Aquinas, 5-0 is on the road to play at perennial power Lincoln County, 3-2 on the season. This 7-A matchup winner will have the inside track to the region championship, and the loser will have to remount and reload. In region 8-A, Commerce, 4-2 travels to Prince Avenue Christian, 5-1. Both teams are fighting for a slot in the playoffs at the end of the regular season.

In Class AA, Macon County, 4-1 on the season, travels to Cochran to meet the Bleckley County Royals, 4-1. This 4-AA matchup is important to both teams because they have to compete in the same region with powerhouse Lamar County and both have a date with the Trojans in the weeks ahead, Bleckley County on October 25th and Macon County the following week on November 1st. In region 1-AA, it’s just another one of those weekly battles for the top spot in the region, as Brooks County, 5-1, travels to Fitzgerald, 4-1-1 on the season.

In Class AAA, the two top games feature four teams with only one loss between them. Once-beaten White County, 4-1 heads to Buford to meet the 5-0 Wolves. Buford has steam-rolled its past three opponents by the identical, 63-0 final score. They are atop every ranking poll in the state in Class AAA, and deservedly so. One of the best games in AAA this week takes place in the House of Pain in Sandersville, where Washington County, 5-0 hosts Jefferson County, 6-0. This region 3-AAA matchup winner will likely claim the region title this season. The Golden Hawks have an explosive ground game, while the Warriors can light it up through the air.

Class AAAA features two games with region championship ramifications. In 3-AAAA, Statesboro, 6-0, travels to Hinesville to meet unbeaten Liberty County, 6-0, in a sub-region matchup and in 8-AAAA, Monroe Area, 5-0, travels to Toccoa to meet Stephens County, 3-2 in a key region showdown.

Class AAAAA offers one of the top games in any classification in the state this week. Talent-laden Stephenson meets Tucker in a 6-AAAAA battle for supremacy. There will be no shortage of talent in this annual battle on either side of the ball. Both teams, Stephenson, 5-0, and Tucker, 5-0, are loaded in 2013. In the southeastern portion of the state, Effingham County, 4-1, travels to Richmond Hill, 5-0, in a key region 3-AAAAA game.

In class AAAAAA, it’s the annual winnersville classic in Valdosta, as the Valdosta Wildcats, 4-1, on the season travel to play the Lowndes Vikings, 4-2, in an important region 1-AAAAAA game. This season, this game is important for more than territorial bragging rights, as both teams are fighting for one of the four playoff spots in one of the toughest 6-A regions in the state. In North Georgia, North Cobb, 4-1, is at undefeated Hillgrove, 5-0, in region 4-AAAAAA.

Just a few of the top games to enjoy this week all across the state…there are many more!

Stay tuned…