All season long we have been previewing which game is the biggest on that particular Friday night, but what game isn’t big tonight? Whether it is a rivalry game like East Coweta vs. Newnan, Fayette County vs. Starr’s Mill or Landmark Christian vs. Our Lady of Mercy, or just a game where the state playoffs hinge on a win like Sandy Creek vs. Cedartown or Whitewater vs. Northgate, the high school football season truly has saved the best for the last week of the regular season.

Region 4-AAAAA

East Coweta Indians (6-3, 3-2 region) vs. Newnan Cougars (6-3, 4-1 region)

This game is always filled with drama and this year is no exception. The Indians are coming off of a bye week after a 27-0 loss to Hiram, which is tied with Newnan at the top of Region 4-AAAAA. Hiram thororughly whipped the Indians, being the only team to shut them out this year and scoring the third highest total of points on the Indian defense this season. Newnan beat Hiram 31-19 last week and, on paper anyway, has to like their chances tonight. Newnan has won the last three meetings between these two teams and two of their three losses this year were to opponents outside of Class AAAAA. A Newnan win would give them the region title, while an Indian win and a Hiram loss would give them the region title.

Region 2-AAAA

Whitewater Wildcats (6-3, 5-2 region) @ Northgate Vikings (5-4, 4-3 region)
The Wildcats lost to Woodward Academy 17-12 last Friday and the loss created quite the muddied playoff picture. They are currently in second place in the region behind Creekside but a loss to Northgate tonight could put them out of the playoff picture and put the Vikings in. How could that be? Well, assuming a Whitewater loss and a Starr’s Mill win over Fayette County, Starr’s Mill would vault to second with a 5-3 region record and a 7-3 overall record. They would be ahead of a Woodward Academy team with the same record due to a head to head victory over the War Eagles. Northgate and Whitewater would have the same region record and overall record (5-3, 6-4) and the Vikings would win the head to head tie-breaker.

So, this game is very important to both teams and both teams are entering this game with losses last week. The Vikings were defeated by Starr’s Mill 31-7. Both teams have above average defenses and balanced offenses that do not rely on one player in particular.

Starr’s Mill Panthers (6-3, 4-3 region) @ Fayette County Tigers (2-7, 1-6 region)

The Panthers appear to be firing on all cylinders heading into their final game of the regular season, defeating their last two opponents by a total of 76-14. The offense has received a big boost from the return of Greg Davis and Brandon Witta and really spread the ball around well last week, getting a lot of people involved. The defense also kept the Vikings off the scoreboard until very late in the game. Fayette County had their best week of the season last week by handing McIntosh a 61-35 loss. Though their defense gave up a lot of big plays to the Chiefs, Brandon Boykin and Matt Daniels combined for 413 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

Going back to the 2001 season, Fayette County has never beaten Starr’s Mill.
The Panthers could take second in the region with a win and some help, but a loss could be devastating as Westlake could vault them with a win over Banneker or Northgate could pass them with a win over Whitewater.

McIntosh Chiefs (0-9, 0-7 region) @ Creekside Seminoles (9-0, 7-0 region)

This game won’t be a factor on the playoffs as Creekside has wrapped up their second region title in a row. However, McIntosh’s Coach Dwight Jones would like to see his team give a full, four quarter effort against one of the state’s top teams to serve as a building block for next year. McIntosh made some big plays last week on offense but gave away too many big plays and got behind by a large margin early. It is unlikely that the Chiefs will see the Seminole starters for too long in this game, but a strong showing from the Chiefs would go a long way towards showing their never say die attitude.

6-AAA

Sandy Creek Patriots (6-3, 3-3 region) @ Cedartown Bulldogs (0-9, 0-6 region)

The Patriots have won two games in a row and have outscored their opponents 71-20 in those two games. The defense is making huge plays and the offense has been getting strong performances from running backs Brad Bush and Rashad Hollis and quarterback Jake Turing, among others. Though their opponent tonight has yet to win a game and has been shutout three times ,and held below 14 points in all of their games this year, Sandy Creek can’t overlook them. Three of Cedartown’s losses were by a touchdown or less and one was in overtime.

If Sandy Creek wins, they will make a playoff spot, even if both Cass and Villa Rica win. If those two teams win and Sandy Creek loses, the season is over.

5-A

Landmark Christian War Eagles (7-2, 4-0 region) @ Our Lady of Mercy Bobcats (1-8, 0-4 region)
Landmark wrapped up their fifth straight region title last week by defeating an Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy team ranked in the top 10 in the state. Tonight’s result doesn’t matter much, except that the Bobcats have never beaten the War Eagles and Landmark doesn’t want to see that happen anytime soon. The War Eagles have won five games in a row and have outscored their opponents 200-95 in that span, thanks to a very balanced attack and a defense that forces and capitalizes on turnovers.

The Bobcats have lost six games in a row. Last week they fell to Fellowship Christian 42-21.

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