There will be 23 region games played this week and one non-region matchup between upstart Mount Bethel Christian and Dominion Christian. All of the action will be on Friday night and although there are no outright region championship matchups, this is going to be the week that determines which teams will be playing for region titles in the final weeks of the regular season. In Region 1, Brantley County is coming off a bye and will travel to Thomasville—just one week after the Bulldogs scored a major 23-8 win over Fitzgerald. Thomasville’s region loss came to Worth County—which is 2-1 and has its only loss to Fitzgerald. This week, Fitzgerald will look to bounce back on the road at winless Berrien and Worth County travels to Bacon County. All three region front-runners will be favored and if Fitzgerald, Thomasville and Worth County are victorious this week, then it will present a potential tie-breaker at the top and then a battle.
In Region 2, No. 5 ranked Dodge County can improve to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in region play this week against Jefferson County. The Indians will be heavily favored against 0-5 Jefferson County and a victory would set up fireworks for their final two games, which will be played against Northeast and Dublin. Northeast fell 17-7 last week to Dublin for its first region loss of the year and will have Central-Macon, Dodge County and East Laurens these next three weeks. A win over Central-Macon on Friday would set the Raiders up for a matchup with Dodge County that could re-insert Northeast into the region title hunt when they faceoff on Oct. 25. As for Dublin, the Fighting Irish will visit Bleckley County this week and host Central-Macon before their season finale at Dodge County on Nov. 1. Currently, Dublin (No. 2), Dodge County (No. 5) and Northeast (No. 6) are all ranked in the top 10. As for the rest of the classification, the good news is that the new playoff rating system.
In Region 3, No. 1 Toombs County will finally play its region opener and it will be the Bulldogs’ first game in four weeks. Toombs County got off to a 5-0 start and then had its final non-region game against Tattnall County cancelled during the Hurricane Helene week on Sept. 27. As a result, Toombs County has been off since its 61-0 win over Hamilton Florida on Sept. 20. On Friday, Toombs County will visit Savannah Country Day. Savannah Christian is off this week and will face Toombs County in two weeks on Nov. 1. Elsewhere in Region 3, Swainsboro will travel to Vidalia.
In Region 4, Lamar County fell out of the rankings last week from its previous spot at No. 9, despite scoring a 64-6 win over Utopian Academy and improving to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in region play. Rabun County and Commerce came in at No. 10 and No. 9 this week and Worth County moved to No. 8 after defeating Thomasville and then Thomasville scoring a 23-8 win over Fitzgerald that shook up the rankings. Lamar County will need to handle business against a Putnam County team that has just two games left on its schedule—this week’s trip to Lamar County and then a trip to Jasper County on Oct. 25.
Region 5 will have a big showdown with Whitefield Academy travelling to Landmark Christian to determine the front-runner in Sub Region B. Heard County is the lone unbeaten team in the Region 6 standings after cruising to a 48-27 win over Darlington last week. Now the Braves will host Bremen. Pepperell won its first game of the season last week over Model and will travel to Haralson County for a chance to salvage its playoff hopes. In Region 7, just four of the eight teams are playing this week with Dade County at Coosa and Armuchee at Fannin County. The major showdown in Region 8 will be the first-ever meeting between undefeated Athens Academy and Elbert County (4-4, 2-1), whose only loss in region play came to Commerce. Athens Academy defeated Commerce and so an Elbert County upset this week would create a log jam: Athens Academy closes its season next week against Rabun County, while Elbert County will have a bye before closing the year with Rabun County. As for Rabun County, its only loss came to Commerce and the Wildcats can reinsert themselves into the region race after its bye this week that precedes its back-to-back battles with Athens Academy and Elbert County. Commerce, meanwhile is 2-1 in region play with a 29-28 loss to Athens Academy followed by back-to-back wins over Elbert County and Rabun County. This puts the Tigers in great position as they now close the season with Oglethorpe County, Banks County and Providence Christian. Going 2-1 against the top teams currently in the standings is guaranteeing Commerce either a region runner-up or share of the region title if they simply win out.
WEEK 9 RESULTS & SCHEDULE
REGION 1
Thomasville 3-1, 6-2
Fitzgerald 2-1, 4-2
Worth County 2-1, 4-3
Brantley County 1-1, 1-5
Jeff Davis 1-2, 5-2
Bacon County 1-2, 4-3
Berrien 0-2, 0-6
Friday, Oct. 18
Bacon County vs. Worth County
Berrien vs. Fitzgerald
Thomasville vs. Brantley County
REGION 2
Dodge County 6-0, 7-0
Dublin 6-0, 7-0
Northeast 5-1, 5-2
ACE Charter 3-3, 4-3
Washington County 3-3, 3-4
Southwest 2-3, 2-4
Bleckley County 1-4, 2-4
East Laurens 1-4, 2-4
Central-Macon 0-5, 0-6
Jefferson County 0-4, 0-5
Friday, Oct. 18
ACE Charter vs. Southwest
Bleckley County vs. Dublin
Central-Macon vs. Northeast
Dodge County vs. Jefferson County
East Laurens vs. Washington County
REGION 3
Savannah Christian 2-0, 7-0
Swainsboro 1-0, 2-5
Toombs County 0-0, 5-0
Vidalia 0-1, 3-3
Sav. Country Day 0-2, 2-5
Friday, Oct. 18
Savannah Country Day vs. Toombs County
Vidalia vs. Swainsboro
REGION 4
Lamar County 3-0, 6-1
Social Circle 3-0, 5-2
Jasper County 2-0, 5-1
Putnam County 3-1, 4-4
Towers 0-3, 2-4
McNair 0-4, 2-6
Utopian Academy 0-3, 0-7
Friday, Oct. 18
Lamar County vs. Putnam County
Social Circle vs. Jasper County
Utopian Academy vs. Towers
REGION 5
Sub Region A
Wesleyan 4-0, 7-1
Fellowship Christian 4-0, 6-2
King’s Ridge 2-2, 6-2
Mount Vernon 2-2, 4-3
Mt. Pisgah 0-4, 0-8
St. Francis 0-4, 0-8
Mount Bethel 0-0, 3-1 ++
Sub Region B
Landmark Christian 2-0, 6-1
Whitefield Academy 2-0, 5-2
Mount Paran 1-1, 5-2
B.E.S.T. Academy 1-2, 4-4
Walker 0-3, 2-6
Friday, Oct. 18
Landmark Christian vs. Whitefield Academy
Mount Bethel Christian at Dominion Christian
Mount Paran Christian vs. B.E.S.T. Academy
REGION 6
Heard County 3-0, 5-2
Temple 3-1, 6-2
Bremen 2-1, 4-3
Darlington 2-1, 4-3
Model 1-2, 3-4
Pepperell 1-3, 1-7
Haralson County 0-4, 1-7
Friday, Oct. 18
Darlington vs. Model
Haralson County vs. Pepperell
Heard County vs. Bremen
REGION 7
Christian Heritage 5-0, 7-1
Fannin County 4-0, 7-0
Gordon Lee 4-1, 6-2
Chattooga 2-3, 5-3
Coosa 1-3, 3-4
Dade County 1-3, 2-5
Gordon Central 1-4, 3-5
Armuchee 0-4, 3-4
Friday, Oct. 18
Coosa vs. Dade County
Fannin County vs. Armuchee
REGION 8
Athens Academy 4-0, 8-0
Rabun County 3-1, 6-2
Elbert County 3-1, 4-4
Commerce 2-1, 4-3
Providence Christian 0-3, 1-6
Banks County 0-3, 0-7
Oglethorpe County 0-3, 0-7
Friday, Oct. 18
Banks County vs. Providence Christian
Elbert County vs. Athens Academy
Oglethorpe County vs. Commerce
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