When Week 13 kicks off Thursday night, much of the state will already have wrapped up its regular seasons with their eyes on the playoffs, but the games left on the Class A Div. 1 schedule will all have an impact, because every game played is fed into the Postseason Rankings that will ultimately decide the playoff seeding.
The way the PSR works is certainly different than previous years, but here is the basic rundown of how the Class A Div. 1 brackets will be determined. The final brackets are expected to be set by Saturday morning according to the GHSA. All of the private schools in Class A Div. 1 will go into the separate Class A-3A Private playoff bracket. There were three private schools that won their regions this year (Region 3, Savannah Christian, Region 5′s Fellowship and Region 8′s Athens Academy) and so the Class –Div. 1 bracket will take the other five region champions and those will be the No. 1-through No. 5 seeds in the 32-team Class A-Div. 1 bracket. Regions 5, 6, 7 and 8 have already completed their full schedules. Only Region 1 (3), Region 2 (3), Region 3 (2) and Region 4 (1) have games left to be played.
If the current PSR standings listed below are not impacted by the remaining 9 games played this week, then Fannin County would be the No. 1 seed. Region 3 champion Savannah Christian is already finished with its season and is No. 1 with a sizeable margin, but is leaving for the A-3A Private bracket and so Fannin County would be the No. 1 seed ahead of No. 2 Dublin. Region 1 is the region to focus on this week and it will determine if Thomasville or Worth County is the Region 1 champion. Worth County defeated Thomasville this season and Fitzgerald’s loss to Jeff Davis last week puts the Purple Hurricanes at 4-2 in the region. Thomasville is already done with its season at 5-1 and therefore is guaranteed either the No. 1 or No. 2 finish in the region. If Worth County defeats Brantley County on Friday, then Worth County wins Region 1 with a 5-1 record and the tiebreaker over Thomasville. Fitzgerald, which knocked itself out of the region championship race last week, will play a makeup game with Class 2A’s new No. 1 team Appling County. For Fitzgerald, this game is an opportunity to earn a win against a highly-rated team from an upper classification and potentially be able to host in the playoffs. Heading into these matchups, Thomasville is at No. 7, Fitzgerald is at 16 and Worth County is at No. 20. Amazingly, all Worth County has to do is defeat Brantley County and they would be a top 5 seed guaranteed as a region champion, even if the win doesn’t move them higher than their current position at No. 20.
HOW IT WILL WORK
The five non-private Region champions will be guaranteed a No. 1-5 seed. Then, the region runner-ups from each region that is not represented by a private school as their runner-up will take the next six seeds from No. 6 down to No. 11. After that it will be a free-for-all that is settled only by the PSR score. Every team that finishes in the top 4 in a region is guaranteed a playoff spot, but an at large team that isn’t in the top 4 could jump a team that finished third or fourth in their respective region. In more simple terms. After the Region champs and Region runner-ups fill the No. 1-No. 11 seeds, all of the third and fourth-place finishers from each region will be guaranteed a playoff spot, but the seeding will be determined by the PSR scores only.
WEEK 13 STANDINGS & REMAINING SCHEDULE
REGION 1
Thomasville 5-1, 8-2
Worth County 4-1, 6-3
Fitzgerald 4-2, 6-3
Jeff Davis 2-3, 6-3
Brantley County 2-3, 2-7
Berrien 1-4, 1-8
Bacon County 1-5, 4-6
Friday, Nov. 1
Brantley County 14, Bacon County 7
Thomasville 42, Berrien 0
Jeff Davis 26, Fitzgerald 0
Friday, Nov. 8
Berrien vs. Jeff Davis
Fitzgerald at Appling County *non-region makeup game
Worth County vs. Brantley County
REGION 2
Dodge County 9-0, 10-0
Northeast 8-1, 8-2
Dublin 7-2, 8-2
Washington County 6-3, 6-4
ACE Charter 5-4, 6-4
Southwest 3-5, 3-6
Bleckley County 2-6, 3-6
East Laurens 2-6, 3-6
Central-Macon 0-8, 0-9
Jefferson County 0-7, 0-8
Thursday, Oct. 31
Bleckley County 56, Central-Macon 0
Friday, Nov. 1
Washington County 17, ACE Charter 14
Dublin 50, Dodge County 33
Northeast 32, East Laurens 7
Southwest 26, Jefferson County 7
REGION 3
Savannah Christian 4-0, 9-0
Toombs County 2-1, 7-1
Swainsboro 2-1, 3-6
Vidalia 1-3, 345
Sav. Country Day 0-4, 3-6
Friday, Nov. 1
Savannah Christian 14, Toombs County 7
Savannah Country Day 31, Vidalia 14
Thursday, Nov. 7
Vidalia vs. Pierce County *non-region makeup game
Friday, Nov. 8
Toombs County vs. Swainsboro
REGION 4
Social Circle 5-1, 7-3
Lamar County 5-1, 8-2
Putnam County 4-2, 5-5
Jasper County 3-2, 6-3
McNair 2-4, 4-6
Towers 1-5, 3-6
Utopian Academy 0-5, 0-9
Friday, Nov. 1
Lamar County 28, Jasper County 6
Social Circle 35, Towers 6
Friday, Nov. 8
Utopian Academy vs. Jasper County
REGION 5
Sub Region A
Fellowship Christian 5-0, 8-2
Wesleyan 4-1, 8-2
Mount Vernon 3-2, 5-4
King’s Ridge 2-3, 7-3
Mt. Pisgah 1-4, 2-8
St. Francis 0-5, 0-10
Mount Bethel 0-0, 5-1 ++
Sub Region B
Whitefield Academy 4-0, 7-3
Mount Paran 3-1, 7-3
Landmark Christian 2-2, 7-3
B.E.S.T. Academy 1-3, 4-6
Walker 0-4, 2-8
Friday, Nov. 1
Fellowship Christian 44, Whitefield Academy 7
King’s Ridge Christian 42, B.E.S.T. Academy 12
Mount Pisgah Christian 48, Walker 0
Mount Vernon 34, Landmark Christian 0
Wesleyan 37, Mount Paran 6
REGION 6
Heard County 6-0, 8-2
Temple 5-1, 8-2
Bremen 4-2, 6-4
Darlington 3-3, 5-5
Pepperell 2-4, 2-8
Model 1-5, 3-7
Haralson County 0-6, 1-9
Friday, Nov. 1
Bremen 54, Darlington 14
Temple 43, Model 22
Heard County 42, Pepperell 15
REGION 7
Fannin County 7-0, 10-0
Christian Heritage 6-1, 8-2
Gordon Lee 5-2, 7-3
Chattooga 3-4, 6-4
Dade County 3-4, 4-6
Coosa 2-5, 4-6
Gordon Central 2-5, 4-6
Armuchee 0-7, 3-7
Friday, Nov. 1
Christian Heritage 45, Armuchee 26
Coosa 34, Chattooga 27
Dade County 26, Gordon Central 22
Fannin County 30, Gordon Lee 27
REGION 8
Athens Academy 6-0, 10-0
Commerce 5-1, 7-3
Elbert County 4-2, 5-5
Rabun County 3-3, 6-4
Banks County 2-4, 2-8
Providence Christian 1-5, 2-8
Oglethorpe County 0-6, 0-10
Friday, Nov. 1
Oglethorpe County 29, Banks County 23
Commerce 55, Providence Christian 23
Elbert County 28, Rabun County 21
Class A-Div. 1 Post Season Rankings
Ranking, Overall Record, School, (PSR-Post-season Rating)
*** Indicates Private School
Region Champions in BOLD
-Note Worth County can win Region 1 on Friday with a win over Brantley County, Thomasville wins Region 1 with a Worth County loss. The other 7 region champions have been decided
1. 9-0 Savannah Christian (0.71801) REGION 3***
2. 10-0 Fannin County (0.69743) REGION 7
3. 10-0 Dublin (0.66950) REGION 2
4. 8-2 Fellowship Christian (0.66558) REGION 5***
5. 10-0 Athens Academy (0.65983) REGION 8***
6. 7-1 Toombs County (0.64333)
7. 8-2 Thomasville (0.63493)
8. 8-2 Wesleyan (0.62824)***
9. 8-2 Christian Heritage (0.62434)***
10. 7-3 Whitefield Academy (0.61027)***
11. 8-2 Northeast (0.60872)
12. 8-2 Dodge County (0.59417)
13. 8-2 Lamar County (0.59240)
14. 8-2 Heard County (0.58766) REGION 6
15. 7-3 Gordon Lee (0.58225)
16. 6-3 Fitzgerald (0.57965)
17. 8-2 Temple (0.57580)
18. 6-3 Jasper County (0.57426)
19. 7-3 Commerce (0.56650)
20. 6-3 Worth County (0.56543)
21. 7-3 Social Circle (0.55958) REGION 4
22. 7-3 Landmark Christian (0.55000)***
23. 6-3 Jeff Davis (0.54669)
24. 7-3 Mt. Paran (0.54508)***
25. 7-3 King’s Ridge (0.54443)***
26. 6-4 Washington County (0.53977)
27. 5-4 Mount Vernon (0.53933)***
28. 6-4 ACE Charter (0.53178)
29. 5-5 Elbert County (0.52480)
30. 6-4 Chattooga (0.51960)
31. 4-6 Savannah Country Day (0.51380)***
32. 6-4 Rabun County (0.51173)
33. 6-4 Bremen (0.50659)
34. 5-5 Putnam County (0.50221)
35. 3-6 Swainsboro (0.49717)
36. 4-6 Dade County (0.49692)
37. 5-5 Darlington (0.49653)***
38. 4-6 Bacon County (0.46088)
39. 3-6 Vidalia (0.45384)
40. 4-6 Coosa (0.45015)
41. 4-6 McNair (0.44670)
42. 4-6 Gordon Central (0.44557)
43. 3-6 East Laurens (0.44535)
44. 3-6 Bleckley County (0.44212)
45. 3-6 Southwest (0.44096)
46. 4-6 Towers (0.43963)
47. 4-6 B.E.S.T. Academy (0.43249)
48. 1-0 Mt. Bethel (0.41966)***
49. 3-7 Armuchee (0.41966)
50. 3-7 Model (0.41811)
51. 2-8 Pepperell (0.41052)
52. 2-7 Brantley County (0.39847)
53. 2-8 Providence Christian (0.39106)***
54. 2-8 Banks County (0.37269)
55. 1-8 Berrien (0.36762)
56. 2-8 Mt. Pisgah (0.35436)***
57. 0-9 St. Francis (0.35286)***
58. 2-8 Walker (0.34470)***
59. 0-8 Jefferson County (0.34338)
60. 1-9 Haralason County (0.33985)
61. 0-9 Central-Macon (0.32451)
62. 0-10 Oglethorpe County (0.30482)
63. 0-9 Utopian Academy (0.26602)
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