All eight regions have decided champions in Class 3A, and the state playoff brackets are just about complete.
Calvary Day, the Region 3 champion, will be removed from the 3A playoffs and placed into the Private bracket, seeded via power rankings. In Region 6, Greater Atlanta Christian is tied for the No. 3-4 seed with Chestatee (4-3) but also will compete in the Private division.
There are still a handful of games this week in Regions 3, 4 and 5 that will determine playoff seeds.
The Savannah league – Region 3 – has five games scheduled Friday: Islands plays Beach; Jenkins plays Windsor Forest; Johnson-Savannah plays Liberty County; Long County plays Calvary Day, and Southeast Bulloch plays Groves.
Region 4 has four games scheduled Saturday: Aquinas plays Cross Creek; Hephzibah plays Harlem; Richmond Academy plays Baldwin, and Westside-Augusta plays Howard.
There’s one inter-class game – Stone Mountain vs Salem -- scheduled for Friday.
Here’s the breakdown:
Region 1 – Top-ranked Peach County won the title, and No. 6-ranked Westover, No. 10-ranked Cairo and Monroe are seeded behind Peach in that order.
Region 2 – No. 2-ranked Sandy Creek won the championship, with LaGrange and Upson-Lee tied at 6-2 but Upson earned the No. 2 seed after an 18-15 upset of the then-No. 6 Grangers last week. Whitewater is the No. 4 seed after beating Mary Persons 38-27 last week.
Region 3 – With Calvary Day (8-0) removed, Jenkins (7-1) is at the top of the standings ahead of Long County and Southeast Bulloch (6-2) with Liberty County at 4-4 and in the No. 4 spot. Southeast Bulloch beat Long County 15-12 on Oct. 25 and should pick up a victory against Groves (1-7) this week. While Long County plays Calvary Day, a tall task. Meanwhile, Liberty County (4-4) needs a victory against Johnson-Savannah (3-5) to keep playoff hopes alive.
Region 4 – Region champion Harlem is at the top of the standings at 6-1 and leads West Laurens (6-2), Westside-Augusta and Baldwin (5-2). The Saturday games scheduled this week could shake up some of the standings and playoff seedings. Aquinas is alone in fifth-place in Region 4 at 4-3 and plays Cross Creek (0-7) Saturday, where it should win. But the Fighting Irish will be seeded in the Private bracket.
Region 5 – No. 8-ranked Stephenson pulled a 15-9 upset of then-No. 3 Douglass and secured the region title last week. No. 9-ranked Douglass (5-1) is the No. 2 seed with Luella (4-2) No. 3. Cedar Grove is tied with Mount Zion-Jonesboro (3-3) for the No. 4 seed but won head-to-head 27-20 on Sept. 30.
Region 6 – North Hall won the region and the accompanying No. 1 playoff seeding. Lumpkin County (5-2) is alone at the No. 2 seed with Chestatee (4-3) at the No. 3 seed. Pickens and Dawson County are both 3-4 in the No. 4 spot after the removal of GAC. Dawson defeated Pickens 35-23 on Sept. 20.
Region 7 – No. 7-ranked Calhoun is the league champion at 6-0. Northwest Whitfield and Heritage-Catoosa are tied at 4-2. But Heritage beat Northwest Whitfield 31-21 on Sept. 28 to take the No. 2 seed. Adairsville and Gilmer are tied at 3-3 and trying for the No. 4-seed but Adairsville beat Gilmer 28-0 on Oct. 25 to earn the playoff berth.
Region 8 – No. 3-ranked Jefferson is the region champion after a three-way tie at the top of the standings with No. 5-ranked Cherokee Bluff and No. 4-ranked Oconee County (4-1). Cherokee Bluff beat Oconee 17-10 on Oct 17 to take the No. 2 seed. Monroe Area, at 2-3 in region play, is the No. 4 seed.
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