High school football region races heating up

There are three weeks left in the regular season for high schools in Georgia.

Here is a look at some of the region races:

Region 5-2A

In Pierre Coffey’s first season at Spencer, he turned around a program that had not earned a winning season since 1977. In addition to a winning season, the Greenwave also earned their first playoff berth since 1993.

Now, in his second season, the Greenwave have much high goals than just merely a winning season and a playoff berth. Spencer wants a region title.

Spencer is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in Region 5-2A after last week’s 32-0 victory over Temple.

The Greenwave has already clinched a playoff berth and need to win just one if its last three games to guarantee another winning season.

The last time Spencer advanced to the playoffs in consecutive years was in 1966-67, when the Greenwave were a member of the Georgia Interscholastic Association and before integration. The last time Spencer had consecutive winning seasons was in 1976-77.

Spencer is tied with Callaway atop the region standings. Lamar County and Heard County are a game back at 1-1. Spencer plays those three teams over its final three games, starting with Lamar County on Friday.

Callaway will come next on Oct. 30 in LaGrange, then the Greenwave host Heard County on Nov. 5. That Saturday afternoon game is slated for 2 p.m.

“We have Callaway, Lamar and Heard,” Coffey said after the win over Temple. “All of them are good teams.

“I am pleased with the kids. We clinched a playoff berth tonight.

“At this point, we are playing for seeding. … Our goal from Day 1 has been to win this region.

“To win the region, we know we have to go and beat Lamar, Callaway and Heard.”

Region 1-4A

Cairo is undefeated in the region at 4-0 and has a two-game lead for first place. Shaw is in last place at 0-4.

There are a whopping six teams in a tie for second at 2-2. Only three of them can make the playoffs.

Each of those six has three games left.

With the first tiebreaker being head-to-head against other teams involved in a tie, all of the games down the stretch will be meaningful.

Hardaway has the best head-to-head record against the other six at 2-1. Northside and Westover are 2-2, while Carver and Americus-Sumter are 1-1. Columbus is 1-2.

Region 4-A

Teams in this region will finish playing regular season games on Friday.

There will be region crossover games on Oct. 30 with the top team in each division playing the No. 5 team in the other division. The No. 2s will play the No. 4s, the 3s will face each other and the 6s will face each other.

However, those games will not have any effect on the region playoff games on Nov. 4. Manchester, the Division A champion, will play Macon County, the Division B champion, for the region title.

The other state playoff berths will be determined by the power ratings with the top 24 teams earning berths in both private- and public-school tournament. Brookstone is 22nd in the private-school ratings, while Marion County is 22nd in the public-school ratings.

Region 4-3A

Kendrick is 0-3 and in last place in the region. But the Cherokees are only a game behind Westside-Macon, which is 1-2.

The Cherokees would need to win out, which will be challenging with Peach County and Jackson on the schedule before the game against Westside-Macon.

Region 1-A

Chattahoochee County is seventh at 2-4, two games behind Miller County and Terrell County, which are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Panthers have already lost to Miller County, so Friday night’s game against Terrell County is a must win.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 9:17 PM with the headline "High school football region races heating up."