Final two games crucial for Albany-area playoff bound teams

The state football playoffs are getting closer with only two weeks of the regular season remaining. The playoff picture for some area schools is evident, for others, not so much.

Here are how local schools with playoff chances look heading into the final two weeks of the season:

Lee County: The Trojans have won five consecutive region titles, are 6-2 on the season and are currently ranked No. 7 in Class AAAAAA, but the loss to Northside-Warner Robins last week leaves the Trojans needing help to make it six region titles in a row. The Trojans must beat Thomas County Central Friday night and Tift County the following week. If they do, they will need Northside-Warner Robins to lose to Thomas County Central and beat Veterans, all of which could happen. If it does happen, the Trojans will claim a sixth straight region title and host in the playoffs.

Sherwood Christian: The Eagles are 7-1 overall with two games remaining, including Homecoming night this Friday against Lafayette. According to head coach Kenny Roberts, the Eagles have secured the top seed in their region and will have a first-round bye on Nov. 11 in the Class AA GAPPS playoffs for the 8-man football league. They will host the state semifinal game at Sherwood on Nov. 18 and could play for the state championship the following week.

Dougherty: The No. 8-ranked Dougherty Trojans (8-1) have a crucial game with Carver-Columbus (6-2) Thursday night. If the Trojans win, they will take the second seed into the playoffs from Region 1-AAA and host round one of the playoffs at Hugh Mills Stadium — which would likely be Jackson (5-4) or Upson-Lee (4-5). If Carver defeats the Trojans on Thursday night, Dougherty would take the third seed and be on the road.

Deerfield-Windsor: The Knights are 6-2 on the season with two region games remaining against Valwood and Southland Academy. However, region play is not a big deal with the new GIAA setup. Instead, the top 10 teams in Class AAA ranked according to MaxPreps, will determine who plays who in the playoffs. A statement from the GIAA said Tuesday that the playoff matchups would not be known until after the final Friday night game. It said MaxPreps uses hundreds of algorithms to determine the rankings so no one can manipulate the rankings.

The rankings currently have Deerfield-Windsor at No. 3 behind John Milledge (8-0) and Brookwood (5-3). The Knights host Valwood Friday night and travel to Americus the following week to face Southland. Valwood (6-2) is currently ranked fifth and Southland Academy (3-5) is last in the MaxPreps rankings. The top two seeds get a first-round bye. If the rankings stay the same as they are now, Deerfield-Windsor would host Terrell Academy in the first round of the playoffs.

Terrell Academy: The Terrell Academy Eagles (5-3) have a huge game at home against Brookwood (5-3) Friday night in Dawson. Currently rated second by MaxPreps, Brookwood is on track to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs and host the second round. If the Eagles defeat Brookwood that would change and it would see the Eagles move up in the MaxPreps rankings. Brookwood has not beaten the Eagles since 2018 but all of the games have been close.

Terrell will close the regular season against Tift Area at home the following week, while Brookwood will face Valwood. Currently rated sixth in the MaxPreps rankings, the Eagles would face Deerfield-Windsor in the first round of the playoffs if all the rankings remain the same at the end of the season.

Worth County: The Rams are 7-1 on the year and are definitely going to be in the Class AA state playoffs, but where they end up will be determined by the final two games of the season. If Worth County can defeat Sumter County and Cook, the Rams would end up as the No. 2 seed behind Fitzgerald and host the first round. Cook has a huge game against Fitzgerald Friday night and after it lost to Dodge County last Friday night, the possibility for the Rams to end up No. 2 is looking good. However, the final two games play out, the Rams will either be second or third because the Rams have beaten both Berrien and Dodge County and would win tiebreakers if it came to that.

Westover: The Patriots are 2-7 on the season, but still have a shot a taking the No. 4 seed in Region 1-AAAA. They are off this week and will close the season against Shaw (4-5). If the Patriots can beat Shaw, that means three teams will have identical region records and tiebreakers will go into effect. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head. The second tiebreaker is full region record vs. tied teams. The third tiebreaker is the fewest points allowed vs. the teams involved. The fourth tiebreaker is the fewest points allowed vs. the entire region. If the tie is still not broken, region representatives then vote.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]