Final football games of regular season are Friday

The playoffs are here! The playoffs are here!
Well, sort of.

Teams from both sides of Region 4-AAAAA will battle this week and several of those games will send the winners to the state playoffs which start next week. Fayette County and Sandy Creek both have one regular season game left this week, as do Landmark Christian and Our Lady of Mercy.

Region 4-AAAAA
Whitewater Wildcats (8-1) vs. Ola Mustangs (3-6)

Whitewater came back from their bye week rested and ready and romped over rival Starr’s Mill. The Wildcats won 42-0. In the first quarter Kendall Conley (13 carries, 71 yards, 2 TDs) had a 10-yard touchdown run and Jay Ashley (5 of 7 passing for 123 yards) hooked up with Trevor Morgan (3 catches for 70 yards) on a 42-yard touchdown pass. In the second quarter Conley had another touchdown run of 17 yards, while sophomore Christian Wafford (6 carries for 74 yards, 2 TDs) scored two touchdowns of his own from 10 and 11 yards. The Wildcats were up at the half 35-0. Whitewater’s defense held the Starr’s Mill offense to only six yards in the first half. In the second half, Conley added a 72-yard punt return touchdown and the Cats never looked back. The defense preserved the shutout as the Wildcats cruised to a 42-0 win.

Ola faced Mundy’s Mill last Friday and lost 35-20. Their region wins this season came against Mt. Zion, Jonesboro (49-24) and Forest Park (35-0). Whitewater beat Forest Park 48-7 on Sept. 28.

McIntosh Chiefs (5-4) at Union Grove Wolverines (8-1)

The Chiefs played at Northgate last week in a battle for the third seed from their side of the region. McIntosh lost 34-13. Quarterback Andrew Johnson rushed for a touchdown and connected with Chuck Terran on a 10 yard touchdown pass in the third to account for McIntosh’s points on the night. Jake Carney was the defensive player of the week with 19 total tackles. Peyton Williams had 11 total tackles. Joe Kelly had 13 total tackles. In three of their four losses, the Chiefs were held to 13 points. On Sept. 21, they lost to Drew 28-3.

Union Grove has won six games in a row since being shutout 39-0 by Whitewater on Sept. 21. They trailed Drew last Friday for awhile but mounted a comeback victory and won 34-33 to capture the top seed from their side of the region. In their six game winning streak, Union Grove is allowing an average of 11 points a game and is scoring over 34 points per game in that span.
These two teams have never met. On paper, Union Grove has the advantage but McIntosh will likely give the Wolverines everything they have in an effort to make the state playoffs.

Starr’s Mill Panthers (2-7) at Mt. Zion, Jonesboro Bulldogs (1-8)

These two teams have already faced off this season - Starr’s Mill won 46-0 on Sept. 21 - but their seasons did not go as they had planned and they will play a game with no playoff implications this week. The Panthers lost 42-0 to Whitewater last week. Mt. Zion, Jonesboro picked up their first win of the season last Friday by defeating Forest Park 31-17.

5-AAAA
Fayette County Tigers (2-7) vs. Alexander Cougars (1-8)

Both of these teams will be on the outside looking in when the state playoffs start next week, but that will do nothing to take away from the intensity in the season finale.
Fayette County played at Shaw on Saturday and lost 34-23. It was their second loss in a row after establishing a two game winning streak. Over their last four games, the Tigers have scored 23 points or more (during their five game losing streak to start the season they never scored over 14 points) but they have allowed 34 points or more in three of their last four games.

Alexander got their first win of the season last Friday by defeating Columbus 43-7.

A win for Fayette would be a one game improvement on last season. It was reported last week though by Maxwell Ratings that Fayette County played the seventh toughest schedule in Class AAAA.

Sandy Creek Patriots (9-0) vs. Columbus Blue Devils (0-9)

Sandy Creek hosted the fourth-ranked Carrollton Trojans last Friday and won 30-7. The win clinched the region title for the Patriots and knocked Carrollton out of the Georgia High School Football Daily top 10. Delvin Weems (7 carries for 97 yards) rushed for two touchdowns, while Eric Swinney (16 carries for 73 yards) and Cole Garvin each rushed for one. Garvin was 6 of 13 passing for 86 yards. Demarre Kitt had three catches for 61 yards. Perhaps most impressive was the Sandy Creek defense holding the Trojans to 107 total yards on the night. Chris Williams and Michael Henderman each had two of Sandy Creek’s 10 tackles for losses.

Columbus has scored over 14 points once (34-20 loss to Troup) and has given up 34 points or more in every game. Friday night’s game at Sandy Creek is Senior Night.

Landmark Christian School War Eagles (7-2) @ Eagles Landing Christian Academy Chargers (8-1)

Landmark met Holy Innocents last week and won 36-3. Jeremiah Kirkland had 19 rushes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Stockton McGuire was 7 of 14 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown. The War Eagles have scored 30 points or more in five straight wins.

ELCA, which beat Pace Academy 55-0 last Friday, is playing like a team possessed of late. They have won eight games in a row since a season opening loss to Washington County (24-19). Since Sept. 29’s 42-3 win over Holy Innocents, they have allowed a total of nine points, shutting out three teams in the process. They have scored a total of 431 points this season (Landmark has 305) and allowed 74 (Landmark has allowed 130). Landmark beat ELCA 14-7 last year to make the state championship game in Class A.

The winner of this game wins the region.

Our Lady of Mercy Bobcats (5-4) vs. Strong Rock Christian Patriots (4-5)

The Bobcats were off last week. Prior to the break, the Bobcats had snapped a three game losing streak with a 68-13 win over Mt. Vernon Presbyterian. Mercy has won both previous matches against Strong Rock Christian.

Strong Rock snapped a four game losing streak last Friday with a 28-20 win over Mt. Vernon Presbyterian.