HS Football: Regular Season Closes with Playoff Scramble

The final weekend of the regular season has arrived as the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) football playoffs kicks off next weekend.

But much is still to be decided in Gwinnett County, certainly in Region 7-AAAAAA.

Here are the GHSA football games scheduled this week for schools located in Patch areas in Northeast Georgia.

Friday night at Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium in Suwanee, North Gwinnett can win the region with a win over visiting Peachtree Ridge coupled with a loss by Collins Hill at Mill Creek. But North Gwinnett could slip to the fourth spot and Peachtree Ridge claim the No. 2 position if the Lions win.

Norcross is off this week, and a coin toss would be needed to determine the top three seeds if North Gwinnett, Collins Hill and Norcross each finish the year with one region loss.

The two-team tie-breaker is head-to-head matchups with Norcross having beaten Collins Hill, which beat North Gwinnett, which defeated Norcross.

In Region 8-AAAAAA, Archer, in just its fifth year, has finished the regular season slate at 10-0 and is the only undefeated team in the class. Dacula has clinched a home playoff game and closes the year versus visiting Berkmar, but the big game in the region is Friday’s Grayson at Brookwood tilt.

The winner of this contest, which has often decided the region title in the past, is automatically in the playoffs while the loser would be out should South Gwinnett win at Parkview in what will be the final game for Panthers’ Coach Cecil Flowe.

Elsewhere, GAC of 6-AA can complete a perfect regular season and claim its first region title since 2001 with a home win over a one-loss Lovett team that is the defending region champ after beating GAC by a point last season.  

And the Buford at North Hall matchup will decide the 7-AAA title as the tradition-rich Wolves, who had to forfeit a pair games in 2012 and didn’t win the region title, have their eyes on more than a region crown in 2013.

And with good reason as for the second straight week, Buford is atop the latest Georgia high school football state power ratings as determined by the Maxwell Ratings. Four more Gwinnett schools are in the top dozen including North Gwinnett (No. 4), Norcross (5), Collins Hill (8) and GAC (12)

The ratings, compiled by Loren Maxwell, founder of the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, are generated to determine an objective, computerized rating of the state’s 412 football-playing schools. The top 25 teams are presented below and for a more detailed look, see here. 

All-Classification (Power Rating)

1. Buford (108.20)

2. Washington County (95.07)

3. Sandy Creek (93.54)

4. North Gwinnett (91.73)

5. Norcross (91.24)

6. Colquitt County (91.04)

7. Gainesville (90.81)

8. Collins Hill (90.64)

9. Lovett (86.85)

10. Camden County (86.78)

11. Carrollton (85.90)

12. Greater Atlanta Christian (85.41)

13. Thomas County Central (84.19)

14. McEachern (83.99)

15. Creekside (82.43)

16. Peachtree Ridge (82.34)

17. Lovejoy (82.32)

18. Valdosta (82.17)

19. Hughes (82.12)

20. Griffin (81.78)

21. Hillgrove (80.48)

22. North Cobb (80.38)

23. Mill Creek (79.90)

24. Archer (79.30)

25. Tucker (79.20)