The playoff picture in Northwest Georgia cleared up a bit Friday night, though there is some work to do in a pair of regions involving area teams.
The biggest headline comes from GHSA Region 7-AAAAA, where Calhoun, after a loss to Cass, will miss the postseason for the first time since 2001 after the Yellow Jackets appeared to be on course for a playoff berth earlier in the month.
In Region 7-AAAA, the top four teams have been determined, with Heritage bound to finish no worse than as the No. 3 seed after a comeback win over Sonoraville. Northwest Whitfield, which lost to first-place Central-Carroll, is the No. 4 seed.
In Region 6-AAA, however, things are not as settled. Adairsville won the region title with a victory over Bremen, but Coahulla Creek, Gordon Lee and Ringgold — each a winner Friday night — will decide the remaining two seeds next week, with the likelihood of a three-way tie very much in play.
In Region 7-A Division I, Dade County, which lost its first two league games, won its third straight Friday over Pepperell and is now in line to host a playoff game as the No. 2 seed with a win over Armuchee and a Trion win over Darlington.
In Region 7-A Division II, Christian Heritage, after a 35-28 double-overtime win over Mount Zion-Carroll on Friday, is likely the No. 2 seed in the three-team league.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area prep football games)
Heritage 22, Sonoraville 19: The Generals (6-3, 3-1) trailed 19-7 before rallying past Sonoraville (2-7, 0-4). Brady Chandler hit JC Armour with an 11-yard touchdown pass to begin the comeback, which continued with a blocked punt that resulted in a safety with just more than five minutes remaining.
After getting a defensive stop, Heritage went ahead when tight end Evan Wingrove took a screen pass 22 yards for a touchdown with 2:31 left.
Coahulla Creek 48, LaFayette 9: The Colts (5-4, 4-2) started strong and never looked back. They scored three first-quarter touchdowns, starting with Chase Ward's 1-yard pass to Levi Lowery. Karim Bradley's run made it 14-0, and Ward scored moments later on a 2-yard keeper.
Ward passed for three touchdowns and 180 yards, with 166 of the yards and seven completions going to Keith Collins. Khalas Finley had 112 rushing yards to lead LaFayette (2-7, 1-5).
Ringgold 34, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 17: Garrett Edgar had three touchdown passes, one each to Braxton Holtcamp, Hudson Moss and Kishaun Taylor, to keep the Tigers' playoff hopes alive. Taylor added a 64-yard touchdown run, while Haddon Fries had a scoring run for Ringgold (5-4, 3-3), which faces Gordon Lee next week.
LFO is 2-7, 1-5.
Gordon Lee 20, Ridgeland 9: The Trojans (6-3, 4-2) got two touchdown runs from Layne Vaughn to turn away the pesky Panthers (0-9, 0-6) for the key Region 6-AAA win. Ridgeland led 9-7 after Te'Sean Choice's touchdown run in the third quarter, but Vaughn scored on a 2-yard run and Brayden Stoker added a 43-yard run to clinch the win.
Dade County 26, Pepperell 15: The Wolverines (4-5, 3-2) won at Pepperell (4-5, 3-2) as senior Landon Williams had 174 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a key interception. Dade led 20-15 at halftime and took nearly 10 minutes off the game clock with a second-half drive that ended with Williams' 3-yard touchdown run.
The Dade defense had two fourth-down stops in the final quarter and stopped another drive with Braylon Sullivan's interception.
Trion 55, Armuchee 7: With a dominating effort on the road, the Bulldogs (9-0, 5-0) geared up for next week's home game against Darlington (6-3, 4-1), with the winner of that one the Region 7-A Division I champion. Trion rested its starters in the second half, but before that senior running back Toby Maddux had 126 yards and three touchdowns, Kade Smith added 150 yards passing and two scores and Ethan Willingham had a touchdown catch and right at 100 yards against Armuchee (4-5, 2-3).
Christian Heritage 35, Mount Zion-Carroll 28 (2OT): The Lions (5-5, 1-1) tied on Carter Triplett's 55-yard pass to Benji Michmerhuizen midway through the fourth quarter and withstood a late Mount Zion drive in regulation that resulted in a missed field-goal attempt to send the game into overtime.
Each team scored in the first extra session, and the Lions won it in the second OT when Triplett hit Charlie Idom on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Triplett also ran for two scores against Mount Zion (4-5, 1-1).
Bowdon (7-2, 1-0), which beat Christian Heritage earlier this month, hosts Mount Zion in a regular-season finale next week, when the Lions have an open date ahead of the playoffs.
Cass 52, Calhoun 29: The Yellow Jackets (6-4, 2-3) fell behind 24-7 at halftime and never got closer than 17 in the second half as the Colonels (5-5, 2-3) secured the final playoff spot in Region 7-AAAAA.
Trey Townsend had three touchdown passes for Calhoun.
Other area scores:
Cedartown 49, Southeast Whitfield 0
Central-Carroll 42, Northwest Whitfield 20
Chattooga 16, Coosa 10
Haralson County 55, Murray County 24
Model 34, Gordon Central 0
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.