Sunday high school football practices are usually taboo, but three northwest Georgia coaches had no choice but to put their players through the paces a day before the No. 4 playoff team from Region 7-AAAA will be decided in a mini-playoff.
Heritage, Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield will compete beginning at 7:30 at Coahulla Creek High School for the right to travel to top-ranked Buford next Friday in the first round of the GHSA playoffs. Monday's action will begin with Heritage and Northwest going against each other in two five-minute halves, with the winner facing Southeast to decide the playoff berth.
The short turnaround from Friday night, where Northwest won a last-second thriller over Southeast and Heritage fell in the final 30 seconds to Gilmer County to create the three-way tie, was not a major concern for the three coaches.
"Every team is going to have to deal with it, so there's no advantage," Heritage coach E.K. Slaughter said. "The second season has started, so it's easy for the guys to get up for. We all have film from previous games, so even though you have to prepare for two different teams, preparation shouldn't be an issue."
As for game strategy, the short halves could alter the play calling and offensive pace since a long first drive would likely eat up the entire half. For the fast-paced Northwest offense it could force the Bruins to back off a bit if needed.
"It really depends on the situation and logic dictates that if you have a lead in the second half you're going to slow things down," Northwest coach Josh Robinson said. "We're a spread team, and we're not going to abandon what we do."
The odds would seem to be stacked against Northwest and Heritage since the winner would have to come right back and defeat Southeast. However, the team that wins the first playoff could have an advantage.
"I believe the only inherent advantage is to have to win only once, which is where Southeast is, but you can make arguments both ways," Robinson said. "If I only have to play one game that's good, but then that team is cold and the other team is loose and ready to go. But what if we or Heritage wins an emotional, draining game and then has to turn right around and play again?
"Right now I'm only worried about us and just playing good football and eliminating mental mistakes. I think whichever team can do that will come out."
• Region 7-AAAA isn't the only one having a mini-playoff tonight. Region 5-AAA, which matches up with 6-AAA in Friday's first round, will decide two playoff berths between Pepperell, Cedartown and Rockmart. The winner of that competition earns the No. 3 seed and will travel to Adairsville, while the runner-up gets the fourth seed and a trip to undefeated Calhoun.
The other northwest Georgia teams are set with first-round opponents. Dalton will host Salem in Class AAAA, while Ringgold will travel to Callaway and Sonoraville goes to Central, Carroll in AAA and Chattooga travels to Rabun County in Class AA. The Class A public and private school tournament teams will be announced this week and will start a week from Friday.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.