North Murray will host in the first round of the GHSA Class AAA state playoffs Friday night, but it won't be the first postseason football of the week at the Mountaineers' picturesque stadium.
Region 6-AAAA will settle its third and fourth playoff positions there Monday night in tiebreaker mini games beginning at 7, the third time in four years the league has had to go overtime to finish the regular season.
Ridgeland (10-0, 6-0) won the region title and Heritage (9-1, 5-1) finished second, so they will host playoff games Friday against Chapel Hill (6-4) and Troup County (8-2), respectively. But Northwest Whitfield (6-4), Pickens (5-5) and Southeast Whitfield (7-3) each finished with a 3-3 record in 6-AAAA and went 1-1 within the trio, leaving the region's final two playoff berths unsettled.
Northwest and Pickens will play in the opening mini game, which will have two five-minute halves. The winner is in, while the loser will then play Southeast. The winner of that matchup will qualify for the playoffs, but the order of the final two seeds will be determined by regular-season, head-to-head results between the two qualifiers. Northwest defeated Pickens, Pickens beat Southeast and Southeast beat Northwest.
Friday’s Area Football Schedule
TSSAA playoffs, second roundAll kickoffs at 7 p.m. Eastern unless notedClass 1AJo Byrns (9-2) at South Pittsburg (11-0), 8Whitwell (10-1) at Gordonsville (7-4), 8Class 2AMarion County (6-5) at Trousdale County (8-3), 8Happy Valley (8-3) at Meigs County (11-0)Watertown (9-2) at Tyner (9-2)Class 3AYork (9-2) at Red Bank (9-2)Class 4ACentral (7-4) at Greeneville (11-0)Class 6ABradley Central (9-2) at Dobyns-Bennett (8-3)Division II-AAKnox Grace (7-4) at Notre Dame (9-1)Division II-AAAMcCallie (7-3) at Briarcrest (9-1), 8Baylor (4-7) at MBA (8-2), 8GHSA playoffs, first roundAll kickoffs at 7:30 p.m.Class AAAAAADalton (7-3) at Douglas County (9-1)Class AAAAChapel Hill (6-4) at Ridgeland (10-0)Troup County (8-2) at Heritage (9-1)Region 6 No. 3 seed at Cedartown (9-1)Region 6 No. 4 seed at Cartersville (10-0)Class AAAPace Academy (5-4) at Calhoun (9-1)Westminster (5-5) at North Murray (7-3)Class AAChattooga (4-6) at Rabun County (10-0)Class A publicTBD at Trion (7-3)
The difference in earning the third seed is significant, because it means a game at Region 5 No. 2 seed Cedartown (9-1) instead of top-seeded and top-ranked Cartersville, which has won 40 straight games.
"I told the kids we want the three seed because if you're four, you go to Cartersville," said Southeast coach Sean Gray, whose program played in mini games in 2014 and 2015, reaching the state playoffs the first time but missing the second. "Cedartown is a great team, too, but you would much rather go down there than Cartersville."
The Raiders have seven wins for the first time in 32 years and are seeking their second playoff berth in four seasons after enduring a decades-long drought before then. Despite the experience, Gray said the mini games are unpredictable.
"The big thing is don't turn the ball over," he said. "It goes by so fast, and I've seen it where each team only gets one possession, so you better make it count. Then again, one time we had two possessions in just one half, so you never know."
As for North Murray, coach Preston Poag's Mountaineers (7-3) earned the No. 2 seed from Region 6-AAA with a crossover win over Sonoraville this past Friday night and will host Westminster (5-5) in the first round.
"It's the second year in a row for us to host, and we think we're playing our best ball of the season," Poag said. "We were 2-3 and scratching our heads a little bit after we lost to Calhoun. But ever since that game, we grew up a bit."
Calhoun (9-1) won its 17th consecutive region title by beating Murray County this past Friday and is set to host Atlanta's Pace Academy (5-4) in the first round. The other area northwest Georgia team that will host is Trion (7-3) in the Class A public playoffs, but the Bulldogs do not yet know their opponent. The GHSA's final power ratings will be released today, with Monday designated for appeals before the brackets are posted.
Friday was not a good night for several Chattanooga-area teams.
Dalton (7-3) lost to Allatoona and will travel to Douglas County (9-1) in Class AAAAAA's first round, while Class AA's Chattooga lost at Pepperell and will travel to Rabun County (10-0). Region 6-AAA's Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold lost in play-in games and will miss the postseason after finishing the regular season 5-5.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.