Gordon Lee High School football head coach Charlie Wiggins discusses a play with linebacker Bryce Bailey, left, and running back Adam Vandiver during practice in Chickamauga, Ga.Welcome to March Madness — Georgia high school football Class A style.
While teams in Georgia’s top five classes go about the traditional way of making the playoffs, teams in Class A this season will be using calculators, slide rules, soothsayers and maybe a rabbit’s foot or two to keep up with their playoff hopes.
When the GHSA agreed to split public and private Class A schools for the postseason, the major concern was determining how teams would qualify for the playoffs. The final solution is a system much like the NCAA’s RPI rating, where teams like Gordon Lee and Trio — Region 6’s only public schools among its 14 total teams — will earn points based on regular season wins and how well their opponents fare.
Needless to say, very little will be decided until the final two weeks.
“You can’t map it out before because you won’t really know until the final weeks where you stand,” Gordon Lee coach Charlie Wiggins said. “It’s interesting. Supposedly they are going to put out an update every week that will show you where you stand, but I want to see it first.”