A lot is on the line for area teams in the next-to-last week of the GHSA football regular season, with several northwest Georgia programs in position to secure playoff berths Friday night.
In Region 6-AAAAAA, Dalton (6-2, 4-2) hosts Allatoona (7-1, 5-1) in a game likely to determine the league's No. 2 playoff berth. The Catamounts, who will close against last-place Osborne, which is winless this year, own victories over both Creekview (6-2, 4-2) and Sequoyah (5-3, 4-2), so one more win would clinch a playoff berth.
In 6-AAAA, there is a three-team tie at the top among Heritage (7-2, 4-1), Northwest Whitfield (6-2, 3-1) and Ridgeland (4-4, 3-1), each with one region loss. Ridgeland owns a win over Heritage, while Northwest defeated the Panthers. Heritage and Northwest close out the season against one another next week in a game that will, if all three win this week, determine the final playoff order.
In 6-AAA, North Murray can clinch its first region championship in program history with a win Friday at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (4-4, 4-2) - or with a win next week against Sonoraville (4-4, 3-3). If successful, the Mountaineers would end Calhoun's streak of consecutive region titles at 18, though not all of them have come in 6-AAA. LFO, which defeated the Mountaineers last season, currently sits fourth in the league standings. Calhoun (7-1, 5-1) visits Haralson County (7-1, 5-1) this week with second place on the line.
In 7-AA, Chattooga (4-4, 3-2) can clinch a postseason spot with a win over Dade County (1-7, 1-4), but the Indians would need to upset Pepperell (6-2, 4-1) next week and have Model (4-4, 4-1) lose its final two regular-season games to move up to second or third in the region standings.
Christian Heritage (7-1, 4-1) can move a step closer to securing a first-round playoff game in the Class A private school playoffs with a win against Gordon Lee (2-5, 0-4), which would set up a pivotal Region 6-A crossover game next week.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.