Northwest Georgia prep football primer: 10 teams, lots of nuggets

The road to Atlanta and the GHSA football state championship games will no doubt be rocky for the 10 area teams that made the playoffs this year, though the recently completed regular season also had its share of potholes and detours for northwest Georgia programs.

In fact, the 2021 season is the first in 30 years in which the area (Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Gordon, Murray, Walker and Whitfield counties) did not have a region champion - a streak Calhoun helped keep intact by setting a GHSA record with 18 consecutive region titles from 2001 to 2018.

Since 1991, Dalton has won nine region titles and still leads area teams with 22 overall, while Ridgeland has won seven, all since 2008. Murray County and Trion have three each and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe has two, while Christian Heritage, LaFayette, North Murray and Northwest Whitfield have one apiece.

It could be argued the area's streak of region titles went even further back than 1991. Area regions were divided into north and south subregions until 1992 and determined region champions in a region playoff round, and northwest Georgia had at least one subregion or region champion dating to 1975.

So, yes, it's rare to not have a region champion in the area, but there is a bright side: On average, four region champions lose in the first round.

On the other hand, region champions have a far greater chance to advance as far as the state semifinals. In the past five years, only 37 of 160 final four teams in the GHSA's eight classifications were not region champions. In that stretch, the toughest final four for an underdog to reach has been in Class AAA, where only one team has made it since 2015 without first winning a region championship.

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GHSA football playoffs kick off with 10 area teams involved

With 10 first-round games on the schedule for area teams - seven on Friday and the other three on Saturday - here are a few other GHSA postseason nuggets as the push begins to be among the state finalists Dec. 9-11 at Georgia State University's Center Parc Stadium:

* Few things in life are as consistent as Calhoun making the playoffs. The Yellow Jackets are in their 22nd consecutive postseason, and not only do they make it past game 10, they keep winning. They've won at least one playoff game in the past 20 seasons; in 12 of the past 13 postseasons, they've won at least three games.

* Calhoun's first-round opponent in Class AAAAA, Decatur, is in the playoffs for the third straight year but has only one postseason win since 2003. The Bulldogs were ranked in the top 10 this year until losing to Southwest Dekalb and St. Pius X (both also ranked) in their past two games.

* Northwest Whitfield made the playoffs for the seventh year in a row, and a win this week would mark the first time the Bruins have won a postseason game in back-to-back years. Northwest's offense, led by junior quarterback Owen Brooker, is among the state's hottest. The Bruins scored a combined 150 points in their last three regular-season games.

* Northwest's opponent in Class AAAA's first round, Fayette County, has gone from 0-10 in 2018 to having consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1997-98.

* Heritage, also in AAAA, is just behind Northwest with six straight playoff appearances under coach E.K. Slaughter, though the Generals are seeking to end a four-game postseason losing streak.

* Heritage's opponent, Luella, began playing football in 2003 and is still seeking its first postseason win. The Lions have allowed more than 20 points just once in a game this year.

* Ringgold, despite losing to Rockmart last week with the Region 6-AAA title on the line for both, is coming off a nine-win regular season that tied a program record. The postseason has not been kind to the Tigers - except for 2013. That year, Robert Akins' team made a shocking run to the semifinals. In the other nine postseasons, including region playoffs prior to 1991, Ringgold is 0-9.

* Ringgold's turnaround since going 0-10 in 2019 is seen in the numbers. The winless team scored 102 points while allowing 344. This season's Tigers have scored 380 and allowed 111, the program's best mark since 1978.

* Ringgold's first-round opponent, Hart County, is in the playoffs for the 29th time in a 32-season stretch. However, the Bulldogs have fallen in the first round in five of their past six postseason trips.

* Also in AAA, the North Murray Mountaineers have one of the toughest tasks in the area. Their opponent, Monroe Area, is undefeated, is No. 1 in the classification and owns a win over previously top-ranked Oconee County. The Mountaineers have scored 359 points this season, while the Purple Hurricanes have allowed just 93. North Murray does own a playoff win against the Canes, 28-14 in the first round two years ago.

* Class AA's Dade County, which hosts Heard County, is one of the state's most unexpected postseason participants. The Maxwell Ratings, a computer system that predicts the regular season's outcome, gave the Wolverines a 9% chance of making the playoffs, just behind East Laurens (3%) and Spalding (7%).

* Dade, coming off its first winning regular season since 2015, has never won a home playoff game, though the Wolverines won at Heard County in a 2010 first-round matchup. Heard is in the playoffs for the 21st time in a 22-season stretch and and won the 2018 Class AA championship.

* Chattooga, also in AA, has the second-longest active postseason streak among area teams at eight years, though the Indians have often run into tough draws in the playoffs. Three times during the streak, their season has ended against top-ranked Rabun County.

* Chattooga's first-round opponent this year is Haralson County, which is in the playoffs for the fourth straight year but has yet to win a postseason game. The Rebels, who have been playing football since 1968, are coming off their first region championship.

* Trion has made the Class A playoffs in all but nine seasons since 1978. The Bulldogs' 414 regular-season points are the most in program history. Their opening opponent in the Class A public bracket, Social Circle, is 1-10 in the playoffs.

* Gordon Lee, which once made nine consecutive playoff appearances, is back in the postseason for the second straight year under coach Josh Groce after an eight-year absence.

* The Trojans' opponent in Class A public, Washington-Wilkes, is led by Sid Fritts, who has coached in Georgia the past 21 seasons (he also had stops at Rome and Elbert County) after stints at Tennessee's Sequatchie County and Grundy County. In 31 years as a head coach, Fritts' teams have failed to advance to the playoffs in just eight seasons.

* Christian Heritage won on the road in the opening round of the Class A private playoffs last year and is seeking to duplicate that feat. To do so, the Lions will have to defeat familiar foe Wesleyan, an Atlanta program. The two squared off in the second round two years ago, with the Wolves winning 34-13 in Dalton.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.