Monday mini highschool games possible in Georgia Region 7-AAAA

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Are you ready for some Monday night football?

Not the NFL kind, mind you. Call it a pre-playoff playoff, mini madness or whatever fits, but if things shake out a certain way (or ways) tonight in Georgia Region 7-AAAA, playoff spots will be decided Monday in what the GHSA calls "mini games."

Regions in Georgia can choose their own tiebreaking procedures, and in 7-AAAA a three-way tie in which none of the teams has swept the other two is decided by mini games featuring two five-minute halves involving the three teams until one or two, if needed, are eliminated.

First things first, though. There are two scenarios in which the mini games would be necessary:

1) Wins by Heritage over Gilmer County and by Southeast Whitfield over Northwest Whitfield would leave Heritage, Gilmer and Southeast tied at 4-3. The mini games would then decide both the No. 3 and No. 4 playoff berths.

2) Wins by Gilmer and Northwest would create a three-way tie for the No. 4 playoff spot among Northwest, Heritage and Southeast.

Of course, the extra play can be avoided. Wins by Gilmer and Southeast would give Gilmer the third seed and Southeast the fourth, whereas Heritage and Northwest wins would leave Heritage in the No. 3 spot and Gilmer in fourth. The latter is obviously the hope of the Generals, who have the surprise of the region in E.K. Slaughter's first season as coach.

"What we know is if we win Friday we're doing something this week," Slaughter said. "The guys are excited about it, but we're trying not to lose sight of the fact it's no different from any other game."

Region 7-AAAA isn't alone in last-game drama. Here's what's on the line elsewhere:

7-AAAAA

Dalton (8-1) visits perennial state power Kell (9-0) for the region championship tonight, with a possible two home playoff games at stake for the winner and at least one for the loser. The Catamounts, after a week-two loss to Class AAA power Calhoun, have won seven consecutive games by an average of 38 points.

"The way the season has played out, there is a lot of energy built up in our community," Dalton coach Matt Land said. "We hope to reward them with a region championship and home playoff games."

Region 6-AAA

Cartersville and Adairsville are locked into the top two playoff seeds and Ringgold (5-2 in league play) controls its own destiny for the third seed. The possibility of a three-way tie for the final two spots exists if North Murray (4-3) defeats Ringgold and Sonoraville (4-3) downs Murray County. However, this region uses point differential in games involving tied teams as the tiebreaker.

Sonoraville defeated North Murray by 11, whereas Ringgold downed Sonoraville by 10. Therefore, Ringgold will earn the 3 seed with a win or a loss that is not by more than 11 points, with Sonoraville fourth since it would have the better point differential than North Murray.

Ringgold could be the fourth seed with a loss and a Sonoraville loss, with North Murray climbing to the third seed and Sonoraville missing the playoffs. Ringgold misses out altogether if it loses by more than 11 and Sonoraville wins, which would put North Murray in third.

"The bottom line is if you're going to be a playoff team, you need to win," Ringgold coach Robert Akins said. "We know there is a possibility of missing out if we lose, but we can take care of that by winning."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.

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