With the regular season coming to a close this week, a dozen northeast Georgia area teams already have clinched postseason berths across all eight Georgia High School Association classifications. Three others are fighting for their playoff lives.
Two teams -- Johnson in Region 8-4A and East Jackson in Region 8-2A -- have clinched region titles and No. 1 seeds. Three others -- North Forsyth and Habersham Central in Region 8-6A and Dawson County in Region 7-3A -- are still battling for region titles.
A full schedule is on tap Tuesday around the area, but several key matchups will take place on Thursday involving teams still fighting for a postseason slot.
Starting in Region 8-6A, Gainesville (8-8, 6-5 Region 8-6A) is locked in at the No. 3 seed. Seventh-ranked North Forsyth (16-0, 11-0 Region 8-6A) will travel to Habersham Central (12-2, 10-1 Region 8-6A) on Tuesday with a chance to seal a title in their region finales.
NoFo knocked off Habersham Central, 1-0, in their first meeting. A Habersham win would force tiebreakers to decide the champion. Both teams will have home playoff games in the first round.
In Region 7-3A, Dawson County (9-6-1, 5-1 Region 7-3A) has clinched a home playoff spot and has finished its region schedule. However, the Tigers, who sit behind fourth-ranked Wesleyan (8-3-2, 4-0 Region 7-3A), can still claim the title if the Wolves drop their final two games, both on the road, to Gilmer and White County.
West Hall (6-9, 4-2 Region 7-3A) has secured the No. 3 seed. Lumpkin County (4-6-1, 2-3 Region 7-3A) is tied with Gilmer (6-7-1, 2-3 Region 7-3A) for the fourth spot. The Indians travel to winless Pickens (0-11, 0-5 Region 7-3A) on Thursday to close out their region schedule.
Like Lumpkin County, both Rabun County (8-4, 6-3 Region 8-A Division 1) and Towns County (8-6, 3-3 Region 3-A Division 2) are locked in tight battles for playoff spots.
In Region 8-5A, Jefferson (9-5, 5-1 Region 8-5A) earned a home playoff spot, finishing second behind No. 2-ranked Clarke Central (14-0, 6-0 Region 8-6A). The region has completed its schedule.
Two weeks ago, Region 8-4A looked like it would need a slide-rule to decide three of the teams as eight teams were within 1 1/2 games of second place. Top-ranked Johnson (12-1-1, 10-0 Region 8-4A) clinched the title with a win over Cherokee Bluff on March 21.
Eventually, after two weeks of key region showdowns, a three-way tie was left between 10th-ranked East Forsyth (9-4, 7-3 Region 8-4A), eighth-ranked Cherokee Bluff (10-5-1, 7-3 Region 8-4A), and fifth-ranked Cedar Shoals (9-3-2, 7-3 Region 8-4A). The Broncos took the No. 2 seed by virtue of wins over both the Bears and Jaguars and Bluff got the No. 3 seed with its win over Cedar Shoals.
In Region 8-2A, No. 5 East Jackson (6-4-1, 5-0 Region 8-2A) ran the table, including taking a 3-2 win over fourth-ranked Union County (8-2-2, 4-1 Region 8-2A), who finished second in the region. Both teams will play host to first round playoff games..
(See the entire schedule for Tuesday below.)
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE FOR Tuesday, April 9
(All games start at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
Apalachee at Gainesville*
Banks County at Lumpkin County
Cherokee Bluff at Mill Creek
Commerce at Winder-Barrow
Dawson County at Creekview
East Hall at Seckinger*
Franklin County at Chestatee
Forsyth Central at East Forsyth
Jackson County at Lanier*
Johnson at Flowery Branch
North Forsyth at Habersham Central*
St. Pius at Buford
Stephens County at West Hall
Union County at White County
(* -- denotes region contest)
