LaGrange football coach Steve Pardue calls it “riding the wave.”

In big games between two solid football teams, there will be plenty of turns of momentum.

The key, as Pardue sees it, is to maintain a steady keel no matter what happens, good or bad.

“You have to ride the wave being down, and you have to ride it being up, too,” he said. “You can’t get beat thinking you have it won, and you can’t get down and think you’ve lost.”

Over the next five weeks, there’ll be plenty of momentum turns as the Georgia High School Association state playoffs unfold.

Three county teams, Callaway, LaGrange and Troup, will try to stay on top of the wave and keep their seasons going as long as possible.

All three teams will play first-round games this weekend.

Callaway and LaGrange will be at home, while Troup will hit the road.

Callaway (9-1), after winning the Region 5-AA championship with Friday’s 21-14 win over Pike County, will host Greater Atlanta Christian Friday at 7:30 p.m.

GAC (4-6) finished fourth in Region 6-AA.

LaGrange (8-2), the second-place team from Region 2-AAA, faces the Dougherty Trojans Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Callaway Stadium.

Dougherty (6-4), which is under the direction of former Shaw coach Charles Flowers, is the third-place team from Region 1-AAA.

Troup (4-6), the fourth place team from Region 2-AAA, visits Cairo Friday night.

Cairo (9-0), which fell to Carver in last year’s state-champion game, won the Region 1-AAA championship.

Also this week, Heard County has the unenviable task of traveling to Buford for a first-round Class AA game.

Heard Conty (6-4) beat Pike County 34-20 last week to secure Region 5-AA’s fourth playoff spot.

Regardless of what a team did during the regular season, as Troup head coach Bubba Jeter pointed out following Friday’s 17-14 loss to LaGrange, the slate is wiped clean now.

“The bottomline is this,” Jeter said. “Everybody in Class AAA is 0-0. What happened until now doesn’t matter.”

Few teams in the state have done a better job this decade of getting the motor running in the playoffs than LaGrange.

The Grangers are in the playoffs for the ninth straight season, and they’re 22-5 in their previous eight playoff trips.

LaGrange won state titles in 2001, 2003 and 2004, and the Grangers lost in the state semifinals in 2005.

The Grangers were stumped in the first round a year ago, though, with Perry taking a 27-7 victory.

Like a year ago, LaGrange heads into the playoffs with an 8-2 record. And like a year ago, the Grangers are coming off an emotional victory over Troup.

Will the result be different this season?

Senior quarterback Rodney Tolbert, who was under center for the playoff loss a year ago, believes the Grangers are peaking.

“The defense keeps playing good, and the offense keeps getting better every week,” Tolbert said. “We’re going to be good.”

Standing in the way is a Dougherty team that has a solid season in a competitive region.

The Trojans went 3-6 a year ago, but they’ve enjoyed a nice resurgence this season.

If LaGrange survives the first round, it would play either Jackson on the road or Thomson at home in the second round.

Jackson (10-0) is the top seed from Region 4-AAA, while Thomson (5-5) finished fourth in Region 3-AAA.

“Hopefully we’re starting to hit on all cylinders,” Pardue said.

Troup’s first-round task is a gargantuan one.

Cairo is a bona fide powerhouse.

The Syrupmakers went 13-2 a year ago and lost to Carver 16-13 in the Class AAA title game, and they’re unbeaten this season.

Cairo, which is ranked first in the Associated Press Class AAA poll, has allowed 50 points in 10 games, an average of five points per game.

If Troup could pull the major upset this week, it would visit either Burke County or Mary Persons n Round 2.

Troup brings an unflattering 4-6 record into Friday’s game, but that record is misleading.

The Tigers have played one of the toughest schedules in the state this season, and they lost five of their six games by a combined 16 points.

A dominant defense could give Troup a fighting chance this week.

As Pardue said of Troup after watching his team survive Friday’s showdown, “there may be some better defenses, but I hope we don’t see one for awhile.”

For Callaway, the mission this week is to give the school its first ever playoff victory in football.

Callaway, which lost at home to Darlington in the first round a year ago, has won nine straight games since a season-opening loss to Troup.

Callaway edged Pike County 21-14 to win the program’s first outright championship in football.

If the Cavaliers dispatch Greater Atlanta Christian this week, the road grows treacherous from there.

In the second round, Callaway would host either Pepperell (9-1) or Riverside (7-3).

After that, Callaway’s quarterfinal and semifinal opponents would likely be Charlton County and Buford, teams that have dominated Class AA this decade.

Callaway is guaranteed three home playoff games, although a potential semifinal test against Buford would be on the road.

Callaway head coach Pete Wiggins isn’t looking past GAC, though, which is a dangerous opponent despite a losing record.

GAC is 4-2 since losing its first four games of the season.