Troup, Cartersville lead way in region race
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 25, 2016
LAGRANGE – It’s a two-team race for the title.
While all of the seven teams in Region 5-AAAA still have a chance to qualify for the state playoffs, only two of those teams can win the region title.
One of those teams is Cartersville, which has won 24 consecutive games and is the favorite to win a second straight state championship.
The other team with an opportunity to claim top honors in the region is Troup, which assured itself of at least a second-place finish with last week’s win over Cedartown.
Cartersville will host Troup next week, with the winner walking away with the region title, while the loser will be the number two seed.
As for the rest of the region, there’s still plenty to be determined.
Even Central-Carroll, which hasn’t won a game all season, still has an outside shot at getting into the playoffs.
Leading the way in the region is Cartersville (9-0 overall), which has trounced every team in its path on the way to a 5-0 region record.
Cartersville is off this week as it gets ready for next week’s showdown against Troup.
Troup (7-1 overall) is 4-0 in the region, and if its beats Central-Carroll this week, it will carry an eight-game winning streak into the Cartersville game.
Sandy Creek and Cedartown are both 2-2 in the region, and Chapel Hill (1-3) and LaGrange (1-4) each has one region win.
Central-Carroll is 0-4 in the region, but if it wins its final two games, it could conceivably end up in a tie for fourth.
In Region 5-AA, it’s a three-team fight for the top spot, while each of the region’s six teams is still in playoff contention.
Callaway and Spencer are both 3-0 in the region, and they’ll play Friday night at Callaway Stadium.
Heard County, which has already lost to Callaway, is 2-1 in the region, and it finishes the regular season next week against Spencer.
Heard County’s title hopes are contingent upon Spencer beating Callaway this week.
Lamar County (1-2), Temple (0-3) and Jordan (0-3) are fighting it out for the region’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Here are the region standings, along with this week’s games:
REGION 5-AAAA
Overall record, followed by region record
Cartersville – 9-0, 5-0
Troup – 7-1, 4-0
Sandy Creek – 5-3, 2-2
Cedartown – 5-3, 2-2
Chapel Hill – 3-4-1, 1-3
LaGrange – 2-7, 1-4
Central-Carroll – 0-8, 0-4
This week’s games
THURSDAY
Chapel Hill at LaGrange, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Troup at Central-Carroll, 7:30 p.m.
Cedartown at Sandy Creek, 7:30 p.m.
REGION 5-AA
Overall record, followed by region record
Callaway – 8-0, 3-0
Spencer – 7-2, 3-0
Heard County – 6-2, 2-1
Lamar County – 4-4, 1-2
Temple – 5-3, 0-2
Jordan – 0-8, 0-3
This week’s games
FRIDAY
Spencer at Callaway, 7:30 p.m.
Heard County at Lamar County, 7:30 p.m.
Jordan at Temple, 7:30 p.m.
Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports