FOOTBALL OUTLOOK: Region leaders, playoff hopefuls face key tests in week 10

This is the point in the season, only days from Halloween, that top teams have the most to fear, with the risk of spooks, scares and upsets rising higher and higher each Friday as the playoffs get closer. 

Week 10 in the Heart of Georgia may have some similar potential to the past Saturday in college football, on which no one at the top of the rankings was safe, as several area teams in a share of first place face upstart challengers intent on plunging region title races into some late-season chaos. 

No. 3 Dublin (6-1, 3-0 region 2-AA) will likely be in for the same type of test it’s faced back-to-back years against Dodge County, which gave the Irish all they wanted by taking leads deep into the second halves of regular season finales in 2024 and ’25 that they’d survive for respective first- and second-place region finishes. 

The Indians (5-3, 2-1 region) are once again positioned to play spoiler as they make a second-straight visit to the Shamrock Bowl hoping to finish the unfinished business left over from both previous campaigns in which big plays from their passing game caused Dublin some major problems. 

Can the Irish make enough in the other direction to hold them off again, and stay perfect in the region? 

West Laurens (4-4, 3-1 region 3-AAAA) finds itself on the other side of the same coin as it travels to take on co-league frontrunner Liberty County (5-3, 4-0 region), and hopes to earn some redemption after dropping a winnable opportunity to maintain its earlier spot in first place against Harlem’s just-as-evenly-matched team two weeks ago. 

A victory, to get the Raiders above .500 for the first time this fall, would keep their chances of contending for the region crown alive. But more important is the likely boost it would carry in GHSA Post Season Rankings that would be critical for a potential jump into the top 16, and their chances of hosting in the first round of the playoffs. 

With East Laurens idle, Trinity (2-6, 0-3 district) will have Laurens County’s lone other game as it visits Piedmont (2-6, 1-1 district). The Crusaders will be hoping for a more consistent night on offense and defense, and a change in recent fortunes that have them coming in on a four-game losing streak. 

In the rest of the area’s action, the biggest matchup will be a last of the regular season for Brentwood (6-3, 3-1 district) at Thomas Jefferson (6-3, 2-2 district), which is yet another local rival its battered squad will be fortunate to make it past. 

Neighboring Washington County (3-5, 2-2 region 4-AAA) has another big one on its hands as it seeks to get off a two-game slide at Burke County (4-3, 2-1 region). The Golden Hawks need a win to solidify their chances of advancing to the playoffs for a 19th straight year, or else will spend their last week of the regular season on the bubble.

No. 1 Johnson County (7-0, 3-0 region 5-A), hosting Hancock Central (2-5, 1-2 region), and No. 5 Bleckley County (7-1, 3-1 region 2-AA), entertaining Vidalia (2-5, 0-3 region), will be out to take care of business at home. 

After being shut out in back-to-back losses, Montgomery County (4-3, 0-1 region 3-A) needs to find some points that may be just as short in supply against the well-tested defense of ECI (3-4, 1-0 region, while Wheeler County (3-4, 2-1 region 4-A) will look to extend its two-game winning streak at winless Wilcox Co. (0-8, 0-4 region), Twiggs County (1-7, 0-4 region 5-A) tries its luck at GMC (3-4, 0-3 region) and Wilkinson County (3-5, 2-2 region 5-A) plays its next-to-last of the regular season at Jenkins County (3-4, 3-0 region).