SPORTS

Assessing region title chances in high school football

Brandon Shields
bjshields@jacksonsun.com
Westview’s Tyler Langley (76) dives at Liberty’s Corey Newble (13) on Friday.

There are four Fridays of the 2015 TSSAA football season remaining, and there is still plenty of football remaining to play.

But for anyone wanting an idea of how local teams are doing regarding region championships and playoff contention, here’s a brief look at each region affecting teams in the Sun’s coverage area.

Region 7-4A

Chester County and Hardin County are tied for first at 4-0. North Side is a half-game back at 4-1. Lexington and Haywood are a game behind the Indians at 3-2.

Crockett County and Obion County are 1-3 but still in contention.

No one is assured of a playoff spot yet, but if Chester (at Crockett County) and/or Hardin County (home vs. North Side) win this week, they’re in.

Lexington is actually in better shape than it looks with head-to-head tiebreakers over Haywood and North Side.

Crockett County could play its way into playoff contention, but it has to win out including games against Chester County and Lexington. Haywood is in a similar situation with games remaining against North Side and Chester County.

Region 7-3A

At 4-0 in region play, Liberty Tech is in the playoffs. South Gibson is a half-game back at 3-0.

Milan is third at 3-1, while South Side and Westview each have two losses. South Side has two wins to Westview’s one.

McNairy Central and Dyersburg are close to being eliminated from playoff contention with each having a 1-3 record. They play next week, so one will be eliminated in Week 9.

Because all of the involved teams have so many games against each other, there are many scenarios that could play out.

Region 8-3A

Covington at 3-0 and Melrose and Bolivar at 3-1 assures them of the playoffs at this point. Since Covington has already beaten the other two, the Chargers will probably finish first.

Both Melrose and Bolivar have beaten the fourth-place team a game behind them — 2-2 Fayette-Ware — so the Bolivar-Melrose game in Week 9 will be for a first-round home playoff game.

Assuming trends continue, the game between Raleigh-Egypt (currently 1-3 in region) and Fayette-Ware in Week 11 will probably be for the fourth playoff spot.

Region 6-3A

Sycamore is in first place at 3-0, and Camden and Fairview are a half game back at 2-0. If Camden beats region winless Cheatham County this week, the Lions’ playoff picture should come into focus in the following two weeks with games against the other two unbeaten teams.

Fairview and Sycamore play this week.

East Hickman and Stewart County are tied for fourth with each having a 1-2 record, but East Hickman has beaten Stewart County.

Region 6-2A

Adamsville will be the first region champion in rural West Tennessee high school football in 2015 if it beats Gibson County this week since it already has wins over the only two other teams mathematically in contention for the championship.

McKenzie and Jackson Christian each have a loss and should play for second place next week.

If Gibson County loses to Adamsville, the Pioneers will be virtually eliminated from playoff contention.

There are a number of scenarios that could play out to put Halls or Gibson County into the playoffs, but McKenzie and Jackson Christian each having two losses gives them the advantage down the stretch.

Trinity Christian Academy is in good position for the playoffs since its two losses are to McKenzie and Adamsville.

Region 5-2A

Scotts Hill and Riverside are assured of the playoffs.

Scotts Hill and Waverly are tied for first with 3-0 records, and Riverside is a game behind them at 2-1 with the loss coming to Scotts Hill. Hickman County is a game back at 1-2, and Lewis County and Loretto are winless. Riverside already owns wins over Lewis County and Loretto, is two games ahead of each and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over both.

The winner of Scotts Hill and Waverly will be the region champion unless Riverside were to win out by beating Hickman County and Waverly to force a three-way tie for first. If that scenario were to play out and Scotts Hill were to lose to Loretto in Week 11, Riverside would be the region champion.

Region 7-1A

Union City and Dresden are in the playoffs with 5-0 region records already. They play next week for the probably region championship.

Peabody, South Fulton and Lake County are tied for third behind them with two losses apiece. South Fulton owns the tiebreaker over Lake County with a win over the Falcons, who still have Union City to play.

Peabody will play Lake County this week and South Fulton following and will assure itself of third place if it wins those games.

Humboldt and West Carroll are still mathematically in playoff contention with three losses, but losses to South Fulton and Peabody put Humboldt in a bad position if it plays its way into a tie. West Carroll is in a similar situation with losses to Peabody and Lake County.

Region 6-1A

Huntingdon and Wayne County are tied for first with 3-0 records a game ahead of Bruceton, Houston County and Clarksville Academy at 2-1. The other three teams are all 0-3.

The five teams at the top all have games remaining against each other. All but Wayne County have three, while Wayne County has two (Houston County this week and Huntingdon next week).

All three of the one-loss teams’ losses have come to one of the unbeaten teams, and one more win for Huntingdon and Wayne County assures them of a playoff spot.

Region 8-1A

Most of these teams have put off region play for the second half of the season, except Carver who’s 4-0 and assured of a playoff spot.

KIPP, Middle College and Memphis Northside are 1-1. Middleton and Booker T. Washington are 0-2. Two wins would put any team in playoff contention if not in the playoffs, and Middleton has Carver, KIPP and BTW remaining to play.

Division II-A West

Two teams are winless in region play, Tipton-Rosemark and Rossville Christian.

St. George’s (2-0), University School of Jackson (2-0) and Fayette-Academy (2-1) are all assured of the playoffs because both the Bruins and Vikings own head-to-head tiebreakers over the bottom two and St. George’s owns the tiebreaker over Fayette Academy.

If USJ beats Fayette Academy next week, the Bruins will be assured of at least a home playoff game in the first round. They and St. George’s (assuming St. George’s defeats TRA) will then play in Week 11 for the district championship.

Tipton-Rosemark and Rossville Christian will play for fourth place with the winner going to the playoffs with the new fourth-place spot in the postseason.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

USJ’s Holland Hawks carries the ball Friday night, pursued by TCA’s Zachary Yarbrough. 2 USJ's #15 Holland Hawks carries the ball Friday night against TCA Zachary Yarbrough