Taking the temperature of Central Georgia entering the playoffs

Going in (to the playoffs) hot

          Warner Robins is undefeated and off its most impressive win, a rout of a top 10 team with a power-5 recruit at running back at The Mac, which still has room on the home side for big games. The Demons are one of about 20 teams that finished the regular season undefeated, and were pretty good in game 10.

          Jones County handled things in beating Dutchtown to clinch second in 4-5A. The Greyhounds have lacked sharpness on both sides for two straight games, against the first- and third-place teams in the region. That would normally be nice, but Griffin is a great/horrible first-round opponent, great for a three seed, horrible to be playing.

          Peach County has been extremely warm since the 35-7 win over Westside, outscoring five teams 292-35. And the regular-season exclamation point was Mitchell Fineran’s 54-yard field goal Friday night. The Trojans are sizzling in all three phases.

          Westside certainly got things going quickly after a two-game losing streak, the lone loss afterward coming to Peach County. The Seminoles have given up only 33 points in the last five games and are off two straight shutouts.

          Dooly County started off 0-5, and the Bobcats were giving up all sorts of points: 40, 44, 33, 70 and 36. That’s a season’s worth of 223-28 less than they gave up all of 2016. But the Bobcats have won four of their last five, the lone loss by one at Marion County. They’ve improved on defense a bit, giving up 109 points, 67 to playoff teams Taylor County and Marion County.

Going in (to the playoffs) cooool

          West Laurens wasn’t 100 percent healthy, but losing to the last-place team in the region at home isn’t good. “We played like garbage, to be honest with you,” head coach Kagan McClain said on WKKZ 92.7-FM’s postgame show. The Raiders had 10th-game errors that make for a short visit in the postseason. Odd, because their loss to Mary Persons was closer than 19 points and they handled Upson-Lee a week later.

          Tattnall didn’t lose last year in the regular season, but enters this year’s postseason on a three-game losing streak during which the Trojans have given up 41, 27 and 27 points. And all three losses have come at home. The good news (perhaps)? They’ll be on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

          (To be updated) Bleckley County and Washington County are in a mini playoff on Monday with Southwest, and if either the Royals or Golden Hawks advance, they’ll be staggering – albeit happily – into the playoffs (with a short week of prep). The Royals have lost two straight – by eight points – and three of their last five, and the Golden Hawks had some momentum with two wins – by 75-15 – before losing by 12 at Dublin, thanks to a scoreless second half after a 14-7 halftime lead.

Flip a coin

          Northside muddled through and barely beat two-win Houston County, then sat for a week awaiting the playoffs. And now the Eagles are on the road for the first round, which hasn't happened since 2004. Northside won 44-13 at Bainbridge then, but Brunswick offers a much tougher task.

          Dodge County’s timing for the off week is coin flip. The Indians are undefeated, and survived a rugged game with Bleckley County, a very losable game. But they’ve had a week to sit and get healthy, but also lose momentum, which shouldn’t matter much in the first round.

          Dublin is a solid team, but head coach Roger Holmes is still trying to figure the Irish out. They have weapons, but not an abundance of consistency.

          Defending Class A public champ Macon County has quality losses, and is off a 22-20 loss to Class A No. 1 Manchester. The Bulldogs are scoring less and giving up more than a year ago, and have a week off to get over the Manchester loss.

          Taylor County hiccupped with a loss to Dooly County, which dropped the Vikings to a first-round road game. Running back Lyn-J Dixon is back after missing several games with an ankle injury, and the Vikings appear to be back to normal, which is pretty good.

          Stratford was a fairly solid home favorite against Aquinas, a week after getting a lead and blowing a lead and pulling out a last-minute win over Tattnall. The Eagles trailed Aquinas 20-7 at halftime and 30-16 in the fourth quarter, and could never get over the hump. Stratford has given up more points in the past three weeks than in the first seven. How good are the Eagles playing? Good question.

          FPD lost a shootout at home to Lincoln County, surrendering 445 yards on 51 rushes while getting only 38 yards on the ground. Likely first-round opponent Our Lady of Mercy has an upper-level running game.