Bleckley makes GHSA playoffs with power rankings

The GHSA playoffs are finally confirmed, and some unlikely candidates from the Middle Georgia area made an appearance in the bracket thanks to the new power ranking system.

Bleckley County was among the teams sneaking in at the bottom of the bracket, with the Royals snagging a playoff spot after winning their final two games.

Still, though, Bleckley only managed a record of 4-6, usually not a mark indicative of a playoff berth outside of the A-Division II regions sporting only four teams. 

The new GHSA Post Season Rankings Formula (PSR) helped the Royals meet the mark. The system was put in place after GHSA decided to remove private schools from state tournaments in Classes 3A, 2A and A-Division I this year and have them play in their own private school bracket at year’s end.

These private schools still play regular GHSA region schedules and can win their respective regions but are placed in a large bracket with other private schools from A-Division I to 3A. 

That means that if a private school placed in the top four of a region in A-Division I — spoiler alert, many of them did — that a spot would be left open in the public school bracket when the private school was removed at the end of the year.

Thus the GHSA implemented their PSR to help determine which public school teams should fill those gaps, giving non-top four teams the chance to make the postseason. The formula is determined by a computer using each team’s own record, their opponents’ record and the record of their opponents’ foes.

The rankings add another wrinkle to the playoff format — a team outside the top two in a region can now host a home game with some top two private schools missing. 

How is that home field advantage determined? Region champions are seeded first, followed by second-place finishers, both in order by PSR. Then the third place, fourth place and at-large teams all get pooled together and ranked by PSR to round out the bracket.

This means a fifth place team from one region could technically be ranked higher than a third place team from a different, weaker region.

With all that said, Bleckley County benefited from the rankings fairly handily — the Royals’ 4-6 record looks much better when cast through the PSR lens, as Region 2-A Division I was one of the more crowded and talented regions in the state. Seven of the region’s ten teams are in the playoffs.

This meant Bleckley’s foes had respectable records and all played common opponents, giving the Royals a shot in the bracket.

Although the rankings don’t take margin of victory into account, Bleckley County’s trend of very close victories this season also lends credence to its playoff appearance.

Making the playoffs is only one piece of the puzzle, however. The Royals only earned the No. 28 seed, giving them a very tough opening round matchup on the road against Social Circle up near Covington.

The No. 5 Redskins finished the regular season 7-3 overall and 5-1 in Region 4-A Division I. That record was good enough for first place in what was, similar to the Royals’ region, a stacked area schedule. Region 4 also housed Lamar County (No. 9 seed in the playoffs), Jasper County (No. 15 seed in the playoffs), Putnam County (No. 23 seed) and Mcnair (No. 30 seed).

With such intense region competition, the Redskins seem poised for playoff success.

Social Circle also boasts experience, often a key when the postseason rolls around — the Redskins have seniors at all three key skill positions. 

Quarterback Luke Cross leads the way, as he’s completed 65% of his passes this year, according to MaxPreps. Senior wideout Jude Nelson is averaging about 70 yards per game and leads the team with 11 touchdowns. Running back Jayden Victor follows with 10 rushing scores while averaging about 67 yards per game on the ground.

Aside from one 35-14 loss to Whitefield Academy, which earned a bye in the private school bracket, every game the Redskins played was competitive or a blowout in Social Circle’s favor. 

The Redskins then lost 31-29 in triple overtime to Jasper County in one of the games in the year near season’s end but bounced back with two strong wins over Lamar County and Towers to close out the regular season.

The Royals will rely on stars like dual-threat quarterback Kam Everett and two-way athlete Tyrek Mack, who leads the team in both tackles and receiving yards per game on MaxPreps, to try and pull the upset.

Bleckley County plays Social Circle Friday night on the road at 7:30 p.m. in the first round.