Sports

Three-way playoffs send Westwood, Terrell Academy to postseason, SGA home

• Late Monday, Westwood won the GISA Region A South title and earned the No. 1 playoff seed and Terrell Academy grabbed No. 2 after a three-way playoff, while SGA’s season ended after falling in an identical GISA 3-AA playoff.

Danny Aller

After losing back-to-back coin tosses Monday night, Southwest Georgia Academy football coach David Bell didn’t like the omen one bit.

One year removed from losing a three-way playoff that kept the Warriors from the postseason, Bell and his players came into Monday’s GISA 3-AA identical scenario hoping not to see a repeat of 2006.

But that’s exactly what they got.

“It’s just a ridiculous way to decide who moves on and who doesn’t,” Bell said Tuesday, less than 24 hours after his team was upended, 7-6, by Tiftarea and 6-3 by Valwood — a team SGA beat during the regular season. “Some agree with how it’s done, and some don’t. All I know is that this is the second year this has happened to us, and in my opinion, (the playoff system is) not a good indicator of who is the better team.”

Last year, SGA entered the same playoff scenario — one identical to that of NCAA college football in which each team gets the ball at their opponents’ 25-yard line with one offensive possession to score — only to end up on the losing end and miss the playoffs. But after beating Valwood earlier in the season, and then falling to Tiftarea later, the Warriors found themselves in the same spot.

“We take nothing away from those teams,” Bell said. “And we know that if we had taken care of business in Week 7 or 8, or whatever it was, against Tiftarea, we wouldn’t be in the situation. So no excuses, but I still don’t think it’s a good way to settle things.”

Fellow GISA competitors Westwood and Terrell Academy, meanwhile, benefitted from the three-way playoff system this year as both teams earned a home playoff game Friday following their own shootout Monday.  Westwood captured the GISA Region A South championship by beating Bethesda Day, 7-0, and Terrell Academy, 3-0, while the Eagles beat Bethesda, 7-6, to secure No. 2. Westwood (5-4) now will host John Hancock Academy (5-6) on Friday in Camilla at 7:30 p.m., while Terrell Academy (7-3) welcomes Nathanael Greene (6-5) to Dawson, also on Friday at the same time.

But even though the three-way playoff worked advantageously for the Wildcats and Eagles, that doesn’t make it any more popular among both teams’ coaches.

“It’s just not a good way to decide it,” Terrell Academy coach Bill Murdock said. “We could’ve easily been No. 3, no matter where you feel you belong. Any team can win those.”

For Westwood coach Ross Worsham, Monday’s set of games was the first he’s been involved in. And while he also sees the flaws in the system, he says it’s better than the other way of deciding who moves on and who goes home.

“Those things are kind of a risky deal. You never know what’s gonna happen,” Worsham said. “Not only did we have to drive two-and-half hours to play one series and determine a winner, but now it’s Tuesday night and we’ve got to turn around and play again Friday.

“Yeah, we came out on the good end this time, and I like it better than flipping a coin — which is our other option if all three coaches agree — but who wants to decide a region title like that? There’s got to be some other way, and it’s something that should be looked at in the future.”

The future for Terrell Academy and Westwood is what the focus was in practice Tuesday, as both teams got back to work in preparation for Friday.

For the Eagles, Murdock says he knows very little about Nathanael Greene other than its offense will be hard to stop.

“They run all kinds of multi-formations and Wing-T (setups), and that’s tough to prepare for,” said Murdock, who undoubtedly will need a big game from superstar QB Keaton Icard. “Other than a few kids out sick, we’re pretty healthy. Now, we just have to go out and get it done.”

As for the Wildcats, Worsham’s take on his team’s opponent was simple.

“What we know is that they’re a fine football team,” Worsham began, “as with any football team you face off against during this time of the year. They’re all good.”

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