Both local teams were looking to finish the regular season on a high note, but their opponents had other ideas Friday night. With the regular season coming to a close, Chattooga took on region 7AA juggernaut Calhoun, while Trion traveled down to Mt. Paran for a rematch of a loss from earlier in the season in a region crossover game. 

Chattooga, facing a daunting task against the Calhoun Yellow Jackets, tried to make a little noise early by going for an onside kick on the opening kickoff. The ball was batted around and the Indians had an opportunity to recover the ball, but it eventually squirted out of bounds, giving Calhoun possession. Calhoun would waste no time in scoring the first points of the game on a 52 yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. It would prove to be the first of many scores for Calhoun. In fact, they would score again only seconds later to make the score 14-0 Calhoun with only 23 seconds off the clock in the first quarter. Calhoun would continue to pile on the points, building a 63-0 halftime lead. After the half, Calhoun would not score again. The Indians would get on the board late in the fourth quarter to make the final score 63-7 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.  

Calhoun became region champions again with a perfect region record (7-0). Dade County, with a win over Model Friday night, took the second spot in the region. Model would place third in the region and Pepperell took the fourth spot due to the tiebreaker with Coosa, whom they beat earlier in the season. Chattooga finished the season with a 2-8 record, with a 2-5 record in the region, which put them sixth in the region, ahead of Armuchee and Murray County. With a lot of young talent returning next year, the Indians set their sights on the 2014 campaign.

Trion faced off against Mt. Paran in Marietta Friday night in a return match from earlier in the season. Trion would score the first points of the game with a touchdown with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter. The lead was short-lived though, as Mt. Paran took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to tie the game at seven all. The score at the half would be tied at seven. Mt. Paran would come out in the second half and drive the field, but a fourth down pass attempt would be picked off by the Dawgs in the endzone and run back over 100 yards for a touchdown. Trion looked to be in control with a 14-7 lead, but it would not hold up. Mt. Paran would get on the board again with a field goal, cutting the lead to 14-10 in favor of the Bulldogs. The fateful decision for the Dawgs proved to be a failed fourth down conversion near midfield about midway through the fourth quarter. Failing to convert the fourth down, the Dawgs gave the ball over to Mt. Paran and they capitalized with a touchdown to take their first lead of the game, 17-10. Mt. Paran would tack on another score to finish off the game with a final score of 24-10 over the Bulldogs.

Trion will be in action in the first round of the playoffs, though at the time of this report, the final power rankings and the playoff matchups are not available. It is worth noting that the four losses suffered by the Bulldogs this year all came to private schools in Class A (Darlington, Christian Heritage, and twice to Mt. Paran). Against other public schools, Trion was perfect on the year. The wildcard now in the playoffs is travel. Trion will have to go south for the duration of the playoffs, barring upsets that would let them host a game at home. Last year, Trion had games at Irwin County and Emmanual County Institute. The Dawgs have been road warriors before, and it looks like they will have to put on their traveling shoes once again. We will have updates on opponents and schedules as they become available and you can catch all the playoff action on AM 1180 and online at www.chattoogainfo.com.  

 Northwest Georgia Scoreboard:

Chattooga 7 Calhoun 63

Trion 14 Mt. Paran 24

Armuchee 13 Pepperell 48

Murray Co. 3 Coosa 60

Model 3 Dade Co. 13

Darlington 37 Whitfield Academy 7

Gordon Lee 7 King's Ridge 21

Lafayette 35 Johnson 34

Dalton 24 Gilmer Co. 10

Heritage 21 River Ridge 44

Ridgeland 27 Cedartown 41

Callaway 47 Rockmart 6

Coahulla Creek 16 Adairsville 42

Ringgold 14 Cartersville 33

North Murray 42 Gordon Central 14

LFO 35 Sonoraville 60

Rome 35 Woodland 36

Mt. Zion 26 Mt. Pisgah 41