While last week’s victory against Madison County was important, it did not guarantee Apalachee High School a ticket to the Class AAAA state playoffs.
As Wildcat head coach Shane Davis put it, “It guaranteed us a play-in game.”
Apalachee will travel to Salem this Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest in Conyers. A win this week and the Wildcats will punch their ticket for the postseason. A loss and things suddenly get more cloudly.
“We still need to win this week,” Davis said. “If we win Friday, then we will be third. If we lose then are are several scenarios which could come into play.”
Several schools are still battling for the final two playoff spots from 8-AAAA including Apalachee, Cedar Shoals, Salem, Heritage and Habersham Central.
Davis is more concerned with defeating Salem than he is with all the different scenarios of a possible play-in game.
“Offensively, Salem uses different sets,” the Wildcat head coach said. “They are a running team and they are strong enough at it to put you in a bind. They have a good quarterback and quality receivers. They are big up front and come off the football extremely well.”
Davis noted Salem has had a couple of close losses this fall.
Defensively, the Seminoles play out of a 4-4 scheme and likely won’t alter from it much, the coach said.
The Wildcats will look to have at least some of the explosive offensive output they had last Friday when they put 55 points on the scoreboard against Madison County.
The game was a complete reversal from the previous week when Apalachee was held scoreless by Heritage in tough playing conditions.
The game will be broadcast live on WIMO AM 1300.
