VALDOSTA — The high school football regular season is quickly winding down. Many of the local area teams have just three regular season games remaining, although some have four.

Teams like Lowndes, Valwood, Brooks County and Cook have all positioned themselves nicely in the playoff race, while others like Valdosta and Clinch County are in the need of wins to improve their playoff standings.

Others like Berrien and Lanier County have nearly been eliminated from playoff contention.

Friday night’s action is headlined by the Coffee Trojans visiting the Lowndes Vikings at Martin Stadium and Westwood visiting Valwood at Goddard Field.

Other action includes: Valdosta at Tift County, Brooks County at Pelham, Jefferson County at Cook, Fitzgerald at Berrien, Lanier County at Irwin County and Wilcox County at Clinch County.



Coffee Trojans (5-2) at Lowndes Vikings (7-0)

The Lowndes Vikings could possibly clinch a home game in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs Friday with a win over the Coffee Trojans, who are now under the direction of head coach Robby Pruitt.

Lowndes is undefeated and coming off a win over the Valdosta Wildcats last week. Coffee is 5-2 and has wins over Whitewater (41-3), Ware County (21-14), Mundy’s Mill (38-13), Tift County (24-7) and Brunswick (42-26). The Trojans lost the third week of the season to reigning Class AAA state champion Burke County. They also lost to Camden County (39-13) two weeks ago.

The Vikings are 20-6 all-time against the Trojans.



Valdosta Wildcats (3-3) at Tift County Blue Devils (2-5)

The Wildcats are looking for a bounce back win this week when they visit the struggling Tift County Blue Devils. The Wildcats are 3-3 this season, while Tift County is 2-5 and has lost four straight games. In their four straight losses, the Blue Devils are being outscored by 31.5 points per game. Two weeks ago, the Blue Devils were blown out by Colquitt County, 49-7. Last week, they lost to top-ranked Camden County 47-0. Friday’s game in Tifton starts a tough finish to the season for the Wildcats, who finish with three of their final four games on the road.



Westwood Wildcats (6-1) at Valwood Valiants (7-0)

Valwood goes for a perfect 8-0 record Friday night when the Valiants host the Westwood Wildcats on senior night at Goddard Field. Friday will be the final home regular season game for the playoff bound Valiants, the state’s top-ranked team in GISA Class AA. Westwood is one of the toughest games of the Valwood schedule this season. The Wildcats are 6-1 this season and have won five straight games. Last week, Westwood routed Sherwood Christian 42-0, following up a 48-21 win over Brookwood, who Valwood visits next week. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night.



Brooks County Trojans (7-0) at Pelham Hornets (1-5)

The second-ranked Trojans are flying high following their final-minute win over Fitzgerald last week, which improved them to 7-0 with three region games remaining. Brooks County’s toughest part of Friday night will be the drive to Pelham and not looking ahead to next week’s highly anticipated game against the Cook Hornets.

Pelham is 1-5 in their first season in Region 1-AA. Last week, the Hornets were blown out by Cook, 42-10, which followed a 40-11 loss to Fitzgerald three weeks ago. The Hornets opened the season with a 40-0 win over Baconton Charter but have since lost five straight games by a combined 101 points.



Jefferson County Warriors (3-4) at Cook Hornets (5-1)

Cook got back on track with a 42-10 win over Pelham last week. This week, the Hornets play their final non-region game of the year when they host Jefferson County, a member of Region 3-AAA. The Warriors are 3-4 this season, including a 57-14 loss to Washington County last week.

Cook seems to have rebounded nicely from the loss to Fitzgerald two weeks ago, and will visit second-ranked Brooks County next week in Quitman.



Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes (5-2) at Berrien Rebels (2-4)

Fitzgerald left Brooks County with a sour taste in its mouth last Friday night, giving up a 70-yard punt return to Brooks County’s Derric Herring with 18 seconds remaining. This week, the Purple Hurricanes are looking to get back on track and remain in the region championship hunt — although they have an outside chance — with a visit to Berrien Friday night.

Fitzgerald is 26-5-2 all-time against the Rebels and hasn’t lost to Berrien since 1995. After starting the season with a 2-1 record, Berrien has lost three straight games. The Rebels have allowed at least 35 points in all three games.



Lanier County Bulldogs (2-5) at Irwin County Indians (4-2)

This game features the top team in Region 2-A and the bottom team in the region. Lanier County is in last place in the region with a 2-5 overall record and a 0-3 record in region play. The Bulldogs have scored just seven total points in the past three weeks and 13 total points since their last win, which came Sept. 7 over Calhoun.

This week, the Bulldogs visit the first place Indians, who knocked off Clinch County last week. The Indians are 4-2 this season with wins over Clinch County, Telfair County, Wilkinson County and Taylor County.



Wilcox County Patriots (4-2) at Clinch County Panthers (3-3)

The Panthers are looking to remain in the playoff hunt with a pivotal game this Friday night against Wilcox County. The Panthers are 3-3 this season, but 1-1 in region play. A win Friday night could go a long way with the Panthers’ playoff bid. For Wilcox County, the Patriots have won three of their last four games, including two straight — both shutouts. The Patriots blanked Lanier County 40-0 and Turner County 38-0 the past two weeks.

Clinch County is 12-10-1 all-time against the Patriots. The two teams have split their previous four meetings.