Lovett Looks to Secure State Title Shot

Lovett looks to take another step forward on Friday night in quest of the school’s first state football championship since 1970.

The second-ranked Lions, 12-1, will play host to No. 7 Brooks County, 12-1, in a Class AA Georgia High School Association State Playoff semifinal game at Kilpatrick Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the winner will advance to face the winner of Lamar County and Benedictine, on Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Georgia Dome for the state championship.

This will be the third time in six seasons that one of these teams will eliminate the other in the state playoffs. The Lions knocked out Brooks County in 2010, two years after the Trojans from Quitman, Ga., had eliminated Lovett.

The Lions are off a 35-33 road win over Laney last week to advance to the semifinals for the fifth time since 2005 under coach Mike Muschamp. The Lions are just 1-8 in semifinal games since winning their only state title 43 years ago.

Win or lose, the Lions know they’ll be back next year to make another run in Class AA. But it looks as if in its region, Lovett will swap out one Buckhead private school rival for another.

The GHSA this week released the reclassification of its 451 member schools into regions for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. The new region realignment plan has Pace Academy moving up in class to Region 6-AA, while Westminster leaves that region and advances to AAA, where the school competed from 2000-08.

Joining the Lions and Knights in the region will be Holy Innocents’, which like Pace, was a part of AA from 2000-08. GHSA's plan is tentative until after schools are allowed to appeal their placements. Final region alignments are due in January.

Other area Buckhead and Sandy Springs area schools staying in their current classifications include North Atlanta, Riverwood and North Springs remaining in AAAAA, and Galloway, Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Atlanta International School staying in A.

Region 7-AAAAA (proposed)

Cambridge

Creekview

Forsyth Central

Kell

North Atlanta

North Springs

Riverwood

River Ridge

Sequoyah

Sprayberry

Region 4-AAA (proposed)

Sub-region B

Blessed Trinity

Coretta Scott King

Decatur

Douglass, Atlanta

Therrell

Washington, Atlanta

Westminster

Region 6-AA (proposed)

BEST Academy

Greater Atlanta Christian

Hapeville Charter

Holy Innocents'

KIPP Atlanta Charter

Lovett

Pace Academy

Wesleyan

Region 5-A (proposed)

Atlanta International

Ben Franklin

Dekalb Arts

Fulton Leadership Academy

Galloway

Mt. Vernon Presbyterian

W.D. Mohammed

Whitefield Academy

Yeshiva