By: Joseph Stuckey

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Bulloch Academy Gators are heading full steam ahead toward the GIAA 4-A playoffs.

After their 53-0 victory over the St. Andrew’s Lions in Savannah, the Gators moved to 8-1 on the season and 2-0 in region play.

The Gators have outscored their past 4 opponents 185-14, and the last opponent to score multiple times on the Gators’ defense was Westfield School back in early September.

The Gators’ defense has only allowed an average of 13.5 points per game this season, which could be the recipe for the Gators to claim their second state championship in 3 years.

Right now, the Gators are focused on winning their third region title in their last 4 seasons (Frederica won it last season).

They have already defeated Savannah Country Day and St. Andrews; only their home matchup against Frederica Academy remains for the Gators to claim the region title. Just for reference, Frederica did lose pretty lopsidedly to Savannah Country Day on Friday night.

In terms of playoffs, the Gators are in good shape and hope John Milledge Academy will play Stratford Academy as tough as they did against the Gators back in September.

Stratford takes on JMA on 10/23, and that could be the deciding factor in the 4-A race for the #1 seed.

Currently, Stratford is #1 in 4-A and holds a 58.45-55.88 lead over Bulloch Academy in MaxPreps rankings. For reference, the current #3 seed is St. Anne-Pacelli, with a rating of 47.70, so there is a decent margin.

Also, Pacelli lost to Brookstone on Friday night, so I expect when the rankings get updated, there will even be a larger gap between #2 and #3. This matters because GIAA uses MaxPreps rankings to determine playoff seeding.

The Gators’ goal is a top-2 seed, which would mean home quarterfinal and semifinal games in Statesboro with the State Championship at GSU’s Paulson Stadium.

So, obviously, there is a good chance that, with the Gators returning home to take on Frederica, the Gators won’t have to leave Statesboro.

The other good thing for the Gators is looking at the potential playoff bracket. Currently, if the Gators get a top 2 seed, they’re in line to face Savannah Country Day or Tattnall Square Academy in the quarterfinal round.

The Gators have beaten these two teams by a combined score of 82-21 this season. They could also face Strong Rock in a potential semifinal game, which BA beat on the road 42-7.

So, with all this being said, times are good right now in Statesboro, especially with the possibility of 4 straight home games that start this upcoming Friday with the Knights of Frederica visiting The Swamp.