By HARVEY SIMPSON
Dispatch Sports Editor
Region alignment changes are in store for all three area public schools for the next two and possibly the next four seasons.
As it currently stands, Crisp County will stay in Region 1-AAA where it will inherit one new member — Americus-Sumter, which is dropping from Class AAAA — and lose two former ones — Peach and Perry.
Peach’s Trojans, who will be playing Gainesville for the Class AAA state title Saturday , will be moving to Region 2, Division A.
Perry’s Panthers, who are in the market for a new head coach after going 1-9, also have been assigned to Region 2, but in Division B.
As currently proposed, the biggest change affecting area schools involves Wilcox County’s Patriots who at the moment have been assigned to Region 2, Division B, along with Turner, Irwin, Bacon and Telfair counties.
Division A of that proposed region would consist of football-playing schools Charlton, Clinch, Atkinson and Lanier and non-football participants Ware Magnet and Echols County.
Patriot athletic director Donnie Clack said, however, that Wilcox school officials may petition the GHSA to move them to newly-proposed Region 4, Division A, which at the moment is comprised of Dooly, Hawkinsville, Schley and Taylor. Region 4, Division B, would include Pacelli, Brookstone, Chattahoochee, Greenville, Central Talbotton and Pacelli.
“It would certainly make sense for us to be in a sub-region that includes Dooly, Hawkinsville, Schley, Taylor and Macon counties,” Clack said. “To be honest, though, we haven’t given the new proposed regions a lot of thought as at the moment we’re focusing all our attention on our state championship game.”
Wilcox, which faces Savannah Christian Saturday at 1 p.m. for the Class A state championship, only has until Tuesday to petition for a region assignment change.
The GHSA executive committee will meet on Wednesday to hear any appeals from member schools for re-assignment.
They also are expected to vote at that time on whether to keep the new alignments for two years or to extend them to four years.
Final region alignments will be released on Jan. 12 at a meeting in Forsyth.
