I’ll bet that Friday night is going to provide the most compelling action in the high school football regular season. Both sides of Region 7-AAA will start taking shape with the outcome of this week’s games. Region 8-AA will also see an early front-runner for the title hunt emerge.

Four great games are going to leave fans scratching their heads deciding which game to catch.

The most interesting game on the schedule this week is Gainesville’s (5-0, 1-0 Region 7B-AAA) journey to play West Forsyth (5-0, 1-0) in Cumming. Two undefeated teams with very different styles are going to duke it out to see who remains at the top.

Did anyone see this scenario playing out when the season started? I highly doubt it.

If you had asked me about this one five weeks ago, I would have just assumed it was going to be an easy win for the Big Red. But the Wolverines have a big, bruising junior running back, Ben Emert, who could draw an easy comparison to Flowery Branch’s Daniel Drummond.

West Forsyth also has a veteran quarterback and offensive line. Gainesville will certainly get pushed for four quarters in this game. It would probably be worth the 45-minute trip to southern Forsyth County to catch this one in person.

In Region 7B-AAA, fans that want to stay in Hall County can check out the Flowery Branch (4-1, 1-0) and West Hall game in Oakwood. This should be a great matchup with the high-power offense that both teams bring to the field.

The Spartans (3-2, 0-1) surprised many people with their ability to get off to a 3-0 start this season, and can be counted on to stick around and fight for a playoff spot in the stronger side of Region 7-AAA.

The Falcons were picked to be a playoff team when the season started, and are certainly going to have a fight on its hands to earn it.

In Region 7A-AAA, North Hall (2-2, 1-0 Region 7A-AAA) will goes up the road to face White County (2-2) Friday in Cleveland. This is a much more compelling matchup than in the past few seasons.

The Trojans ripped the Warriors to shreds the past two seasons, but that’s not going to be the case this time around. North Hall and White County look to be neck-and-neck and the winner is going to take a leg up for one of the playoff spots. This subregion is very compelling with the parity between North Hall, White County, Chestatee and maybe even Creekview.

Don’t forget about the battle between Riverside Military (4-1, 3-1 Region 8-AA) and Jefferson (5-0, 4-0) in four days at Jefferson Memorial Stadium. I’ll be heading down Hwy. 129 to cover this one in person. The thing that catches my attention with the consistency that the Eagles have played with this season, matched by the sheer domination by the Dragons this season. I think Riverside Military is doing a good job proving they belong back in the GHSA. But do they have enough to knock off Jefferson at home?

Johnson’s (1-4, 0-1) trip to play Creekview (0-4, 0-1) in Canton could also prove to be an interesting game. The Grizzlies are still looking for their first win.

These are just some of the story lines taking shape for this week. It should be a great week for high school football.