Brand new regions for Cedartown, Rockmart
With re-classification announcements in recent days also came time for new regions to form ahead of the 2020 football season.
Rockmart went up a classification and Cedartown stayed the same in 3A and 4A respectively, but now are back to playing teams they know well in Northwest Georgia.
With the Bulldogs athletics program staying in Class 4A and other teams moving up and down based on student populations, a new 7-4A has
formed with teams from all the way up near the Tennessee line and back down to Carrollton.
New teams in 7-4A include Central Carroll, Heritage-Catoosa, Northwest Whitfield, Pickens, Ridgeland, and Southeast Whitfield. Cedartown takes up a seventh spot in a move northward for the Bulldogs.
Athletic Director at Cedartown Doyle Kelley — also the head football coach — said he was excited about the move back toward traditional opponents in Northwest Georgia for all schools.
“This is what we used to play a long time ago,” he said. “It worked out real well, and we look forward to being in that region with those guys up there for the next two years.”
Kelley did report that he heard Southeast Whitfield might not play in a region at all and have all non-conference games.
Distance between the schools will not be ideal. The closest region opponent for Cedartown will be Central, who is around 40 miles away. The next closest high school is Southeast Whitfield at 60 miles away, and the furthest is Ridgeland at 80 miles away.
Competition-wise for male sports, Region 7-4A is expected to be friendlier than Cedartown’s current region.
In football, the top-dogs this year were the Ridgeland Panthers who finished 6-4 (5-1) and were trounced by Sandy Creek early in the season. The 2018 baseball champions of the region were Northwest Whitfield, who finished 14-4 in region play.
The boys basketball region champions were LaFayette, who wound up dropping to 3A; the secondbest team was Heritage, who went 7-5 in the region.
As for some of the main female sports, the competition should be rather tough. In softball this season, Heritage-Catoosa won the 4A State Title and cruised through region play with a 12-0 record.
The volleyball champions this season were LaFayette, but the best squad left in Region 7-4A is Northwest Whitfield who went 31-11 in 2019. In girls basketball, Northwest Whitfield and Heritage were the class of the far-Northwest Georgia region.
All of these teams should be somewhat familiar foes to the Bulldogs. In years past and region line-ups made previously by the GHSA, Cedartown was a regular foe against teams in the new 7-4A.
Ridgeland, Heritage-Catoosa, Northwest and Southeast Whitfield have at one time all played in region competition with the Bulldogs.
As recently as the shake-up in 2013, the Bulldogs were in a 7-4A that included all the teams Cedartown now plays as a Division B, minus Dalton. They were also in Division A with Pickens County.
In Rockmart, the situation is different. They’re facing a move up to Class 3A and a whole new set of foes that are familiar faces, they haven’t been traditional opponents in several years.
Rockmart finds itself the southernmost school in a new 6-AAA that includes Adairsville, Coahulla Creek, LaFayette, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, Murray County, North Murray, Ringgold and Sonoraville.
Their move up places the Jackets slightly further away from opponents than in the past four years within 7-AA much closer by, but are likely to still draw in fans from all corners of Northwest Georgia for games in all of the competitive sports. That’s the expectation of Rockmart Athletic
Director Barry Williams.
“It’s going to be a very competitive region for us with nine teams,” Williams said. “It makes a lot of sense. It will increase our travel a little bit, but not by much.”
He added that in the past all the teams that Rockmart have previously faced in the new region have “traveled well” and they expect the level of competition will continue to grow facing new foes and playing up in classification against new schools.
“Our kids are excited, the coaches are excited,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
In football alone, Rockmart’s new region alignment only allows for two non-region games. One of those will continue to be the annual rivalry with Cedartown, and the other is still being figured out for the coming year’s schedule.
The Jackets have traditionally played against foes like Adairsville, Sonoraville, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and LaFayette in all sports, in most recent times in non-region play or tournaments in softball and baseball. The Jackets last played in a region featuring North Murray, Sonoraville, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Adairsville when it played in a 7-AA with two divisions.
Both Cedartown and Rockmart are starting their new regions with the kickoff of the 2020 football season.
In other new regions, Rome and Carrollton will have to adjust to life in Region 5-6A by taking on opponents such as Alexander, Dalton, Douglas County, East Paulding, Paulding County, and South Paulding.
Chattooga, Coosa, Dade County, Gordon Central, Model, and Pepperell will remain members of Region 7-2A. Bremen, Callaway, Haralson County, Heard County, and Temple will comprise of Region 5-2A.
Darlington moves to Region 7 of 1A Private, and will meet Christian Heritage, Mount Paran Christian, North Cobb Christian, and Walker. Armuchee and Trion will now be members of Region 6-1A Public along with B.E.S.T Academy, Bowdon, Gordon Lee, and Mount Zion (Carroll).
The GHSA will hear appeals for schools wishing a lateral transfer at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Additionally, 1A schools who wished to jump to 2A (such as Darlington) will be heard in the upcoming meeting. However, no appeals are expected to be made for any schools in Region 7-4A.