GUYTON, Ga. – As an assistant football coach at Prince Avenue Christian, South Effingham head coach Loren Purvis experienced a postseason run shaped by power ratings.
Beating teams with strong records helped elevate his squad’s rating and improve its playoff position.
Now Purvis is hoping to position the Mustangs for their first state playoff appearance since 2019. A formula that factors in a team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage and its opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage produces each team’s postseason ranking.
New playoff system changes landscape
The Georgia High School Association, along with statewide realignment, has instituted a new playoff format for the upcoming season. Eight region champions, along with the 24 highest-rated teams that did not win their region, will fill 32-team playoff brackets across seven classifications.
Under the new system, the top four finishers in each region will no longer automatically advance to the state playoffs.
A decade ago, winless South Effingham advanced to the postseason by defeating winless Statesboro.
Scheduling strategy becomes more complex
Some high school football observers argue postseason rankings provide a more accurate way to determine playoff fields. All GHSA sports using 32-team brackets will now rely on postseason rankings.
South Effingham and Effingham County baseball programs likely would have benefited from the system last spring, when both teams were eliminated in region play despite qualifying power ratings.
“It was hard to put together a schedule because some opposing coaches were hesitant,” Purvis said. “The GHSA was having meetings about changing the PSR formula, but I wanted to make sure we had a plan moving forward.”
Non-region games offer key tests
South Effingham’s toughest non-region matchup appears to be its opener against Screven County, which finished 12-1 last season and reached the Class A Division I Elite Eight.
The Mustangs also play Johnson (2-8) and Windsor Forest (4-6) outside of region play.
Effingham County, which shares Region 6A-1 with South Effingham, has non-region games against Richmond Hill (6-4), Tift County (3-7) and New Hampstead (2-8).
Richmond Hill and Tift County compete in Class 7A, the state’s highest classification with the largest enrollment bases.
Region 6A-1 realignment adjusts competition
When Purvis coached at Prince Avenue Christian, lower-classification programs received bonus points for playing higher-classification opponents. He said that will not be the case this season.
“Our region didn’t get any easier, picking up Grovetown (from the highest classification),” Purvis said. “We only had three non-region games, so I tried to pick teams that would give us either a good look for the region or a competitive game.”
Class 6A Region 1 now consists of Bradwell Institute, Brunswick, Effingham County, Glynn Academy, Greenbrier, Grovetown, Lakeside and South Effingham. Statesboro and Evans have dropped to Class 5A.
There are 63 teams in the classification. Brunswick will be eligible to compete for the region title and advance to the state playoffs.
