Jason Fitzgerald was watching this week’s opponent, Red Bank, in its game with Cleveland when he stopped to answer the phone.

“Are y’all in the playoffs,” was the question he heard.

“It depends,” the Rhea County coach responded. “It depends on what happens with (Rhea and) White County. It depends on what happens with Red Bank this week and Cleveland next week.”

The way Fitzgerald has it figured his Golden Eagles could go to Cleveland in two weeks to play for the championship or to play for second and third place. So much depends on what his team can do Friday with defending region champ Red Bank, a team that last lost a Region 4-4A game since 2004.

“It isn’t often that Cleveland cheers for Rhea County but they might be cheering for the Golden Eagles — at least a little — this week,” Fitzgerald said. “This Red Bank-Cleveland game was something. Some times when a guy has won four championships and you think he’s on the ropes, he just won’t give up that title. But like I told our team earlier, to be the man, you got to beat the man.”

Red Bank came from behind, scoring on the game’s final play, to upend Cleveland 20-19 and drop the Blue Raiders into third place in the region.

Those three teams, along with Hixson and Walker Valley, are going to cram a lot of drama into the last three weeks of the regular season. Walker Valley beat Hixson last week and scrambled into a tie with the Wildcats for fourth place. Based on head-to-head, Walker Valley would get the playoff nod, but then Hixson still has to play Cleveland this week and Red Bank to end the regular season, while Walker Valley has already played the three likely championship contenders.

Dates to circle: Oct. 17 — Rhea County at Red Bank, Cleveland at Hixson; Oct. 24 — Rhea County at Cleveland; Oct. 31 — Red Bank at Hixson.

Ooltewah can go a long way toward securing its fate with a home win Friday against unbeaten Farragut, but Friday’s winner still won’t have anything clinched because both of those teams still must play Soddy-Daisy and Oak Ridge, the other likely playoff participants from Region 2-5A.

McMinn County, which beat Oak Ridge two weeks ago but then lost to Soddy-Daisy Friday, could find itself on the outside looking in. The Cherokees, in addition to the Soddy-Daisy loss, also have lost to Farragut and Ooltewah and they must hope that Oak Ridge loses at least a couple of its remaining three games.

Dates to circle: Oct. 17 — Farragut at Ooltewah, Soddy-Daisy at Oak Ridge; Oct. 24 — Ooltewah at Oak Ridge, Farragut at Soddy-Daisy; Oct. 31 — Soddy-Daisy at Ooltewah, Oak Ridge at Farragut.

Howard took its first loss Friday to Tyner, but it was a non-region game and the Hustlin’ Tigers are still unbeaten along with McMinn Central in Region 3-3A. Howard slipped past the other serious title contender, Polk, a couple of weeks ago. Central continues to roll along but still has to play Polk — the week before meeting Howard. The best one can figure is that Central, Howard and Polk should take the top three spots. The battle for fourth continues between Sequoyah, East Ridge and Notre Dame and Sequoyah, which beat East Ridge earlier this year, still has to play Polk and Howard. East Ridge is in the running following Friday’s win over Notre Dame but the Sequoyah loss might kill the Pioneers.

Dates to circle: Oct. 24 — Polk at McMinn Central; Oct. 31 — McMinn Central at Howard.

South Pittsburg has played the two toughest teams on its 2008 schedule, coming from behind to beat Tyner and holding on to beat Boyd-Buchanan, the Region 3-2A favorites. The Pirates also beat rival Marion County, which lost to Boyd but beat Tyner.

Date to circle: Oct. 31 — Tyner at Boyd-Buchanan, Marion County at Sequatchie County. Those are the region’s four likely playoff participants — if Region 3-2A gets four. Remember, this is the region where are three are guaranteed a playoff spot and the two aforementioned games will decide the pecking order.

It’s possible if not likely, though, that Grace Academy will go into its game with South Pittsburg with a playoff berth and a first-round host’s role secured. But whether the Golden Eagles get the region championship may depend on South Pittsburg, the defending Class A state champion and the current owner of a 22-game win streak.

Standing between Grace and such a showdown are Copper Basin and Whitwell, a combined 1-5 in Region 3-1A and 3-11 overall.

Dates to circle: Oct. 17 — Silverdale Baptist at South Pittsburg; Oct. 24 — Lookout Valley at Silverdale; Oct. 31 — South Pittsburg at Grace.

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