The Middle Georgia high school football season is not fully into region play, yet there are plenty of interesting games on Friday’s schedule.

The top games include Northside at Westside, Warner Robins at Peach County, Washington County at Baldwin, Southwest at Northeast, Dublin at West Laurens, Wilcox County at Dooly County and Mount de Sales at Westfield. None of those are region games, so they don’t really mean much in the playoff picture, except for the new GHSA Class A playoff points system. But those games still mean a whole lot to the players and coaches.

Some of them are rivalry games. Some are showdowns of top teams.

Let’s see how much they mean to the fans.

There will be a big crowd in Fort Valley for the Warner Robins-Peach County game. That’s a given. Baldwin-Washington County should draw a good crowd, as well, and the Dublin-West Laurens game is a rivalry contest that should interest fans. Wilcox County and Dooly County facing off in non-region play might be the best game in the state this week, and even though it features small teams from Class A, it will be a hot ticket.

Then there are the two key games in Macon. We’ll take a wait-and-see approach with them.

Westside has come out of the gate strong and is set for its toughest test of this early season against a typically formidable Northside team. The question won’t come on the field because it should be a solid game. The question will focus on the stands ... on the home side. We all know the Northside fans will be there, but will the Seminoles’ fans show up to support their team in a game those players will need that support?

Let’s hope so. It hasn’t always happened in the past. But that needs to change. This team has a chance to have a good year, and it deserves someone paying attention.

Across town, there will be another big game. Northeast-Southwest certainly has an old-time rivalry feel to it, and those teams have played every year since 1970. So it would make sense that there would be a big crowd at Henderson Stadium.

Again, that’s the big question mark. Two city teams. In a big rivalry game in town. It should add up to a big crowd to support those players and coaches.

More often than not, however, that has been lacking for those teams and all of the Bibb County teams. Let’s hope that changes Friday night.

Contact Daniel Shirley at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com