The undefeated East Paulding Raiders are set to face the undefeated Allatoona Buccaneers in the final game of the season Friday, Nov. 9, with the region’s top playoff seed on the line.

For the last game of the regular season, the top two teams in the region standings will face off.

For first-year head coach Chuck Goddard, this has been a great season.

“It has been truly rewarding to have such a good first season. Our players and coaches have done a great job,” Goddard said.

It was questionable if Allatoona would make the 9-0 mark as they had to face a tough North Paulding team last week on Nov. 2, but the Bucs pulled off a 56-21 victory.

“Allatoona has an excellent football team. They are well coached and their players play extremely hard. It will be a great challenge for us,” Goddard said.

While this will be a tough game for both teams, East Paulding has had a better year statistically in both points scored and points allowed. Prior to week nine, the Raiders had scored 342 points while the Buccaneers had 282. When it comes to points allowed, East Paulding only let through 69 points while Allatoona let 95 points slide by them.

Aside from the game against Allatoona, East Paulding has had some players making great plays for them this season and putting up good numbers.

Prior to playing Lithia Springs, senior Kamani Thomas had 137 carries for 1,351 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Kyler Neal had 53 carries for 690 yards with 16 touchdowns. Mitchell Webb had completed 47 of 74 pass attempts with 16 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

Another player mentioned by Goddard was senior defensive back Lorenz Suttles.

“[He’s a] play maker on defense and creates havoc for the offense. [He’s a] Good kid, with a great personality who brings energy to our team,” Goddard said.

With their appearance in the playoffs clear, the Raiders have used each game as a building block and a learning tool to help them advance to the following week, but they have never prepared specifically for the playoffs. “We talk about the postseason, but we prepare one game at a time,” Goddard said.

After defeating Lithia Springs 58-14 on Nov. 2, the only game left for East Paulding before the playoffs is Allatoona. While they both go in undefeated, someone has to lose.