Both local high schools have teams in the Georgia High School Association football playoffs, and both will cheer their teams in events this week.

Up first, Richmond Hill High School will hold a community bonfire  from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday on the multipurpose field behind the school to celebrate the Wildcats' game against Thomas County Central.  All are invited and RHHS asks for people to park in front of either campus and walk around to the bus ramp.


Bryan County High School has yet to finalize plans, but will give its team a sendoff Friday, according to principal Dawn Hadley. Hadly asked Redskin fans to check the school website for more details. 

Richmond Hill is hosting its first home playoff game since 1996, when Richmond Hill High School principal William McGrath was head coach. The Wildcats (9-1) are coming off their best-ever regular season and a second-place finish in Region 3-AAAAA. They're playing host to one of the state's most storied high school programs in Thomas County Central. The Yellow Jackets have five state titles, the most recent in 1997. 

Bryan County (8-2) is back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2007. The Redskins, whi this year equaled the program's best ever regular season mark set in 1992, travel to Cochran to take on Bleckley County (8-2), which features Clemson commit Tavon Ross. 

This is the first time the two teams have advanced to the state playoffs in the same season, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association.