The season hinges on the Dawson County High School Tigers' final game of the season. The team will match up against West Hall (5-4; 3-3).

According to the Tigers' coaching staff, it is pretty simple, whichever team wins Friday night will advance to the Class AAA state football playoffs. The losers season will come to an end.

The Spartans under head coach Tony Lotte are stumbling into the final game with the Tigers after losing three of its final four games. West is only averaging 12 points per game on offense during that span.

West Hall has lost to Buford (63-0), North Hall (35-21) and White County (14-0) while picking up a win over East Hall (27-7) over the last four weeks.

To make matters worse, Lotte may be without starting quarterback Zach English, who hobbled off the field in Friday's 14-0 loss to White County. His status is unsure for this week's game at Tigers Stadium in Dawsonville. Lotte didn't play the last two quarters against the Warriors.

In Friday's loss to White County, the Spartans managed 182 total yards of offense.

Tiger defensive coordinator Jed Lacey has to devise a scheme to control tight end Hunter Atkinson from West Hall. Atkinson, a converted offensive lineman, hauled in seven receptions for 83 yards in last Friday's game with White County.

The Warriors will run a multiple-I on offense and a 3-4 on defense.

If West Hall wins it will be the first winning season for the program since 2002.

"Coming into this one, even if we beat (White County) we were going to have to win next week," Lotte said to the Times of Gainesville last week. "Next week is the game. And it's not that we didn't have any emphasis on this game, I don't want to give that impression because we did, but next week is it. Even if we won this one, we have to beat Dawson next week."

White County can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win Nov. 8 over winless Banks County or a North Hall loss against top-ranked Buford.

DCN regional staff contributed to this story.