MOULTRIE — The Lowndes High football team will begin its quest for a second straight Class AAAAA championship at home tonight against a program that posted its first winning record and is making first playoff appearance this year.

The Region 1-AAAAA champion Vikings, 10-0 overall and No. 1 in Class AAAAA, will play host to Luella High at 8 tonight at Martin Stadium.

Lowndes has won five state championships and has taken three of the last four Class AAAAA titles.

Luella, which will motor down from Locust Grove, is in just its fifth season of varsity competition.

The Lions finished fourth in Region 2-AAAAA with a 4-3 record. They were 7-3 overall.

And while the odds of Luella advancing to the state championship are long, Lowndes not only has history, but the playoff bracket, on its side.

Camden County and Northside-Warner Robins, also expected to make runs at the state championship, are on the other side of the bracket.

Lowndes would not meet either Camden or Northside until the championship game if it wins its next four games.

Newnan, also 10-0, also is on the other side of the bracket.

The only other undefeated team on the Lowndes side of the bracket is Grayson.

The Vikings and Rams could meet in the quarterfinals, if each wins its first two playoff games.

The Lowndes-Luella winner will advance to meet Bradwell Institute-East Coweta winner in the second round.

Union Grove at Northside

Northside begins its run at a third straight state championship at McConnell-Talbert Stadium against Union Grove.

The Eagles won the last two Class AAAA championships and made a smooth transition to Class AAAAA, going 9-1 and losing only to Lowndes.

The Eagles will play host to Union Grove, which rebounded from a 3-7 record in 2007 to go 8-2 this year and post a 5-2 record in Region 2-AAAAA under new coach Steven Collins.

The Wolverines only losses have come to Stephenson, by a 25-0 score, and to M.L. King by a 35-17 margin last Friday night.

The Eagles will be led by Region 1-AAAAA rushing leader Xavier Bacon, who has run for 1,334 yards and 18 touchdowns this season.

Bacon, who ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns in Northside’s regular-season ending 31-7 victory over Colquitt County last Friday, has accounted for 58.4 percent of the Eagles offense this season.

The senior tailback also has caught 20 passes for 183 yards to account for 1,517 yards from scrimmage.

Tift County at M.L. King

Tift County defeated Coffee 30-27 on a 22-yard field goal by Jordan West with 3 seconds remaining last Friday to claim Region 1’s No. 3 playoff berth.

The victory will send the Blue Devils north on Saturday to meet M.L. King, the Region 2 runner-up.

The Lions, 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Region 2, took the No. 2 seed when it bounced Union Grove 35-17 last Friday.

M.L. King has lost only to North Cobb 24-21 and region champion Stephenson 27-7.

A year ago, the Lions won their first 12 games before being eliminated in the playoffs by Walton 20-19.

The Lions have not won fewer than nine games since 2003.

M.L. King is led by junior running back Mack Brown, who has rushed for more than 1,300 yards.

The Blue Devils, 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the region, run an offense led by quarterback Malcolm Dixon and running back Stevan Toomer.

The Tift County defense counts on Purdue-bound defensive lineman Shayon Green and linebacker Josh Abbott.

Coffee at Stephenson

Coffee’s loss at home to Tift County last Friday means the Trojans will have to travel north to meet Region 2 champion Stephenson.

The Trojans, 8-2 overall and 4-3 in the region have qualified for the playoffs each of the last three seasons.

They will play a group of Jaguars that has outscored its last five opponents by a combined 208-13.

Ron Gartrell, the only coach Stephenson has had, is in his 13th season with the Jaguars.