TIFTON, Ga. — Irwin County is on the cusp of its second straight Region 2-A championship, but it is business as usual in Ocilla.

Head coach Buddy Nobles acknowledges the region crown belongs to the Indians with a win Friday, but that achievement is secondary.

“We just want to win each game,” said Nobles.

Standing between Irwin and the title — which would be its fourth in five years under Nobles — is Atkinson County. Irwin will host the Rebels Friday at 7:30 p.m., which, as the last home game of the regular season, will be Senior Night.

Irwin enters 8-0 and during a time of year where teams might just be happy to survive another week, the Indians seem to be getting stronger. Their last two games have ended in shutouts, with a 48-0 blanking of Wilcox County coming on the heels of a 61-0 decision over Lanier County.

Irwin is giving up 7.5 points per game, a touchdown better than Clinch County, which has the second best team in the region. Only 10 teams in the Georgia High School Association have given up fewer points. The Indians’ achievements on that side of the ball, Nobles said, is to the credit of defensive coordinator Casey Soliday and his staff.

On the other sideline is Atkinson, which after getting off to a 3-2 start has dropped three straight, including a 24-7 decision to Turner County last week.

The loss stung in the record column for the Rebels as they had an early lead in the game, but worse, it dropped them four back in the power ratings to 28th. The top 24 teams make state in Class A public and Atkinson will need to end the season with two good showings to go. Atkinson has not seen the postseason since 2014.

“Hopefully, we won’t let them be spoiler,” said Nobles.

He said Atkinson’s offense was balanced in running and passing. Travonte Williams, who quarterbacks the Rebels, is adept at both. And despite the record, the Rebels are averaging 25 points per game.

By score, the win over Wilcox County was a nice one at 48-0. On the flip side, Nobles said “We couldn’t get in a rhythm.”

Two touchdowns were interceptions by Jamorri Colson, which Nobles was “very impressed” to see. D.J. Lundy ran for three touchdowns, albeit on 55 rushing yards, according to stats input on Hudl. Lundy is on the cusp of 1,000 yards for the year, with 948 to his credit. He has also scored 16 touchdowns.

Fortunately for Irwin, Lundy will not be one of the seniors honored Friday. There are 14 seniors on the roster, a number that does include Wil Hudson, Jay Stanley, Jaelon Bivens, Lochlan Cunningham, Will Burnam, Luke Morgan and Davion Pollard. Pollard has been out all season with a knee injury.

Irwin is also set to honor other program seniors, including a videographer and a team manager, Kenley Nobles, who has spent five years on the Indians’ sidelines.

After Atkinson, Irwin has one more regular season game remaining, Nov. 2 at Turner County. Turner is visiting Wilcox County this week.