By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

East Central needs two wins this week against Wayne County to earn home-field advantage in the opening round of the upcoming Class 5A South State playoffs for the first time in two years.

The Hornets currently sit in second place in Region 4-5A at 8-4, after sweeping Laurel last week. The War Eagles are 7-5, just a game behind ECHS in the region race, as the two teams battle it out in a three game affair this week.

Game one is set for Hurley Tuesday night with game two set for Waynesboro Thursday night. The series finale will take place Friday afternoon back at ECHS.

The team that takes this series will secure the second seed behind Vancleave, which has already wrapped up its second straight league title.

The Hornets have also already clinched a playoff berth and ECHS can finish no worse than third place in the region race. The War Eagles have also already secured a berth in the state playoffs and can finish no worse than fourth in the standings.

The battle for the final playoff spot in Region 4-5A will come down to the winner of the Stone-Gautier series this week. Those two teams are knotted up at 5-7 in the region race as the final week of regular season play begins.

The two teams will meet Tuesday night in Wiggins, Thursday night in Gautier and wrap things up Friday night back in Stone County.

The winner of the series will finish either third or fourth in the standings while the other team will be eliminated from postseason contention.