Centennial at West Forsyth

When, where: Friday, 7:30 p.m., at The Den in Cumming.

Records, rankings: Centennial is 5-3 overall, 5-2 in Region 6-AAAAAA and unranked; West is 4-4, 4-3 and unranked.

Series history: West leads 4-0.

Last meeting: West won 48-24 in 2013.

What to know: The math, for this week at least, is simple. A loss would eliminate West from the playoffs and end the Wolverines’ run of four straight postseason appearances. But a win would set West up nicely to potentially extend its playoff streak to five seasons with its regular season finale against Johns Creek (1-7) on Nov. 8. Perhaps the urgency of the season will help West rebound from a frustrating 33-27 loss to Lambert last week in which the Wolverines led 27-23 in the fourth quarter. Things got worse as running back Austin Reid suffered a fractured wrist and is out for the season. But even with Reid out for much of the Lambert game, West still moved the ball with quarterback Hampton McConnell, running back Grant Torgerson and receivers Grant Anderskow and Nate Schmitz.

So West will have to regroup against a Centennial team coming off a 27-3 victory against North Forsyth. The Knights used a balanced offense for 349 total yards of offense (184 rushing, 164 passing) with 18 first downs. Quarterback Casen Conway connected with wide receiver James Kelley for touchdowns of 4 and 80 yards. Luther Martinez and Aaron Turk each rushed for a score, and the Knights’ defense held North to just 175 yards on offense. The Knights might not have the best résumé for a 5-3 team – four of their region wins have come against teams who are a combined 4-28 – but they are surely motivated to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

Maxwell Projection: West by 1.