It was a tough season this year on the gridiron locally. Only one, Griffin High, of the five schools that resides inside the county boundaries made the playoffs. To top it off, they were one and done.

Griffin (9-2), which won the most most games, upped their school-record streak of consecutive state playoff appearances to 12 — all under the direction of 12th-year Bears head coach Steve DeVoursney.

The Bears opened the season with consecutive wins against Dutchtown 42-16, Northgate 35-6, Jonesboro 34-33, and Woodland-Stockbridge 52-20 as they rose to No. 2-ranked in the state Class AAAA polls. A 17-14 loss on a field goal with no time left on the clock against Stockbridge followed.

Griffin then mounted a season-best, five-game win streak as it took down Riverdale 35-14, North Clayton 42-20, archrival Upson-Lee 28-14, crosstown rival Spalding 42-0 and Eagle’s Landing 49-6 to clinch first place in Region 1-AAAA Div. B, climb back up in the state rankings to No. 5 and clinch the aforementioned state playoff berth before being eliminated 33-17 in an opening-round state playoff game against Monroe-Albany.

Spalding, meanwhile, started its 2012 campaign with great promise tying then No. 2-state Class AA ranked Lamar County 3-3 in the season opener — that’s the same Lamar team, currently ranked No. 4 in the state, that is alive and thriving heading into the second round of the state playoffs of a season where they have since outscored everyone in their path since the opener by a combined margin of 42-8.

The Nick Davis-coached Jags (2-7-1) followed with a 20-13 win at home against Rutland. The Jags seemed poised to turn around their fortunes from a season ago when they finished 2-8 during Davis’ first year at Spalding.

Then the Jaguars lost seven in a row, falling to Locust Grove 14-0, Dutchtown 24-21, Upson-Lee 31-10, Riverdale 21-0, Jonesboro 32-7, North Clayton 12-0 and Griffin 42-0 to finish last in Region 4-AAAA Div. B before ending the season with a 42-22 win against winless Forest Park.

Griffin Christian also struggled throughout much of the 2012 season. Coming off an 0-10 season — where they scored only one touchdown all season — things looking promising when the Bobby Brogdon-coached Crusaders opened the season with a 30-0 victory at Nix Field against Central Fellowship.

But during a season where they moved from Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) Class AAA football to Independent Christian Schools of Georgia and Alabama Athletic Association (ICSGA) 11-man football, the struggles soon began.

The Crusaders lost the rest of their games falling to Dominion Christian 53-32, Loganville Christian 42-0, Creekside Christian 20-19, Randolph Southern 26-21, Calvary 45-15, Community Christian 46-14, Crown Athletics 38-16 and New Creation 25-12 to finish the season with a 1-8 record as they were eliminated from postseason contention.

Dan Salvador-coached Skipstone Academy, which played independent 8-man football last season, moved to the 11-man Glory for Christ League this year. Although they got off to a rocky start losing to Appling Christian 44-0, East Atlanta 21-0, Anderson 34-6 and the Georgia Force 31-16, things began to turn around as they scored victories against North Georgia 8-0 in overtime, the Home School Depot 47-7 and North Atlanta 42-18 to head down the stretch sporting a 3-4 record.

But losses to Calvary Christian 34-13, East Atlanta 14-07 and Augusta Prep 46-0 followed as Skipstone (3-7) was eliminated from postseason contention.

Jim McClelland Jr.-coached Faith Christian Academy, meanwhile, moved from 8-man ICSGA to 8-man independent this season.

The Lions (3-4) struggled out of the gate, yielding the most points in school history against Shiloh Hills 86-24. Things didn’t get any better the following game in a 86-12 loss to King’s Way. Then the team turned things around with wins against Philadelphia 24-14, Dominion 38-12 and Life Christian 48-44 before ending the season with losses to Westside 47-42 and the Crown Athletics JV 44-0.

The last game was FCA’s first venture into 11-man football.