Burke County coach Eric Parker was hired from Laney to lead the way to the state playoffs. That road has already been navigated and then some this year.

The Bears (8-2) won a share of the third region title in team history Friday with a 21-14 win against Benedictine. The Bears earned the region's top seed with the region's tie-break format.

They did it with a perfect sub-region record and eight consecutive wins. It's the team's first playoff trip since 2002 and the first home playoff game since 2000.

Burke County wrapped up its best regular season since 1997 and the second-best since 1992.

Parker was happy with just a Gatorade shower after the victory. He preferred to see his team showered with all the credit for the strides the program has made this year, not anything he has done in his first season as coach.

"It's not about me," he said. "It's about these players. I'm just so glad this school is back in the playoffs where it deserves to be. There's such a buzz for football in this community now."

TARNISH: Central knocked Silver Bluff out of the playoffs for the second consecutive year on Friday. The Eagles paved the way for the 26-7 road win with 302 rushing yards. They held Silver Bluff to minus-21 yards on the ground.

There will be little chance of a three-peat next year.

"(Central) will be in the Upper State next year and we'll be in the Lower State, so maybe we won't see them," Silver Bluff coach Al Lown said.

Silver Bluff (8-4) hasn't made it by the second round since back-to-back state titles in 2000 and 2001.

STRONG THIRD: Cross Creek (8-2) will have one of the best records of any No. 3 seed in the AAA playoffs. The Razorbacks have the same record as Burke County, who grabbed the region's top seed.

"That is a little strange," Razorbacks coach Scott Tate said. "But everybody has to play everybody sometime. We'll get what we get."

Cross Creek's first-round foe depends on Saturday's Dougherty-Monroe contest. The Razorbacks will travel to play the No. 2 seed from Region 1-AAA.

"I have been told if Monroe wins we play Monroe," Tate said. "If Monroe gets beat by Dougherty then we will play Worth County."

THE TIGER WAY: Evans will be the host of a playoff game for the first time since 1995. It's a measure of the team's surge since an embarrassing 1-9 campaign in 2005.

Coach Marty Jackson said an approach favored by golfer Tiger Woods has helped the team.

"All he does is focus on the next thing," he said. "The next play. That's been our mantra. You can't worry about what just happened. That's what I'm trying to teach."

Lee County (2-8) finished third in a four-team region.

ONLY THE STRONG: The first round of the Class AAAA playoffs wiped out Aiken, North Augusta and South Aiken. Allendale-Fairfax and Williston-Elko were also eliminated in Class A play.

Class AAA Strom Thurmond edged out a 17-14 win at Marlboro County. The Rebels (8-4) play host to Region 3-AAA No. 3 seed Wilson (9-3).

Strom Thurmond got off to a 1-3 start and was 4-4 after eight games. Its fourth consecutive win came at a school that won Class AAAA state titles in 1998 and 2001. It was also the first road playoff win in coach Lee Sawyer's tenure.

"Its been an up-and-down year," he said. "But it's maybe the most satisfying for the way everyone wrote us off earlier this year."

Blackville-Hilda (9-3) and Ridge Spring-Monetta (7-5) are also still alive in Class A play.

STONE COLD: Thomson junior LB Stedman Grant had 19 tackles in a 34-10 win against Washington County despite a terrible cold. He now has 101 tackles for the year.

The Bulldogs play host to the No. 3 team from Region 1-AAA at the Brickyard on Friday.That seed will be set after the result of Saturday's Monroe-Dougherty County game in Albany.

Staff writers Billy Byler, Chris Gay and Steve Sanders contributed to this report.

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.