The drought is going to break for somebody this week.
Lincoln County has lost the past three times it has played for the state title: 16-6 at home to Darlington in 1998, 20-0 at home to Charlton County in 1999, and 18-8 in 2003 at Hawkinsville.
Its last title came with a 12-0 home win against Macon County in 1995.
Washington-Wilkes fans should cool down over that trend, though. Their Tigers haven't won a state title since a 27-0 win against Lyons in 1967. They are 0-5 in their past five state finals: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1995 and 2000.
So Friday's game features two teams that are 0-for-their-past-8 in the final.
And what of the other two area teams vying for titles? Strom Thurmond hasn't won state since 1968. Its last shot came in 1995 in a 28-12 loss to Daniel.
Blackville-Hilda will face Calhoun County for the South Carolina Class A state title also at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night. The Hawks haven't won a championship since a 15-12 win against Timmonsville in 1995.
WHO'S SAUDI DESERT HOT: Strom Thurmond. The Rebels have trampled the opposition 60-14 across their past six quarters. It all started by closing out Myrtle Beach with a 25-7 second-half run in the quarterfinal round.
WHO'S JUST TROPICAL HOT: Washington-Wilkes. The Tigers have mixed great surges with could-be-better halves of late, erasing 14-3 and 10-7 deficits in their past two games.
That could say the team refuses to lose, after finishing with the final 19 points of the Savannah County Day game and another 15 unanswered points against Bowdon.
But it could also say the Tigers aren't a team capable of dominating four quarters. We'll find out which Friday night.
BEST WINS LAST WEEK
1. WASHINGTON-WILKES 18, BOWDON 14: PERCEIVED BY MOST AS UNDERDOGS GOING IN, THE TIGERS' LATE RALLY HELD UP.
2. Strom Thurmond 35, Dillon 7: No area team is better at all phases of the game than the Rebels.
3. Lincoln County 48, Johnson County 21: The Red Devils look like they could run the ball on anyone right now.
NO TV: Georgia Public Broadcasting will televise only the Class AAAA and AAAAA title games this weekend.
Area fans expecting to see a game such as Thomson's 2002 state title win on television won't have the same luck for the Class A final. That makes each of the 3,500 seats at Lincoln County's Buddy Bufford Field even more of a commodity.
The GHSA has an exclusive contract preventing a local entry from televising the state title games live.
Tickets cost $10 and will be on sale at Lincoln County Middle School until Friday. Gates will open two hours before kickoff at 5:30. Carpooling and buying a ticket by today are both strongly advised.
NO WAY: Larry Campbell got a call earlier this season after an 0-3 start, the first time a Lincoln County team started a season with three consecutive losses since 1955.
"The headline was something like it was the first Lincoln team to lose their first three games since 1955," Campbell said. "My in-laws live in Greenwood, and they read that and called wanting to know if I was losing my job."
Was he serious? Were they? Campbell has won nine state championships and is the most successful football coach in Georgia prep football history.
"No, they were serious," Campbell said. "They thought we were all going down the tubes."
Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.
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