Rockmart is in a tough battle to maintain a playoff spot heading into the final weeks of the season as the Jackets find themselves in a race to the finish.

A 16-4 squad is 5-3 in region play and just a loss behind Murray County in fourth place in 7-AA play after Tuesday’s matchup with the Indians came up short.

Rockmart made it through the first half of the season and holiday tournament play undefeated, but earlier this month the Jackets hit a road block with Fannin County in a three-point loss to the Rebels.

Bounce-back wins over Cartersville and North Murray in recent weeks gave the Jackets some help, but then region leader Model came to town and dealt Rockmart’s boys squad a big loss.

Cedartown followed on with the pain to bring on the third loss in their second matchup of the season in a two-point heartbreaker, but wins over Gordon Central and Bowdon gave the Jackets some help.

The 65-51 loss to Murray – the return matchup with the Indians on the road – put Rockmart in a bad spot in region, making a championship much harder to achieve and to hold onto a playoff spot.

Five regular season games remain on the schedule, starting with Haralson County in region play on Friday evening on the road. Then the Jackets return home on Saturday to host Cedartown, and finish off the season against Fannin, North Murray and Model on Jan. 30, February 2 and Feb. 6.

Treylin Davis remains the team leader with 24.8 points per game on the year. Sam Johnson sits in second at 18.6 ppg, and Tristan Anderson missing 10 games on the football team now sits at 13.1 ppg in third. All the stars are aligning with Trey Luke, Hunter Atkins, and MJ Berry all making major contributions at key moments on the floor.

The Jackets have a chance to make up some ground only three games behind Model, but it could come down to the final game of the regular season with the Blue Devils.