Region championships will be on the line in several games around the state in the final weekend of the regular season. Among those are Lowndes vs. Valdosta in 1-6A, Douglas County vs. Carrollton in 2-6A, Sandy Creek vs. Troup in 2-3A, Westside-Augusta vs. West Laurens in 4-3A, and Hebron Christian vs. Prince Avenue Christian in 8-2A.

There’s one more week in the regular season. If things go as the computer Maxwell Ratings project, this is how the first-round playoff matchups will look. No. 1 Grayson vs. No. 3 Carrollton in the Class 6A quarterfinals? No. 1 Hughes vs. No. 4 Gainesville in the Class 5A second round? Could happen. Maxwell is not privy to every region’s tiebreaker, so be wary of how each region might unknot its ties.

Aquinas QB/DB Jack Rhodes, Athens Academy WR/CB Keyon Standifer, Cairo RB Bryian Duncan, Villa Rica RB Emmanuel Ajayi and Westside-Augusta RB Tamari Curry put up big numbers in their teams’ region games and led the top performances across the state in Week 11 of the regular season.

Roswell moved up to No. 3 in Class 5A this week ahead of its Region 7 football showdown against Milton. Kell made a big jump in 4A, Jasper County entered the rankings for the first time in nearly 30 years and Harrison and Cass joined the top 10 with one week remaining in the regular season. Then-No. 6 Roswell (8-1, 5-0) defeated then-No. 3 Gainesville (8-2, 5-1) 37-35 on Friday night and can win Region 7-5A with a victory this week over No. 5 Milton (7-2, 4-1).

Mason Hollingsworth of Whitefield Academy, Caine Woods of Dalton and Justin Beasley of Calhoun maintained or regained their leads in GHSA rushing, passing and receiving yards, respectively, this week. Who’ll finish first remains up in the air. In rushing, only 113 yards separate Hollingsworth’s 1,662 yards from sixth-place Hudson Hulett’s 1,549.

Region titles will be on the line Friday night when Central (Carrollton) meets Griffin in 3-4A and Rome travels to New Manchester in 5-5A. But plenty more champions could be crowned this weekend, including Athens Academy (8-A Division I), Kell (6-4A), Thomas County Central (2-5A), North Gwinnett (7-6A), Peach County (1-3A) and Gainesville (7-5A).

The Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame will induct its 2025 class of 33 players on Saturday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Here are few tidbits about the class, the hall of fame's fourth. The most famous inductee, at least in Georgia, is Kirby Smart, the Georgia football coach. Playing in 1993 for his dad, Sonny Smart, Kirby was the best player on a Bainbridge team that reached the Class 4A (highest class) semifinals.

Aquinas ATH Jack Rhodes, Buford RB/DB Tyriq Green, Morgan County QB Davis Strickland, Ringgold RB/LB Haddon Fries and Westside-Augusta RB/DB Tamari Curry put up big numbers in their teams’ region victories and led the top performances across the state in Week 10 of the regular season.

Pierce County, a staple in the top 10 since 2018, is out of the high school football rankings despite a 7-1 record after losing last week to unranked Crisp County, a 21-point underdog that entered the game 2-6. Crisp County won 28-16 on Pierce’s home field. Pierce County had been ranked for 96 straight weeks, the sixth-longest active run in the state. Schools with longer active streaks are Buford, Cartersville, Prince Avenue Christian, Lee County and Marist.

One of Markus Brown’s first tasks as McNair’s new football coach was finding a quarterback. Last season's three-year starter was gone, and Brown was looking at a freshman initially. Then Brown and his staff noticed Keyuntae Phillips, a defensive back, was exceptionally quick. They also discovered that Phillips, a senior, had played quarterback in middle school. The rest is history, but like no one could’ve imagined.

Undefeated Powder Springs rivals McEachern and Hillgrove will go head-to-head for sole possession of first place in Region 3-6A in one of Week 10's best matchups. Undefeated top-10 teams Hughes and Northgate will battle to retain at least a share of first place in Region 3-5A game, and Troup and LaGrange resume their rivalry in Class 3A.

The Georgia High School Association voted 66-1 this month to choose and seed playoff teams using a points formula beginning in 2026-27. The plan will apply to all sports that use 32-team playoff brackets. Listed are the current top 32 teams in each class using that points formula, which the GHSA calls the Post Season Rankings. Also included are teams' rankings in GHSF Daily's composite rankings.

Athens Academy ATH Keyon Standifer, Clinch County DB Fred Causey, Coahulla Creek WR/DB Kobe King, Kell QB Kaleb Narcisse and Stockbridge QB Joshua Scott put up big numbers in their teams' region victories led the top performances across the state in Week 9 of the regular season.

Two No. 1 teams won by a point last week. Carver of Columbus kept its ranking. North Oconee did not. Creekside, a 91-0 winner over Drew, is the new No. 1 team in Class 4A. The historic victory, the largest margin in a GHSA game in more than 75 years, wasn’t the main catalyst, however. Drew is winless. More significant was North Oconee’s close call, a 14-13 victory over 4-4 Eastside. North Oconee won its 23rd straight game on a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter.

Calhoun’s Justin Beasley is the new statewide leader in receiving yards after eight weeks of the GHSA regular season. Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy retook the rushing lead, and Dalton’s Caine Woods maintained his longstanding lead in passing. Beasley had six receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-0 victory over Ridgeland last week.

First place will be on the line in Week 9 when undefeated teams in region play match up in Friday night in eight regions across the state. Among those are four games featuring two top-10 teams - 1-2A (Carver-Columbus at Sumter County); 2-A Division II (Clinch County at Brooks County); 7-5A (Gainesville at Milton); and 6-3A (North Hall at Greater Atlanta Christian).

Five football teams from Class 6A’s Region 1 would’ve earned top-12 seeds and played at home in the first round last season under the GHSA’s new playoff model approved Monday. Playing at home – all against metro Atlanta opponents – would’ve been Camden County, Colquitt County, Lowndes, Richmond Hill and Valdosta. In 2024, only Colquitt and Lowndes played at home, and Richmond Hill missed the playoffs despite a 7-3 record.

Quarterbacks Hudson Hulett of North Murray, Cayden Benson of Creekside and Justin Murphy of North Clayton and linebackers McKenzie Graham of Colquitt County and Jaylon Deal of Richmond Hill put up big numbers in their teams' important region victories in Week 8 of the regular season.

Kell, Thomson and Bleckley County entered the football rankings this week after victories over top-10 teams in a weekend of limited upsets. Kell of Class 4A beat No. 8 Blessed Trinity 3-0 and moved into the top 10 at No. 9. Also in 4A, No. 10 Cass (6-2) fell out of the rankings after losing to No. 3 Cartersville 56-28. In Class 2A, Thomson beat previous No. 7 Burke County 24-14. Thomson (4-3) is now No. 10.

Rockmart’s Gavin Green became the state’s leading receiver this week while Whitefield Academy’s Mason Hollingsworth and Dalton’s Caine Woods maintained their leads in rushing and passing, respectively. Green, a sophomore, had only three receptions in a 50-28 victory over Sonoraville last week, but those three went for three touchdowns and 148 yards. Green is averaging 25.7 yards per reception for a total of 746 yards.