Quarterback Aaron Philo passed for 385 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two scores in Prince Avenue Christian’s 42-35 win over Tennessee power Baylor, while running backs Nick Woodford of Northeast, Keyjuan Brown of South Atlanta and Josiah Allen of Wheeler topped the 300-yard rushing mark.

Warner Robins and Trinity Christian, a pair of 2021 state champions that started slowly, reentered the high school football rankings this week after winning their first two region games. Warner Robins defeated Union Grove 30-7 to move to 3-4 overall. Warner Robins is No. 9 in Class 5A. Trinity Christian, last year’s Class A Private champion, is No. 8 this week in Class 4A. After an 0-2 start that dropped them out of the rankings, the Lions have won five straight, including two in a row against top-10 teams.

Gwinnett County police have apprehended an unnamed suspect in the shooting death of all-state wide receiver Elijah DeWitt, a Jefferson senior whose body was found Wednesday night in the parking lot of Sugarloaf Mills shopping mall in Lawrenceville. Police said DeWitt was shot multiple times.

Nick Woodford of Northeast in Macon and Tate Morris of McIntosh are the GHSA’s new leaders in rushing and passing, respectively. Woodford has rushed for 1,317 yards on the season, an average of 219.5 per game. The new passing leader is Morris, who is on pace for 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing in the regular season. Rabun County’s Jaden Gibson remains the leader in receiving yards with 958.

There’s almost a month remaining in the regular season, but several games this weekend will determine the early favorites to win region titles. Among those games are Trinity Christian at Whitewater, North Cobb at Walton, Fitzgerald at Worth County, East Coweta at Carrollton, Cedartown at Heritage of Ringgold and Burke County at Benedictine.

One of the better storylines of the 2022 season has been the high number of first-year coaches who have made an immediate impact on their new teams. Of the 80 teams ranked this week, 18 are guided by first-year coaches, and 10 of those were unranked in preseason. Below are 15 outstanding first-year coaches. Each has guided an unbeaten team, one that’s entered the rankings this season or one that’s improved by more than 20 points from 2021 according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, or all three.

The high school football state championship games could return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium as early as next year, GHSA executive director Robin Hines told the association’s executive committee Monday. Hines declined to say more while talks are ongoing with Mercedes-Benz officials. The championship games have been held at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium the past three years.

Ware County is the third No. 1 football team in Class 5A this season, and Hebron Christian has its highest ranking in this week’s high school football rankings. Ware (4-0) moved up from No. 2 after No. 1 Cartersville lost to Calhoun last week. Hebron Christian, previously unranked, is No. 5 in Class 3A after a 35-28 victory over then-No. 5 Oconee County in a Region 8 game. Hebron had been ranked a few times before in Class A, but the Lions’ No. 5 standing this week is their best showing.

Carrollton freshman Julian Lewis has taken the lead in passing yards this season, while Temple’s Cam Vaughn and Rabun County’s Jaden Gibson continue to lead in rushing and receiving. Lewis passed for 283 yards and four touchdowns last week in a 56-28 victory over Hillgrove. That put him at 1,598 yards on the season. Carrollton is 6-0.

The threat of Hurricane Ian led to a major reshuffling of the schedule in Week 7, with the majority of games moving to Thursday. Among the biggest region matchups Thursday night are Blessed Trinity at Roswell, Calhoun at Cartersville, Eastside at Loganville and Houston County at Lee County.