Wayne County’s Matthew Fuller is the GHSA’s new leading rusher, and five other running backs took the lead in their classifications after strong performances last week. Fuller ran for 272 yards against New Hampstead and sits at 1,560 for the season. Providence Christian’s Quinton Slaughter took the Class 2A lead with a 389-yard rushing game against Union County. The 389 yards are the most for a player in a game this season.

Sole possession of first place is at stake in several regions in Week 10, including 2-7A (Westlake vs. Carrollton), 4-6A (Marist vs. North Atlanta), 6-5A (Greater Atlanta Christian vs. Kell), 2-2A (Spencer vs. Northeast), 8-A Division I (Commerce vs. Elbert County) and 6-A Division II (Manchester vs. Schley County). And Sandy Creek meets Cedar Grove in a rematch of the controversial 2022 Class 3A final.

The Georgia High School Association is waiting on Department of Education enrollment numbers before placing schools into classifications for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. During the most recent reclassification in 2021, that news broke the first week in November. Keep in mind this is not a projection of the final classes that will start in 2024, as those will be based on enrollment statistics that will have changed significantly since 2021.

Mill Creek's Trajen Greco helped lead his team to a victory over then-No. 1 Buford in Class 7A; Portal's Elijah Coleman makes an impact in all three aspects of the game, and Pierce County's Caden McGatha, Providence Christian's Christian Quinton and Trion's Toby Maddux put up big numbers in the running game.

Defending Class 7A champion Mill Creek is No. 1 for the first time this season after beating previous No. 1 Buford 31-24 Friday. Mill Creek has been ranked No. 1 once previously. That was after winning the 7A state championship last year. The Hawks’ only 2022 loss came against Buford, which started No. 1 this season because of its wealth of high-end talent that includes five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, who is committed to Georgia.

Brody Hannah’s 553-yard passing effort helped deliver Loganville to a 51-50 comeback victory over Clarke Central last week. It also put Hannah in the GHSA lead for passing yards this season with 2,264. His teammate and favorite target, Ahmed Souare, who had 290 yards receiving, broadened his lead. He’s now at 1,115 yards after eight games. Lumpkin County’s Mason Sullens continues to lead in rushing with 1,302 yards.

The headline game for Week 9, and perhaps the season, will take place Friday night when Buford travels to Mill Creek for a Region 8-7A showdown. It will be the 10th regular-season game in GHSA history between No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the highest classification. Mill Creek was involved in the most recent one in 2021, when the Hawks lost to No. 1 Collins Hill, the eventual Class 7A champion.

Four weeks remain in the regular season. Below are the Maxwell Ratings’ chances of each team winning their region. Teams with less than a 0.1% chance are not included. Here are some of the more intriguing region races and Maxwell favorites.

Quarterbacks Rodge Waldrop of Brookwood School in Thomasville, Devin Edmonds of Jones County and Brody Hannah of Loganville combined for more than 1,600 passing yards in Week 8, and Columbia's Jadan Baugh and Valdosta's Eric Brantley made an impact on both sides of the ball in big region victories.

Calvary Day, a GHSA member since 1988, is No. 1 in football for the first time. The Cavaliers (7-0) of Savannah are on top of the Class 3A rankings this week after previous No. 1 Cedar Grove lost for the fifth time Friday. The latest came against Carver of Montgomery, Ala., 13-9. Cedar Grove’s previous losses had been to top-10 opponents from the highest classification, one in Florida. Carver is 4-2 but unranked in Alabama’s Class 6A.

Northeast Georgia is home of the GHSA’s leading rusher, passer and receiver after seven weeks of the regular season. They are Lumpkin County’s Mason Sullens (1,119 yards rushing), Prince Avenue Christian’s Aaron Philo (2,180 passing) and Loganville’s Ahmed Souare (825 receiving). Sullens took over the rushing lead with a 200-yard effort in a 30-21 victory over Wesleyan last week.