Zayden Cook of Chattooga, Antwann Hill of Houston County and Cody Bryan of Heritage of Ringgold held their statewide leads in rushing, passing and receiving yardage, respectively, but Class 6A has a pair of new leaders - Westlake's Travis Smith Jr. and Wheeler's Josiah Allen - after the big games they had last week.

First place will be at stake in several regions around the state this weekend. Notably, two games with front-runner status on the line match undefeated teams – Coffee at Lee County in Region 2-5A and Eastside at North Oconee in Region 8-4A. Elsewhere, the public-private battle for seeding in the lower classes wages on as North Cobb Christian meets Rockmart for first place in Region 7-2A.

Seventy-eight of the GHSA’s 415 football-playing schools have first-year head coaches, a couple since the season started. Here is a look at several that have made immediate impacts. Their backgrounds are varied, but many have coached in state championship games recently.

Dodge County’s Jerimiah Burns, Houston County’s A.J. Hill, Valdosta’s Todd Robinson and Wheeler’s Josiah Allen posted the big numbers on offense in their teams’ Week 8 victories, while Worth County linebacker Shermon Smith recorded 15 solo tackles and five assists to help his team upset Thomasville.

The Georgia High School Association’s rule-making authority, the 75-person executive committee, will discuss a bold plan Monday that would classify schools based on sports success rather than enrollment size starting in 2026. The proposal is called the GHSA Competitive Balance Reclassification Model.

Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy and Drew’s Jaylan Aquino surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in the seventh week of the regular season. Dowdy rushed for 347 yards in a 57-43 victory Saturday over Habersham Central. Aquino ran for 168 yards in a 13-7 win over Pace Academy on Monday.

Region 1-6A will try again to get league play under way when Camden County visits Valdosta and Lowndes travels to Colquitt County in games that were postponed last weekend because of Hurricane Helene. Collins Hill and Buford will face off to determine the team to beat in Region 8-6A, and several games across the state will establish region front-runners.

The GHSA on Tuesday added one week to the football regular season, meaning the playoffs will start Nov. 15-16, one week later. The decision was expected, as executive director Tim Scott told GHSF Daily on Monday that the GHSA was moving toward that solution.

The Georgia High School Association is considering postponing the football playoffs one week to accommodate schools that need to make up games because of Hurricane Helene, executive director Tim Scott said Monday morning. Scott said he hoped to have a decision by noon Tuesday.