It’s early to be talking playoffs with only 12 of 1,281 region games complete, but Loren Maxwell of the Maxwell Ratings churns out playoff projections each week on AJC Varsity, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s new high school sports product. The GHSA changes the region playoff pairings each year, so each new season brings a different landscape to the brackets.

Two of Georgia's defending state champions will be tested by top out-of-state competition Friday night when Thompson of Alabama visits Grayson and McCallie of Tennessee hosts Hebron Christian in top Week 3 action. Cherokee Bluff and North Hall will battle for supremacy in Hall County, and Colquitt County travels to North Gwinnett to renew a North-South rivalry.

New football coaches often ask for patience. The request is more than fair. New GHSA coaches are 53-96 this season. Those same teams were 65-94 one year ago. So yes, it takes time. But these five have made their fan bases happy so far: Rance Gillespie (Rabun County), Nelson Stewart (Westminster), Corey Richardson (Norcross), Kevin Saunders (Apalachee) and Brett Vavra (Etowah).

Offensive players were in the spotlight in Week 2 of the high school season. Newnan quarterback Brodie Campbell passed for 516 yards in his team's victory over rival East Coweta, and running backs Gene Watson of Berrien, Devon Caldwell of Hebron Christian, Henry Pullen of McEachern and Andrew Davis all went over the 200-yard mark in victories.

Fresh off victories over two of Cobb County’s top programs, McEachern is in the rankings for the first time since 2020, checking in at No. 6 in Class 6A. The Indians defeated then-No. 6 North Cobb 21-0 on Friday after beating Walton 50-17 the previous week. North Cobb and Walton are Cobb’s two winningest teams since 2020. The No. 6 ranking is McEachern’s highest since the Indians reached the 2019 quarterfinals ranked No. 2.

Grayson and Rabun Gap, two of the top four Georgia teams in the High School Football America rankings, will headline the Week 2 schedule when they meet Friday night at Grayson. Elsewhere, North Cobb and McEachern will battle for Cobb County supremacy, and the private schools feature strong matchups that include Hebron Christian vs. Fellowship Christian, Holy Innocents’ vs. Blessed Trinity, and Westminster vs. Pace Academy.

Quarterbacks Turner Stevenson of Aquinas, Keyuntae Phillips of McNair and Hudson Hulett of North Murray hurt their opponents passing, rushing and even receiving in their teams' Week 1 games, while two-way players Casey Barner of McEachern and Elijah McEwen of Montgomery County were unstoppable all over the field.

Three-time defending champion Bowdon is out of the top spot in the Class A Division II football rankings after a decisive opening-night loss. The new No. 1 is Lincoln County, a program looking to restore its glory days. The other seven preseason No. 1 teams - Grayson (6A), Hughes (5A), North Oconee (4A), Calhoun (3A), Carver-Columbus (2A), Toombs County (A Division I) and Prince Avenue Christian (3A-A Private) - won impressively in the first week of the season.

The 2025 football season is under way, and it reaches full throttle tonight with about 175 games. Here are 10 of the better storylines fans will be following this season. Bowdon, the reigning Class A Division II champion, can become the fourth school in GHSA history to win four consecutive championships. Bowdon is ranked No. 1 in every poll in the GHSF Daily composite rankings.