The Georgia High School Association placed schools into classifications for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years this week. Schools may appeal their placement or petition to play higher or lower in class by noon Sunday. Appeals will be heard beginning Monday at 10 a.m. Here are four takeaways from Monday’s tentative new classifications.

Creekside QB Cayden Benson, Clarke Central WR Le'Gracion Little, East Coweta WR/DB Walter Maestre Jr., Sandy Creek RB Amari Latimer and Valdosta DE Corey Howard put up big numbers in their teams’ big region victories and led the top performances across the state in the final weekend of the regular season.

Valdosta’s victory over archrival Lowndes earned the Wildcats their highest ranking entering the playoffs since 2019. Valdosta jumped from No. 9 to No. 5 in Class 6A, making the Wildcats the biggest risers in the final football rankings of the regular season. Valdosta defeated then-No. 4 Lowndes 23-14 for the Region 1-6A championship. The title is Valdosta’s first since 2016. Lowndes fell to No. 6.

North Hall quarterback Alex Schlieman became the GHSA's passing leader last week as the first to break 2,500 yards. He also picked up a flattering comparison. “He can make all the throws on the field, and he’s extremely accurate with a strong arm, but the biggest thing that separates him is his intellect,” North Hall coach Sean Pender said. “I’ve had some smart ones, but the only other quarterback that I’ve coached that has intellect like him is Stetson Bennett.”

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.