Grayson picked up its third No. 1 national football ranking when MaxPreps moved the Rams into the top spot this week. Grayson moved up from No. 2 after its 31-10 victory over Norcross in the second round of the playoffs last week. The Rams replaced Maryland’s St. Frances Academy, which fell to No. 3 after being idle last week. Grayson became the No. 1-ranked team in the High School Football America poll three weeks ago and ascended to No. 1 in the USA Today rankings last week.

The Georgia High School Association suspended 39 Gainesville football players Monday because of a fight during Friday night’s playoff victory at Brunswick. However, the team still plans to play its Class 5A quarterfinal game Friday at No. 1-ranked Hughes, Gainesville City Schools superintendent Jeremy Williams said in a statement Monday revealing the GHSA’s ruling.

Jackson County and Douglass ousted defending champions in the second round of the football playoffs Friday, eliminating Milton and Calhoun, respectively, while Sumter County, Wheeler County and Whitfield Academy, along with Jackson County, made history by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time. The three No. 1-ranked teams that faced ranked opponents came out alive.

Two of south Georgia’s best football teams will be in Gwinnett County for blockbuster games tonight as the football playoffs resume with 64 second-round games in eight classifications. In Class 6A, the highest, No. 6 Lowndes is playing at No. 8 North Gwinnett while No. 9 Colquitt County plays at No. 1 Grayson. No. 8 Lee County, another south Georgia power, will be at No. 1 Hughes in Fairburn for a Class 5A game.

Washington-Wilkes, Jenkins County and Charlton County were the only No. 3 seeds to survive the first round of the playoffs in Class A Division II. Of those, Washington-Wilkes will have the toughest task this week when it travels to three-time defending champion Bowdon, projected as a 34-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings. Jenkins County will visit Schley County this week, and Charlton County will play at Screven County.

No. 1 seed Carver-Atlanta, No. 3 Carver-Columbus and No. 4 Morgan County are heavy favorites this week, but the computer Maxwell Ratings are expecting some particularly close second-round matchups in Class 2A. Hapeville Charter is a one-point favorite at Appling County, Burke County is favored by one point over Columbia, and the Thomson-Callaway game is projected as a tossup.

Defending Class 4A champion North Oconee will continue its quest to win back-to-back titles when it meets M.L King in a second-round game Friday night. M.L. King is making its first appearance in the second round since 2012. Marist, the runner-up in 2024, will face Blessed Trinity in a battle of metro Atlanta private schools. The winners of those two games will meet in the quarterfinals next week.