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.

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).

Pierce County, a staple in the top 10 since 2018, is out of the high school football rankings despite a 7-1 record after losing last week to unranked Crisp County, a 21-point underdog that entered the game 2-6. Crisp County won 28-16 on Pierce’s home field. Pierce County had been ranked for 96 straight weeks, the sixth-longest active run in the state. Schools with longer active streaks are Buford, Cartersville, Prince Avenue Christian, Lee County and Marist.

Two No. 1 teams won by a point last week. Carver of Columbus kept its ranking. North Oconee did not. Creekside, a 91-0 winner over Drew, is the new No. 1 team in Class 4A. The historic victory, the largest margin in a GHSA game in more than 75 years, wasn’t the main catalyst, however. Drew is winless. More significant was North Oconee’s close call, a 14-13 victory over 4-4 Eastside. North Oconee won its 23rd straight game on a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter.

Kell, Thomson and Bleckley County entered the football rankings this week after victories over top-10 teams in a weekend of limited upsets. Kell of Class 4A beat No. 8 Blessed Trinity 3-0 and moved into the top 10 at No. 9. Also in 4A, No. 10 Cass (6-2) fell out of the rankings after losing to No. 3 Cartersville 56-28. In Class 2A, Thomson beat previous No. 7 Burke County 24-14. Thomson (4-3) is now No. 10.

Lowndes and Valdosta — county rivals that are 6-0 simultaneously for the first time since 1996 — jumped inside the top five of the Class 6A rankings after beating top-10 opponents in region play last week. Lowndes moved up one place to No. 4 after beating No. 9 Colquitt County 31-14 in a Region 1-6A game. Hillgrove is new to the Class 6A ratings after a 5-0 start, replacing Camden County.

One football team lost its No. 1 spot in this week despite winning, and six entered the top 10 — one for the first time in school history. Prince Avenue Christian of Class 3A-A Private was demoted to No. 2 in the AJC rankings after a 59-34 victory Friday night against Westside, a South Carolina, team that reached that state’s Class 4A championship game last season. The new No. 1 team is defending champion 3A-A Private champion Hebron Christian.

Sandy Creek is the new No. 1 team in Class 3A after two teams ahead of the Patriots lost last week, and Sequoyah was the biggest riser in all classifications, going from No. 8 to No. 4 in Class 5A. In Class 3A, previous No. 1 Calhoun lost its second straight game last week – this time to Class 4A’s No. 9 team, Cambridge, 52-42. Calhoun lost to another ranked 4A team, Cartersville, 38-35 the week before.

Two No. 1 teams lost last week. One kept its spot; the other did not. Worth County is the new No. 1 in Class A Division I, replacing defending champion Toombs County, which lost 49-28 to Rome, the 10th-ranked Class 5A team. Toombs beat Rome last season. Maintaining its No. 1 ranking was Calhoun in Class 3A. Calhoun lost to Class 4A’s No. 4 team, Cartersville, 38-35 on a field goal with 12 seconds left. Calhoun won 3A last season.

The football rankings remained largely the same after almost no upsets involving top-10 teams in the third weekend of the season. Thirteen top-10 teams were beaten, but only one lost to a lower-ranked, instate opponent from the same class. That was former No. 5 Colquitt County in Class 6A. North Gwinnett, playing at home, beat the Packers 21-7 and moved up one spot to No. 7 while Colquitt fell to No. 10.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Aquinas ATH Jack Rhodes, Buford RB/DB Tyriq Green, Morgan County QB Davis Strickland, Ringgold RB/LB Haddon Fries and Westside-Augusta RB/DB Tamari Curry put up big numbers in their teams’ region victories and led the top performances across the state in Week 10 of the regular season.

Athens Academy ATH Keyon Standifer, Clinch County DB Fred Causey, Coahulla Creek WR/DB Kobe King, Kell QB Kaleb Narcisse and Stockbridge QB Joshua Scott put up big numbers in their teams' region victories led the top performances across the state in Week 9 of the regular season.

Quarterbacks Hudson Hulett of North Murray, Cayden Benson of Creekside and Justin Murphy of North Clayton and linebackers McKenzie Graham of Colquitt County and Jaylon Deal of Richmond Hill put up big numbers in their teams' important region victories in Week 8 of the regular season.

Ty Cummings' record-setting rushing night stole the headlines in Week 7, but there were other outstanding all-around efforts around the state. Among the best were Athens Academy's Keyon Standifer and Baldwin's Kam Patterson, who were each responsible for five touchdowns, along with North Clayton's Justin Murphy (113 yards passing, 237 yards rushing) and Thomas County Central's Deuce Lawrence (210 yards rushing, 54 yards receiving).

Whitefield Academy’s Mason Hollingsworth rushed for a Cobb County-record 426 yards in a victory over St. Anne-Pacelli Friday night, and West Laurens’ Ty Cummings ran for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a big region win against defending champion Harlem. Other top performers from Week 6 included East Jackson’s Drew Richardson, Pickens’ McCord Purdy and Hebron Christian’s Max Steve.

Running backs stole the show in Week 5 of the regular season as Greenville's Marquel Deering, Heritage-Newnan's Tyson Hamaker, Sequoyah's Will Rajecki, Westside-Augusta's Tamari Curry and Winder-Barrow's M.J. Dowdy were among those rushing for at least 240 yards and three touchdowns in their teams' victories Friday night.

Rabun County's Reid Giles and Buford's Tyriq Green made a big impact all over the field in their teams' Week 4 victories, while quarterbacks Turner Stevenson of Aquinas and Traviion Miller of Clinch County and wide receiver Brady Marchese of Cartersville put up big numbers to help their teams remain undefeated.

Wide receivers Josh Stanley of Bleckley County, Ty Kemp of North Hall and Kyle Cummings of Northwest Whitfield combined for more than 400 receiving yards and accounted for 11 touchdowns in their teams' victories in Week 3 of the high school football season. Parkview's Zandon Mullins rushed for 326 yards, and Mill Creek's Jayde Beasley ran for 269.

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.

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.

The last two spots in the GHSA championship games, to be played Monday through Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will be filled Thursday when Gainesville travels to Rome and Roswell visits Thomas County Central in the Class 5A semifinals. The games were originally scheduled to be played last Friday but were delayed in the aftermath of Gainesville’s second-round skirmish against Brunswick.

Carver (Columbus) and Bowdon will aim to extend their championship reigns for another year when they play in the state finals next week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Carver, seeking its second consecutive title, will meet Worth County at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Class A Division I. Bowdon, shooting for its fourth straight championship, will take on Lincoln County at 3:30 p.m. Monday in A Division II.

Defending state champions Bowdon and Hebron Christian will be back in action Friday night in the GHSA football semifinals. Bowdon, seeking its fourth consecutive state title, will travel to Clinch County in a Class A Division II game. Hebron Christian of Class 3A-A Private will face Greater Atlanta Christian in the first meeting between the Gwinnett County private schools.

Burke County and Carver of Columbus will meet Friday in the Class 2A semifinals in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, won by Carver 52-14. Carver advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season with a 38-10 victory last week against Thomson, the regular-season champion in Burke County’s region.  

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.

Bowdon’s quest for a fourth consecutive state championship kicks into high gear Friday night when the Red Devils open the Class A Division II playoffs with a home game against Wilcox County. Bowdon has won its first-round game each of the past six seasons and is 16-9 all-time in the round of 32. Brooks County, last year’s runner-up is making its 18th consecutive playoff appearance and will host Taylor County in the first round.

The first round of the Class 2A playoffs will match some unfamiliar foes, as 13 of the 16 games will be between teams that have never met. Among the teams playing an opponent for the first time are No. 1 seed Carver-Atlanta (vs. Butler), No. 3 seed Carver-Columbus (vs. Redan) and No. 5 seed Appling County (vs. Hart County). On the other hand, No. 3 seed Morgan County will face Westside-Macon in a rematch of a regular-season game.

The Class 4A bracket is filled with playoff regulars. Among the teams with long streaks of postseason appearances are Ware County (24 consecutive seasons), Tucker (19), Kell (18), Benedictine (15), Blessed Trinity (15), Warner Robins (15) and Cartersville (14). No one, however, has more than Marist, which is in the playoffs for the 32nd consecutive season. The War Eagles face Starr’s Mill at home Friday night.

Top-ranked Grayson will begin the defense of its 2024 Class 6A championship when it meets playoff regular Norcross in the first round of the playoffs Friday night. This is Grayson's 12th consecutive playoff appearance. The Rams won their first-round game each of the past 11 seasons and are 19-1 all-time in the round of 32.

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.

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).

Undefeated Powder Springs rivals McEachern and Hillgrove will go head-to-head for sole possession of first place in Region 3-6A in one of Week 10's best matchups. Undefeated top-10 teams Hughes and Northgate will battle to retain at least a share of first place in Region 3-5A game, and Troup and LaGrange resume their rivalry in Class 3A.

First place will be on the line in Week 9 when undefeated teams in region play match up in Friday night in eight regions across the state. Among those are four games featuring two top-10 teams - 1-2A (Carver-Columbus at Sumter County); 2-A Division II (Clinch County at Brooks County); 7-5A (Gainesville at Milton); and 6-3A (North Hall at Greater Atlanta Christian).

Although it's still relatively early in the region portion of the 2025 season, front-runner status will be at stake in several regions across the state in Week 8. Among those are 4-2A (Burke County at Thomson), 7-4A (Cartersville at Cass), 7-6A (North Gwinnett at Peachtree Ridge) and 1-A Division I (Thomasville at Worth County).

South Georgia matchups headline the schedule for Week 7 of the regular season. Four top-10 teams from Region 1-6A will go to head-to-head when Colquitt County travels to Lowndes and Valdosta visits Camden County. Lee County will face Thomas County Central in a matchup of top-10 teams in Region 2-5A, and Benedictine will visit Ware County for front-runner status in Region 1-4A.

The four remaining unbeaten teams in Region 4-3A play will go head-to-head for a share of first place Friday night when West Laurens travels to Harlem and Westside-Augusta visits Aquinas for Week 6 games. Front-runner status in other region also will be decided, including Calvary Day at Jenkins in 3-3A, Denmark at West Forsyth in 6-6A, Fitzgerald at Worth County in 1-A Division I, and North Cobb at North Paulding in 5-6A.

Sprayberry travels to Sequoyah on Friday for a matchup of top-10 teams in Class 5A that will establish the favorite to win the Region 6. Sprayberry won last year and took the region title, although both teams made it to the state quarterfinals. No. 2 Buford hosts No. 4 Douglas County in a high-profile Class 6A non-region game, and Calhoun goes to Jefferson for a game featuring two state finalists from 2024.

Region play heats up in Week 4 as Stockbridge and Eagle's Landing of 2-4A, Whitewater and Troup of 2-3A and Ringgold and Rockmart of 7-2A meet to determine the early pecking order in their playoff races. Elsewhere, south Georgia rivals Thomas County Central and Thomasville will face off for the 58th time.

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.

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.

West Laurens’ Ty Cummings, North Hall’s Alex Schlieman and Calhoun’s Justin Beasley are the regular-season rushing, passing and receiving champions, respectively. Cummings became the state’s lone 2,000-yard rusher by finishing strong, rushing for 267 yards in West Laurens’ 27-3 victory over Westside of Augusta for the Region 4-3A championship.

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.”

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.

One of Markus Brown’s first tasks as McNair’s new football coach was finding a quarterback. Last season's three-year starter was gone, and Brown was looking at a freshman initially. Then Brown and his staff noticed Keyuntae Phillips, a defensive back, was exceptionally quick. They also discovered that Phillips, a senior, had played quarterback in middle school. The rest is history, but like no one could’ve imagined.

Calhoun’s Justin Beasley is the new statewide leader in receiving yards after eight weeks of the GHSA regular season. Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy retook the rushing lead, and Dalton’s Caine Woods maintained his longstanding lead in passing. Beasley had six receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-0 victory over Ridgeland last week.

Rockmart’s Gavin Green became the state’s leading receiver this week while Whitefield Academy’s Mason Hollingsworth and Dalton’s Caine Woods maintained their leads in rushing and passing, respectively. Green, a sophomore, had only three receptions in a 50-28 victory over Sonoraville last week, but those three went for three touchdowns and 148 yards. Green is averaging 25.7 yards per reception for a total of 746 yards.

Whitefield Academy’s Mason Hollingsworth and Aquinas’ Jack Rhodes are the new leaders in rushing yards and receiving yards, respectively, through six weeks of the regular season. Hollingsworth rushed for a Cobb County record 426 yards last week in a victory over St. Anne-Pacelli. That gave him 1,247 yards rushing in five games. Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy also broke 1,000 yards last week.

Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy took the state rushing lead last week with his 321-yard, five-touchdown performance in a 35-16 victory over Apalachee. Dowdy has 946 rushing yards on the season and 3,424 for his career. He is two yards behind CeCe Green for the school record for career yards. He can break that record and reach 1,000 yards in tonight’s game against Alcovy.

New Dalton coach Chris Prewett inherited a team that just finished 0-10, and the Catamounts’ 0-4 record is proof of what he knew already. The fix won’t be immediate. But the offense looks like a winner, in large part because of quarterback Caine Woods. A sophomore who also started as a freshman, Woods has thrown for 1,219 yards, the most in the state by a wide margin.

North Cobb Christian’s Cooper Bazarsky and Newnan’s Brodie Campbell and John Matthews are the GHSA’s leading rusher, passer and receiver after three weeks of the regular season. All three play for 3-0 teams. Bazarsky has rushed for at least 150 yards in each of his games for a total of 662. Newnan's quarterback-wide receiver pair got most of their yards in a single game, a 60-56 victory over East Coweta on Aug. 22, when Campbell passed for 516 yards and Matthews had 257 receiving yards.