It’s hard to believe but we are already one quarter of the way through the Georgia High School Football regular season. This week, there were several surprises, and we learned we don’t know as much as we thought we knew with respect to the 2022 season. Today we take a look at our ranking of the Top-10 teams in each classifications this far this season.
In Class 7A, the top three teams held serve, while Mill Creek climbs a spot after their victory over Archer. Perhaps in the biggest game in Class 7A, Buford outlasted North Cobb. Buford stays at No. 3 while North Cobb drops one spot to No. 5. Brookwood and Westlake drop from the rankings this week while Collins Hill and Valdosta are ranked at No. 9 and 10 respectively for the first time this season. Other teams to keep an eye on in Class 7A are the Lowndes Vikings, the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs, as well as the Lambert Longhorns. And of course we don’t believe we’ve seen the last of Westlake or Brookwood.
Class 6A saw a little bit of shakeup as the Rome Wolves dropped a game on the road to Class 7A Carrollton. The Wolves are down to No. 6 this week. Northside Warner Robins also lost to rival Warner Robins on Friday dropping the Eagles to No. 9 this week. Douglas County is out of the poll this week after their loss to McEachern. That made way for the resurgent Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets. Thomas County Central is now 3-0 for the first time since 2019. Other teams that have impressed through two weeks include North Atlanta and Marist.
Over in Class 5A, the Top 3 remain unchanged, however, the Top-10 does get shaken up a bit with Jones County falling to Perry and Creekside falling to South Carolina perennial power, Dutch Fork. Those losses drop Jones County to No. 9 and Creekside to No. 8. Meanwhile, Flowery Branch’s stay was brief as they fell to Stephens County last week. That drops them out of the polls as they are replaced at No. 10 by the Winder Barrow Bulldoggs. (Yes, that’s Doggs with a Double “G”!) We haven’t forgotten about the Coffee Trojans or the Ola Mustangs.
The Top-5 in Class 4A remains unchanged this week. The only team to fall from the rankings were the Bainbridge Bearcats, who dropped a game to previously unranked 6A Thomas County Central. The Burke County Bears come in at No. 10 this week rounding out the Top-10. Other teams that we are keeping an eye out on include the Hampton Hornets, Heritage (Catoosa), the New Hampstead Phoenix and the Holy Innocents’ Bears.
Not much changed in Class 3A as all but one of the top teams won last week. We must admit we went heavy on Adairsville last week and perhaps we were a little too soon as they fell to Rabun County. Stephens County is back into the Top-10 after a short hiatus as the Indians check in at No. 10. Other teams to keep an eye out on this week are Liberty County, Savannah Christian, Morgan County and Hebron Christian.
There was a bit of shakeup in Class 2A as our No. 1 ranked team fell on Friday night. The Appling County Pirates fall from No. 1 to No. 5 this week. They are replaced at No. 1 by the Pierce County Bears. Meanwhile Northeast (Macon) and Athens Academy fall from the rankings this week. They are replaced by the Cook Hornets (No. 9) and the Thomson Bulldogs (No. 10). The Worth County Rams are 3-0 for the first time since 2004. The Ace Charter Gryphons are 3-0 for the first time in their 5 year history in the GHSA. Other teams of interest include the Brantley County Herons, the Vidalia Indians and the North Cobb Christian Eagles.
In Class A Division I, there were no new teams into the Top-10. Our previous No. 1, Brooks County fell to Class 2A Cook last week, the loss drops Brooks to No. 4. Prince Avenue Christian takes over as our top team this week. The other Top-10 team that lost this week were the Metter Tigers. Metter’s loss to Class AA Pierce County drops them to No. 10 this week. Other teams knocking on the door this week include Mount Pisgah, Whitefield Academy, Screven County, Elbert County and Trion.
Finally, Class-A Division II had a dandy of a game as our top two ranked teams battled down in Blakely. It was Early County edging Schley County by two. The win by Early puts them at No. 1 this week, while Schley drops to No. 2. In a bit of an upset the Emanuel County Institute Bulldogs went on the road to Lincolnton and got a big win against Lincoln County. That win puts the Bulldogs in at No. 8 this week, while Lincoln County Falls from the Top-10. There is certainly an argument for the Bowdon Red Devils to be in the Top-10. We’d expect to see them in the Top-10 again later on in the season. Portal and Montgomery County are also undefeated early in the season. We will be sure to watch those teams as well as their competition will increase in difficulty over the next few weeks.
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Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Historical records are provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. (ghsfa.org)
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