Observations on each classification after Week 2 of season
The new football season is only two weeks old, offering a glimpse of where things might be headed. Here are observations and happenings from each GHSA classification and the GIAA.
Class 7A
*Buford, in its first venture into Georgia’s highest classification, has been even more fearsome than expected. The No. 1-ranked Wolves have defeated state powers Thompson of Alabama 38-7 and Mallard Creek of North Carolina 56-7 and reached the top 10 of five national polls.
*Osborne, a Cobb County program that hasn’t won three games in a season since 1994, is 2-0 for the first time since 2001 after beating Woodstock 46-7 and Chattahoochee 42-13.
*Carrollton’s Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, the most heralded Georgia high school freshman quarterback since Trevor Lawrence, has thrown for 506 yards and nine touchdowns in his team’s 2-0 start. Carrollton has entered the top 10 at No. 8 in its first season in 7A.
*Central Gwinnett has matched its victory total of the past two seasons combined and is 2-0 for the first time since 2017 under first-year coach Larry Harold.
*From the preseason poll, No. 7 Brookwood, No. 8 Lowndes and No. 10 Milton are out of the rankings, but none in a way that suggests the story is over. All three have lost to out-of-state national programs or top-10 Georgia teams.
Class 6A
*Gainesville is in the top 10 with new coach Josh Niblett, the biggest offseason coaching hire. Gainesville defeated Marist 34-23 on the road to open the season and is 2-0 for the first time since 2009. At No. 7, Gainesville will take a top-10 ranking into September for the first time since 2013.
*Thought to be rebuilding, Blessed Trinity was ranked No. 10 in preseason out of respect for its 114 victories the past decade. Despite their top three running backs transferring out, including Alabama pledge Justice Haynes, the Titans are 2-0 with victories over top-10 teams Calhoun 36-25 and Eagle’s Landing Christian 37-14.
*Hughes, the preseason No. 1 and the 2021 runner-up in a heart-breaking state final to Buford, has validated the hype with victories over Spartanburg, S.C., 47-16 and McEachern 47-21. Prentiss “Air” Noland has thrown for 504 yards and eight touchdowns and looks the part of a player-of-the-year candidate.
*Lee County, ranked No. 2, beat defending Class 5A champion Warner Robins 26-10 in the opener. Ousmane Kromah, a sophomore destined to climb all-time state leaderboards, has rushed for 366 yards and four touchdowns in two games.
*Thomas County Central has routed two smaller but successful programs – Cairo 50-7 and Thomasville 31-0 – for its most rousing start in more than 10 years. According to the computer Maxwell Ratings, the Yellow Jackets under new coach Justin Rogers are 20.46 points better than last season.
Class 5A
*Two-time defending champion Warner Robins is 0-1 and has fallen to No. 2 in the rankings behind Cartersville, but that means little for now. Warner Robins won its past two championships after losing games, and Cartersville was No. 1 last season when it lost to Warner Robins in the quarterfinals.
*Jefferson, the preseason No. 6 team, is out of the rankings, probably temporarily, after an opening 47-46 loss to Alpharetta, but RB/LB Sammy Brown has defended his five-star status. The junior has 383 rushing yards, seven touchdowns and seven solo tackles in two games.
*Loganville beat Monroe Area 45-39 in the opener in a four-overtime game with an over-the-head pass and trick play that went viral nationally. The Red Devils are 2-0 for the first time since 2015.
*Flowery Branch, up from 4A, is 2-0 under new coach Jason Tester with wins over Decatur (39-39) and St. Pius (9-0), both 2021 playoff teams.
*Dutchtown, ranked No. 8, is another newcomer to the rankings from preseason. The Bulldogs are 2-0 with victories over Stephenson and Tift County and lead GHSF Daily’s Class 5A Improvement Tracker under first-year coach Niketa Battle.
Class 4A
*Benedictine is still No. 1 despite a 41-15 loss in Miami to Christopher Columbus. Benedictine also lost to Columbus in 2021 but recovered to win the Class 4A championship.
*Two teams that have never won state titles -- North Oconee and Cedartown – are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, each having beaten top-10 teams from lower classifications to amplify preseason expectations.
*Success in a higher class won't be immediate, as in right this minute, for Trinity Christian, the 2021 Class A Private champion. The Lions started No. 5 but have lost to Woodward Academy 37-19 and Fellowship Christian 23-19. No shame there.
*Pace Academy, under new coach Nick Bach, beat Buckhead rival Westminster for the first time in history last week and is 2-0 for the first time since 2018. Pace also beat preseason No. 9 Holy Innocents’ 21-19 and leads GHSF Daily’s Class 4A Improvement Tracker. Pace is up from Class 2A.
*Region 4 has three ranked teams – No. 4 Whitewater, No. 7 Troup and No. 8 Starr’s Mill – not to mention 2-0 LaGrange.
Class 3A
*Cedar Grove, the defending champion, looked good in a 30-14 victory over Bainbridge, which then beat Coffee last week. But the Saints won’t go undefeated, not with four top-10 Class 7A opponents coming in the next four weeks, then nationally prominent St. John’s in Washington, D.C., all on the road.
*One of those ranked 7A teams on Cedar Grove’s schedule, Westlake, beat preseason No. 2 Crisp County 47-7 last week. The Westlake-Cedar Grove game on Friday might be telling.
*Region 1 has three ranked teams – No. 1 Carver (Columbus), No. 6 Crisp and No. 9 Dougherty. Thomasville, the 2021 Class 2A runner-up, appears to be in rebuild mode at 0-2 under new coach Jonathan DeLay but could resurface in region play.
*Lumpkin County is 2-0 for the first time since 2011 under first-year coach Heath Webb and beat 21-point favorite Union County last week.
*The surprise team in the rankings is Adairsville, at No. 10. The Tigers beat Cherokee Bluff 51-50 in overtime last week. Though they made the playoffs last year, they hadn’t been ranked since 2015.
Class 2A
*ELCA, moving up from Class A Private, gave up the preseason No. 1 ranking after losing to Class 6A opponent Blessed Trinity 37-14 last week, but most consider the Chargers the most talented team, at least on the high end.
*Fitzgerald, the new No. 1, is 2A’s defending champion. No Class 2A team has repeated as champion since Buford in 2010.
*Columbia beat Camden County 13-10 in Kingsland on opening night and is the early-season darling of Class 2A. At No. 8, Columbia is ranked for the first time since 1997.
*ACE Charter, under first-year coach Keith Hatcher, is 2-0 for the first time in its five-year history after a 29-15 victory over eight-point favorite GMC Prep last week. The Gryphons have never scored more than 23 points per game in a season but are currently averaging 49.5.
*Expectations might’ve been unrealistic for first-year coach Robert Edwards at Washington County, which lost its opener 42-0 to Swainsboro. The Golden Eagles opened No. 10 despite a 5-5 finish in 2021.
Class A Division I
*C.J. Allen is committed to Georgia for a reason. The Lamar County running back/linebacker has rushed for 341 yards and two touchdowns and made 10 solo tackles in two games for the unbeaten eighth-ranked Trojans.
*Swainsboro, a 2021 semifinal team in Class 2A, has jumped up to No. 3 after victories over then-No. 5 Metter of Division I and then-No. 10 Washington County of 2A.
*The top-10 teams haven't changed since preseason, only moved around a little. Irwin County dropped a bit when it lost to 2021 champion Brooks County, for example.
*Next in line to be ranked is probably Mount Pisgah Christian, which has reversed two of its 2021 losses (Fellowship Christian and Mount Paran Christian) and leads GHSF Daily’s Class A Division I Improvement Tracker. The Patriots are 2-0 for the first time since 2016, when its quarterback was Jacob Cendoya. The current quarterback is Jack Cendoya.
*Keep an eye on Elbert County. The Blue Devils, in their third year under coach Shannon Jarvis, have beaten larger northeast Georgia neighbors Hart County and Madison County to start 2-0. They’re 18.44 points better than last season, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings.
Class A Division II
*No. 1 Schley County has never won a state title. More will be known about the Wildcats (1-0) when they face No. 10 Early County this week.
*Clinch County, whose 3-7 finish last season was the program's worst since 1982, is 2-0 and ranked No. 2 after beating previous No. 3 Macon County 24-20 last week.
*Perhaps the two best small-school rivalries in state history are The Swamp War (Clinch County vs. Charlton County) and The 378 War (Lincoln County vs. Washington-Wilkes). Thanks to the new Division II, those four teams are ranked simultaneously for the first time since the final poll of 2017.
*Macon County and Wilcox County remain in the top five despite 0-2 starts against higher-ranked or larger schools. Macon has lost close games; Wilcox has not.
*Portal, which entered the season on a 17-game losing streak, is 2-0 for the first time since 2014 and leads GHSF Daily’s Improvement Tracker in this division.
GIAA
*John Milledge Academy, a three-time defending GIAA champion, has opened 2-0 to extend its winning streak to 39 games. The state record is 47, held by Buford (2001-04).
*Southland Academy of Americus has two victories over GHSA schools (Taylor County and Marion County) and leads GHSF Daily’s GIAA Improvement Tracker.
*The GIAA’s projected champions based on the Maxwell Ratings are First Presbyterian (4A), John Milledge (3A), Brentwood (2A) and Thomas Jefferson (A).
*Jayden Mason of Calvary Christian has rushed for 613 yards and eight touchdowns in two games and passed 2,000 for his career (2,049). His team is 1-1, though, as his 362 rushing yards against Cherokee Christian came in a 51-27 loss.
*The GIAA’s most heavily recruited player was Zavion Hardy, a defensive lineman who committed to South Carolina this month. Hardy played last season at Tattnall Square, but GHSF Daily discovered while doing preseason all-state that he was no longer there. The Central Georgia Sports Report did a good job determining where he wasn't. It appears he's not playing football this season.