The threat of Hurricane Ian led to a major reshuffling of the schedule in Week 7, with the majority of games moving to Thursday. Among the biggest region matchups Thursday night are Blessed Trinity at Roswell, Calhoun at Cartersville, Eastside at Loganville and Houston County at Lee County.

More than 120 high school football games now have been moved up to Wednesday or Thursday this week to get ahead of Hurricane Ian, which is on track to hit western Florida on Wednesday.

Lowndes and North Cobb reentered the Class 7A rankings this week, Lambert made it for the first time in 10 years and Grayson dropped eight spots to No. 10 after the sixth week of the high school football season. Lowndes defeated previous No. 2 Grayson 24-14 to make up for its road loss the previous week to East Coweta. Lowndes was the preseason No. 8 team and now sits at No. 9. North Cobb, the preseason No. 4, defeated previous No. 9 Milton 21-7 and got back in at No. 8. New to the rankings this week is Lambert, which defeated East Coweta 31-24 on Friday.

Georgia is almost certain to have its first 1,000-yard rusher tonight as Temple’s Cam Vaughn and Hebron Christian’s Gavin Hall are only 47 and 63 yards shy, respectively. Both are three-year starting quarterbacks. Vaughn, a senior, has rushed for 953 yards and 14 touchdowns on 106 carries (9.0 yards per carry) in five games. Hall, a junior, has rushed for 937 yards and 11 touchdowns on 75 carries (12.5 ypc).

GHSF Daily previews 10 of the most intriguing games each week throughout the season. The Week 6 lineup includes Class 3A No. 1 Cedar Grove continuing its journey through the best of Class 7A, three games that will go a long way toward deciding region championships, and Houston County looking to make its mark against county rival Warner Robins.

It’s been a great season so far for most of the AJC’s preseason Super 11 selections. Two play on No. 1-ranked teams, and five others play for unbeaten teams. As is always the case, some have struggled. Two play for teams that are surprisingly sub-.500 while another is injured, hoping to return by the playoffs. The recruiting status of each has not changed, with 10 remaining committed and one undecided.

East Coweta’s Brady Tillman accounted for six touchdowns in a 49-34 victory over Lowndes, and South Paulding’s Jamarion Wilcox rushes for 324 yards against East Paulding. Meanwhile, Buford’s Eddrick Houston, Mill Creek’s Josh Anglin and Walton’s Ayden Jackson create a little chaos on defense. They were among the standouts in Week 5 of the season.

All eight No. 1 teams in the Georgia high school football rankings remained the same for the first time this season after the fifth week produced few major surprises. Cedar Grove retained its position at the top of Class 3A after a 52-36 loss to No. 4 Mill Creek of Class 7A. Cedar Grove, the defending champion in 3A, had beaten Westlake and Collins Hill of 7A the previous two weeks and takes on No. 3 Colquitt County this week to finish one the most ambitious Georgia road trips ever for a smaller school. Buford, Hughes, Cartersville, Prince Avenue Christian and Early County, all ranked No. 1, each won their games comfortably Friday. Cedartown and Fitzgerald were off.

Tate Morris of McIntosh and Brady Kluse of Harrison have taken the lead in passing and receiving yards, respectively, while Gavin Hall of Hebron Christian continues to lead in rushing. Morris, a first-year starter, threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns last week, giving him 1,274 yards for the season. Kluse had 211 receiving yards last week to give him 558 for the year.

GHSF Daily previews 10 of the most intriguing games each week throughout the season. The Week 5 lineup includes two games matching unbeaten and ranked teams in Region 4-4A, two Class 3A teams taking on two of Gwinnett County’s best, and a Class 2A game that will go a long way toward deciding a region championship.

The Maxwell Ratings have ranked Georgia’s 466 11-man football teams by county. The teams include those from the Georgia High School Association, the Georgia Independent Athletic Association and the Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools. The list provides a different way of looking at the state’s teams.

Dublin’s Demari Foster and West Forsyth’s Peyton Strecko run for more than 300 yards and Central Gwinnett’s Jason Jackson goes for 271, while Peach County’s Jayden Parker intercepts three passes and returns one for a touchdown. They were among the standouts in Week 4 of the season.

Cedartown and Early County are ranked No. 1 in the AJC’s high school football poll for the first time in more than 25 years. Cedartown (4-0) climbed on top of Class 4A after a 21-7 victory over previous No. 4 Calhoun of Class 5A and is No. 1 for the first time since 1995. Benedictine, the previous No. 1 team and 4A’s defending champion, fell to No. 7 after losing 14-10 to Ware County, the No. 2 team in 5A. Early County (4-0) is No. 1 in the new Class A Division II. The Bobcats beat Terrell County 21-14 last week. Early County was most recently No. 1 in 1994. Previous No. 1 Clinch County (3-1) fell to No. 2 after losing 43-13 to No. 6 Cook of Class 2A.

Gavin Hall of Hebron Christian, Sire Hardaway of Douglas County and Jaden Gibson of Rabun County are the GHSA’s leaders in rushing, passing and receiving through three weeks. Hall, a junior quarterback, has rushed for 310, 110 and 360 yards in Hebron’s three games, all victories. Hardaway, also a junior quarterback, is the first passer with more than 1,000 yards. The GHSA’s leading receiver is Gibson, who has 493 yards through three games.

GHSF Daily previews 10 of the most intriguing games each week throughout the season. The Week 4 lineup includes Lee County trying for its first victory against Colquitt County; Columbia searching for another big upset, this time at Cartersville; and Fitzgerald seeking to represent the state well at the Georgia-Florida Border Classic in Brunswick.

Close to 145 former Georgia high school players are active on opening-day NFL rosters in a season that begins Thursday with a game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills. Georgia’s total is up from about 125 last season and represents nearly 1 in 12 active NFL players. About 25 are rookies, including No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker from Upson-Lee with the Jaguars.

A year after its worst season in 39 years, Clinch County is ranked No. 1 again. The South Georgia small-school power with six state titles this century is 3-0 after a 50-14 victory over Miller County on Friday. Clinch moved into the top spot in Class A Division II after previous No. 1 Schley County lost to then-No. 10 Early County 19-17 on Friday. Other No. 1 teams, including Buford, Fitzgerald and Cartersville, needed second-half comebacks to stay on top, while Hughes, Benedictine, Cedar Grove and Prince Avenue Christian won easily.

Twelve active Georgia football head coaches have coached in 300 or more games in their Georgia careers. The latest to join the 300 club was Burke County’s Eric Parker last week. Only 77 Georgia coaches in history, going back more than 100 years and including the GHSA and all other associations, have coached in 300 games. This week, the 12 active coaches with 300 games were asked: What is your favorite high school football venue in Georgia other than your own, and why?

GHSF Daily previews 10 of the most intriguing games each week throughout the season. The Week 3 headliner is No. 4 North Cobb heading to top-ranked Buford in a battle for supremacy in Class 7A. Other matchups of note some rivalries, with Rome heading to Carrollton, Prince Avenue Christian taking on Athens Academy, and Warner Robins taking on Northside at McConnell-Talbert.

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.