Private schools in classes 3A-A will be playing for state championships separate from public schools beginning in 2024-25 if the Georgia High School Association’s executive committee approves the plan today in Macon. The GHSA’s reclassification committee voted 12-2 on Sunday to recommend the plan to the 75-member executive committee, which can make it official.

David Eziomume of North Cobb is the GHSA’s new leading rusher after a 326-yard performance in a victory over Milton last week. Eziomume has rushed for 933 yards in five games. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound running back is committed to Clemson. Prince Avenue Christian’s Aaron Philo (1,926 passing yards) and North Murray’s Judson Petty (707 yards receiving) maintained their leads.

It's still early in region play, but several Week 7 games will have a huge impact on who wins 2023 region championships. Among those games this week are Newton vs. Grayson in Class 7A; Lee County vs. Houston County and Roswell vs. Blessed Trinity in 6A; Cartersville vs. Calhoun and Ola vs. Warner Robins in 5A; North Oconee vs. North Hall in 4A; and Appling County vs. Pierce County in 2A

The Georgia High School Association is discussing again a plan that would have private schools playing for their own state championships separate from public schools in classes 3A to A. GHSA reclassification committee chairman Curt Miller, who pushed hard for a similar plan two years ago before compromising, made the motion to discuss the idea Tuesday in Thomaston at a GHSA reclass meeting.

Douglas County's James Johnson scored three touchdowns and had eight tackles in a victory over defending Class 6A champion Hughes; Jefferson's Sammy Brown does a little big of everything in a Region 8-5A win over Clarke Central; and Worth County freshman Lyndon Worthy passes for 409 yards and six touchdowns against Terrell County.

Coffee’s football team is No. 1 for the first time, and Calvary Day made a bid to do the same but remained No. 2 in the AJC rankings this week despite No. 1 Cedar Grove losing for the fourth time.. Coffee is on top of the Class 5A rankings after previous No. 1, Ware County, the defending champion, lost to Class 4A’s No. 4 team, Bainbridge, 35-21 last week.

Aaron Philo, the reigning GHSA passing leader, is back on top of the GHSA’s passing leaderboard through five weeks. The Prince Avenue Christian quarterback passed for 408 yards in a 58-18 victory over Eagle’s Landing Christian last week. That was his fifth career 400-yard passing game and boosted him into first place with his season total of 1,520.

The top two teams in Class A-Division I will meet for their Region 6 opener when No. 2 Macon County travels to No. 1 Schley County; Douglas County and Hughes will try to establish themselves as the front-runner in Region 5-6A; and first-year Lowndes coach Adam Carter will face his former team when the Vikings travel to Grayson for a non-region Class 7A game.

For sake of creativity and civics, GHSF Daily has placed the GHSA’s 413 football-playing schools into their U.S. congressional districts and ranked them using the computer Maxwell Ratings. The idea is not that creative, actually. Georgia high school teams in various sports competed for district championships for decades and into the 1950s before the GHSA's region format took hold.

Prince Avenue Christian quarterback Aaron Philo passes for 408 yards and six touchdowns to guide his team to another lopsided victory; running backs Nick Woodford of Northeast and Zion Johnson of Newton lead their teams to important wins; and Bryan County's Austin Clemons and East Coweta's Deshun Horsley make their presence felt on both sides of the ball.

Boosted by a victory over No. 7 Westlake, Newton moved into the Class 7A rankings this week, taking Westlake’s previous spot, while Lumpkin County and Lanier County each are ranked for the first time in more than 50 years. Newton won 27-12 against what the computer Maxwell Rankings pegged as 18-point favorite. The Rams are 5-0 for the first time since 1950.

North Murray’s Skyler Williams and Judson Petty and Monroe Area’s Darrion Manuel are the GHSA’s yardage leaders after four weeks. Williams has thrown for 1,249 yards, and 687 of those have gone to Petty, a preseason all-state pick. The GHSA’s rushing leader, Manuel, has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his four games, including a season-high 219 against Cedar Shoals.

Two pairs of unbeaten Class 7A teams will square off in Week 5 when Westlake travels to Newton and East Coweta visits Lowndes. Other top games include ACE Charter against Northeast in a game that will establish the team to beat in Region 2-2A, Marist against Blessed Trinity in a 6A battle of Catholic schools, and Stratford Academy against St. Anne-Pacelli in a rematch of last year's GIAA Class 4A championship game.

There are 38 teams undefeated teams that GHSF Daily does not have ranked four weeks into the regular season. These 10 are especially intriguing - Central (Carrollton), Dalton, Douglas County, East Coweta, Lanier County, Lowndes, Lumpkin County, North Atlanta, Ola and Peachtree Ridge

Two-way players Bryce Baker of Benedictine and Trelaine Maddox put up big numbers on both sides of the ball to lead their teams to close victories in Week 4, and Clinch County's Jeremy Bell accounted for 379 yards in a win over Cook.

Benedictine beat Ware County in a game between No. 1-ranked reigning champions last week. Both are still No. 1 in this week’s football rankings. Benedictine naturally kept its top spot in Class 4A after beating Ware 31-24 in Savannah. The Cadets are 4-0 after starting 2-2 each of the past two seasons, each ending in state titles. Ware’s 17-game winning streak is over, but its reign at No. 1 in Class 5A is not.

The Georgia High School Association’s reclassification committee voted Thursday to keep the 3.0 out-of-zone enrollment multiplier for the next reclass cycle and will decide next month on a proposal to add 18 schools to the highest classification. Using enrollment numbers for the current classification, schools that would’ve landed in a 64-school high class this year include Blessed Trinity, Houston County, Rome and Gainesville. They currently are in Class 6A, one from the highest.

The matchup of top-ranked teams Ware County of Class 5A and Benedictine of Class 4A is the headliner for Week 4 of the season. Other top games on the schedule this week include Milton vs. Roswell in a north Fulton rivalry, Marist vs. Woodward Academy in a Class 6A private-school battle, and Lee County vs. Colquitt County in a showdown for south Georgia supremacy.

More than 140 former Georgia high school football players are on active NFL rosters ahead of the league’s first game Thursday between the Chiefs and the Lions. Every NFL team has at least one Georgia player, and the Falcons have the most with nine. The Ravens are next with eight. The reigning champion Chiefs have six.