Carrollton needed an impressive victory to hold its No. 1 ranking in Class 6A this week. The Trojans got it. Their 45-15 win against Gainesville, then the second-ranked team in Class 5A, was enough to shield it from surging Buford, which dominated previous-No. 3 Douglas County of Class 6A 31-14.

Chattooga’s Zayden Cook is the state’s new rushing leader after a 338-yard effort last week in a 45-20 victory over Mount Zion of Carroll County. Cook has rushed for 849 yards and 11 touchdowns on just 60 carries. Cook is more than a running back, though. He’s an inside linebacker who is second on his team in tackles, averaging eight per game. He’s playing 125-130 plays per game.

No. 2 Buford and No. 3 Douglas County will headline Week 5 of the season when they meet in Douglasville, trying to keep pace near the top of the Class 6A rankings. Elsewhere, the top three teams in 5A - No. 1 Milton, No. 2 Gainesville and No. 3 Lee County - will face tough tests on the road.

Region play has begun in only 12 of the 56 regions, and the regular season is just one-third complete, but bracket mania has been simmering for weeks in the computer Maxwell Ratings. Below are the projected first-round matchups and seeds for all eight championship draws, along with some GHSF Daily observations.

Great rushing nights by Chattooga’s Zayden Cook and West Hall’s Elijah Hayes and outstanding all-around efforts by Jefferson’s Rett Hemphill, Toombs County’s T.J. Stanley and Warner Robins’ Skyler Williams were among the highlights of the fourth week of the season.

Buford and Douglas County didn’t move up in the football rankings this week, but each had a big win that could set up either for a promotion if successful in their next game – which is against each other. Buford, the No. 2 team in Class 6A and the preseason No. 1, defeated No. 7 Roswell of Class 5A 52-17. Douglas County, ranked No. 3, beat No. 6 Hughes of 5A 21-14.

Walnut Grove’s Emadd Howard, Houston County’s Antwann Hill and Pope’s John Stuetzer stand atop GHSF Daily’s GHSA yardage leaderboard in rushing, passing and receiving. Howard, a senior, is bidding for his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. He’s 86 yards from 3,000 in his career. He had a career-high 305 rushing yards in a 48-19 victory over Loganville last month. Walnut Grove is 3-0.

Jones County will meet Ola and Rockmart will face Ringgold in early battles for region supremacy in Week 4 of the season. Warner Robins will take on Houston County for the unofficial title of county champions, and North Gwinnett travels to Mill Creek in a battle of top-five teams in Class 6A.

More than 150 former Georgia high school football players are on active NFL rosters or injured reserve ahead of the league’s first game Thursday between the Chiefs and the Ravens, according to GHSF Daily research. The 150 is similar to last year’s total, which ranked fourth among states behind Texas, Florida and California.

Passing was the name of the game over the weekend, as quarterbacks and wide receivers dominated the top five in Week 3. Athens Academy’s Keyon Standifer, Cherokee’s Tanner Savasir, Elbert County’s Jayvyn Hickman, Houston County’s Isaiah Mitchell and Warner Robins’ Rasean Dinkins put up big numbers in their teams’ victories.

North Gwinnett’s victory at Colquitt County has the Bulldogs ranked No. 4 in Class 6A this week ahead of a showdown with No. 5 Mill Creek. North Gwinnett defeated the Packers 14-3 while nearly ending two remarkable Colquitt County streaks. Colquitt hasn’t been shut out since 2008 nor been ranked outside the top 10 since 2016. Colquitt is ranked No. 10 this week.

From Calvin Johnson to Trevor Lawrence to Elijah Griffin, here are the highest-rated recruits this century by Georgia team, according to GHSF Daily’s research of the 247Sports Composite rankings. If there are a few more recent players, it’s because Georgia’s reputation for developing major Division I and NFL talent continues to rise.

Middle Georgia powers Houston County and Perry have engaged in high-scoring shootouts the past two seasons, and more of the same can be expected when they meet again Friday night. The Week 3 schedule also features high-profile games matching top-10 private schools when Blessed Trinity travels to Prince Avenue Christian and Marist visits Woodward Academy.

The GHSA is using a ranking formula to help select and seed playoff teams for classes 3A, 2A and A Division I this season. Below are how those seeds and selections will play out, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings. The seedings below include each team’s projected final PSRF and region finish in 10 weeks.

Cook’s M.J. Tippins, Eastside’s Jayden Barr, Milton’s Ethan Barbour and Pope’s John Stuetzer put up big numbers on offense in Week 2 victories. On defense, Deuce Geralds created havoc again as Collins Hill defeated a top-10 opponent for the second consecutive week.

Carrollton and Savannah Christian are new No. 1 teams in the high school football rankings, replacing Buford and Prince Avenue. Buford, the previous No. 1 in Class 6A, fell a notch despite beating Benedictine 29-28 with last-minute heroics. Benedictine is the No. 4 team in Class 4A. Buford lost its opener to Class 5A’s No. 1 team, Milton, 13-10.

GHSF Daily will begin running a GHSA yardage leaderboard in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, here are several GHSA players who hit milestones with 175 yards rushing, 275 yards passing or 125 yards receiving in the opening week of the season. If we’ve missed any, let us know.

A week after knocking off Buford, Class 5A No. 1 Milton will travel to Florida to face American Heritage in a matchup of teams ranked in the top 20 nationally. The Week 2 schedule also includes two high-profile games between private schools - Blessed Trinity at Holy Innocents' and Hebron Christian at Fellowship Christian.

Collins Hill upset a third-ranked powerhouse, North Murray beat an 18-point favorite, and Gordon Central ended a 31-game losing streak last week. Those teams and their coaches are rewarded today with first-place standings in the GHSF Daily’s first Improvement Tracker of the season.

Quarterbacks Jonathan Granby of Fellowship Christian and Ben Brown of Wesleyan help their teams knock off two of the top-ranked teams in the Class A divisions. Monroe Area's Jitt Carr, Heritage of Ringgold WR Cody Bryan and Ringgold's Cole Runion put up big opening-night numbers.