Zayden Cook of Chattooga, Antwann Hill of Houston County and Cody Bryan of Heritage of Ringgold held their statewide leads in rushing, passing and receiving yardage, respectively, but Class 6A has a pair of new leaders - Westlake's Travis Smith Jr. and Wheeler's Josiah Allen - after the big games they had last week.

First place will be at stake in several regions around the state this weekend. Notably, two games with front-runner status on the line match undefeated teams – Coffee at Lee County in Region 2-5A and Eastside at North Oconee in Region 8-4A. Elsewhere, the public-private battle for seeding in the lower classes wages on as North Cobb Christian meets Rockmart for first place in Region 7-2A.

Seventy-eight of the GHSA’s 415 football-playing schools have first-year head coaches, a couple since the season started. Here is a look at several that have made immediate impacts. Their backgrounds are varied, but many have coached in state championship games recently.

Dodge County’s Jerimiah Burns, Houston County’s A.J. Hill, Valdosta’s Todd Robinson and Wheeler’s Josiah Allen posted the big numbers on offense in their teams’ Week 8 victories, while Worth County linebacker Shermon Smith recorded 15 solo tackles and five assists to help his team upset Thomasville.

The Georgia High School Association’s rule-making authority, the 75-person executive committee, will discuss a bold plan Monday that would classify schools based on sports success rather than enrollment size starting in 2026. The proposal is called the GHSA Competitive Balance Reclassification Model.

Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy and Drew’s Jaylan Aquino surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in the seventh week of the regular season. Dowdy rushed for 347 yards in a 57-43 victory Saturday over Habersham Central. Aquino ran for 168 yards in a 13-7 win over Pace Academy on Monday.

Region 1-6A will try again to get league play under way when Camden County visits Valdosta and Lowndes travels to Colquitt County in games that were postponed last weekend because of Hurricane Helene. Collins Hill and Buford will face off to determine the team to beat in Region 8-6A, and several games across the state will establish region front-runners.

The GHSA on Tuesday added one week to the football regular season, meaning the playoffs will start Nov. 15-16, one week later. The decision was expected, as executive director Tim Scott told GHSF Daily on Monday that the GHSA was moving toward that solution.

The Georgia High School Association is considering postponing the football playoffs one week to accommodate schools that need to make up games because of Hurricane Helene, executive director Tim Scott said Monday morning. Scott said he hoped to have a decision by noon Tuesday.

Rankings have not been updated this week because of the more than 30 games that were postponed until Monday night. These rankings contain game summaries for the top-10 teams that did play last week. New rankings will be published Tuesday.

To find the state’s leading rusher, passer and receiver, search no further than northwest Georgia. Chattooga’s Zayden Cook (leading rusher with 1,328 yards) and Trion’s Kade Smith (leading passer with 1,409) are from the same county. About 30 miles closer to the Tennessee border is Heritage of Ringgold, where leading receiver Cody Bryan (701 yards) is having a standout season.

Week 7 games are on the move as Hurricane Helene forces changes to the schedule around the state. Among the games on the schedule are two big Region 1-6A openers, Camden County at Valdosta and Lowndes at Colquitt County. Region 2-5A kicks off league play with No. 3 Thomas County Central at No. 2 Lee County, and private-schools powers Blessed Trinity and Savannah Christian meet in a non-region game.

The AJC’s Super 11 players are having successful seasons where it counts most – their teams’ won-lost records. Seven are playing on undefeated teams. Only one, Schley County’s Zayden Walker, is playing for a team outside the top 10, and the Wildcats (3-3) remain favored to win their region.

Benedictine’s Chis “Bubba” Frazier, LaGrange’s Malachi Render-Fannin, Norcross’ Jahsaun Clarke and McEachern’s Zhay’Lyn Bell put up big numbers in their teams’ Week 6 victories, while Trion’s Logan Stokes made a difference on both sides of the ball in an overtime win against an out-of-state opponent.

Cambridge and Ola, both 5-0, entered the Class 4A football rankings for the first time this season after a week light on upsets overall. Cambridge and Ola were off last week but benefited from losses from No. 8 Perry (to East Coweta) and No. 9 Ware County (to Lincoln of Tallahassee, Fla.).

Morgan County’s Jaylen Elder has been one of Georgia’s fastest-rising recruits this month. He’s also moved to the top of GHSF Daily’s yardage leaderboard in receiving. Elder had five receptions for 191 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-19 victory over Cedar Shoals last week. He also scored on an 84-yard run.

Region play is picking up steam as the season reaches the midway point, and the early front-runners in several regions will be established this weekend. Among those are 4-3A (Aquinas at Westside of Augusta), 8-A Division I (Athens Academy at Commerce), 5-3A (Douglass at Cedar Grove), 4-4A (Mays at Creekside) and 5-6A (North Cobb at Walton).

Twenty-five GHSA teams are undefeated but unranked by GHSF Daily. Below is an overview of each, with their prospects going forward. Seven of the 25 complete in Class 4A, which is unusually strong this season, partly because of the addition of Marist and Blessed Trinity, down from Class 6A.

Quarterbacks Luke Priester of Chattahoochee, Kyle Davis of Lakeside (Atlanta) and Trey Smith of Roswell each accounted for more than 400 yards of offense in Week 5, and Pierce County’s Caden McGatha wasn’t far behind with 384. Elsewhere, Thomson’s Jaris Sinkfield scored just about every way imaginable in a victory over Swainsboro.