Marquis Westbrook’s first season coaching Peach County resulted in the Trojans’ first losing season in 37 years. In Westbrook’s second season, Peach is No. 1 again, its only loss to defending Class 4A champion Perry in August. Peach County moved ahead of previous No. 1 Sandy Creek, which lost to unranked Mary Persons 37-29 on Friday night.

The state's hottest running back is Lanier’s Tojuan Peyton Jr., who is Class 5A’s new rushing leader. Peyton rushed for 421 yards on 27 carries and scored all six of his team’s touchdowns in a 59-42 loss to Roswell last week. The week before, Peyton rushed for 283 yards and four touchdowns and scored a fifth touchdown on a kickoff return in a 42-35 victory over Johns Creek.

Champions will be crowned Friday night in Region 3-6A when Hillgrove travels to Harrison and in Region 4-5A when Woodward Academy plays at Decatur. But those aren’t the only regions in which a champion could be decided in Week 10. Other teams that can clinch include Athens Academy, Cherokee Bluff, Christian Heritage, North Gwinnett and Peach County.

Once a star running back at Thomson High and Georgia Tech, Jerry Mays will be among 30 former players inducted into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night. As with the other 29, it’s easy for Mays to recall that thrill of running down the football field with his team’s name written across his jersey.

Running backs turned in some of the outstanding efforts of Week 10, with Brookwood’s Brayden Tyson, Hillgrove’s Jaiden Moore, Kell’s Moonie Gipson and Lanier’s T.J. Peyton each rushing for at least 248 yards and three touchdowns in important region games last week. Morgan County wide receiver Jaylen Elder had 256 yards receiving in his team’s win.

Manchester is the new No. 1 team in the Class A Division II rankings after previous No. 1 Irwin County was taken down Friday by Clinch County. Manchester was the 2023 runner-up in this class and avenged its championship-game loss to Bowdon earlier this month. The Blue Devils’ only loss came in the opener to Harris County, a bigger school.

Keyon Standifer, a sophomore wide receiver from Athens Academy, is the new GHSA leader in receiving yards and the first to break 1,000 this season. Standifer has 36 receptions for 1,027 yards and 14 touchdowns. He is a two-way starter with four interceptions at cornerback.

The winner of the Telfair County-Wheeler County game will be on course for a historic region championship. Telfair County last won a region title in 1993. Wheeler County, which opened in 1966, has never won a region title. In other Week 10 games, Cartersville meets Cedartown, Sumter County faces Carver of Columbus, and Lakeside of Evans takes on Brunswick in games that almost certainly will decide region championships.

These are the Maxwell Ratings’ projected playoff brackets for classes 3A to A Division I. Unlike other classes, which are seeded in the traditional format, the GHSA will seed teams in classes 3A to A Division I using a points-rating model. The GHSA publishes the Post Season Rankings, but the draws below are more informative because they project how they might play out after four more weeks of the regular season.

Craig Dandridge of Cambridge, T.J. Peyton of Lanier and Jonathan Isom of Mitchell County put up big offensive numbers during important region victories in Week 9 of the regular season, while Rome’s Jaedon Harmon dominated on defense, playing only a half in a lopsided win over Lithia Springs.

Ware County, a perennial state contender that has gone unranked since consecutive losses to Florida opponents last month, is the biggest upward mover in this week’s high school football rankings after a 38-14 victory over previous No. 2 Benedictine of Class 4A on Friday night. Ware is now No. 6 in Class 4A despite its 3-3 record.

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.