Several games around the state this weekend will determine likely region champions. Among them are Eagle’s Landing Christian at Callaway, Irwin County at Brooks County, Loganville at Jefferson, Putnam County at Thomson and Thomasville at Dougherty.

Below are the computer Maxwell Ratings’ projected first-round matchups in classes 3A through A. With three weeks left in the regular season, not all predictions will come true, of course, but the bracket itself – showing which regions match up against each other in the first round and beyond – is set in stone.

Buford’s Justice Haynes, Fannin County’s Corbin Davenport and Upson-Lee’s Ja’Quan Bentley rushed for a combined 882 yards, Alpharetta’s Ben Guthrie passed for 420 yards and seven touchdowns, and McIntosh’s Marcus Malone had 413 all-purpose yards in Week 9 games.

Buford’s grip on the No. 1 ranking in Class 7A is tighter than ever with three weeks remaining in high school football’s regular season. Buford, ranked at the top since preseason, defeated then-No. 3 Mill Creek 37-29 on Friday in a game between unbeaten Gwinnett County rivals. It was Buford’s second win over a ranked 7A opponent as the Wolves beat current No. 6 North Cobb 21-14 last month. Buford (7-0) doesn’t have a top-10 opponent on the remainder of its schedule.

Northeast sophomore Nick Woodford put more distance between himself and the field last week with a career-high 302 rushing yards in a 49-16 victory over Kendrick. Woodford has rushed for a GHSA-leading 1,619 yards and 25 touchdowns in seven games. Other state leaders are McIntosh quarterback Tate Morris (2,126 passing yards) and Rabun County’s Jaden Gibson (1,078 receiving yards).

All eyes will be on the big Class 7A showdown between No. 1-ranked Buford and No. 3 Mill Creek, but there will be other important region matchups this weekend, as well. Among the games in which the winner will emerge with at least a share of first place in their regions are Aquinas-Lincoln County, Cambridge-Kell, North Cobb Christian-South Atlanta, Rabun County-Elbert County and Sandy Creek-Carver of Atlanta.

It’s too soon to know who’ll finish where in each region, but the GHSA brackets are set. That is, it’s predetermined which regions will face off against each other in the first round and beyond. Below are the computer Maxwell Ratings’ projected first-round matchups in classes 7A through 4A.

Quarterback Aaron Philo passed for 385 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two scores in Prince Avenue Christian’s 42-35 win over Tennessee power Baylor, while running backs Nick Woodford of Northeast, Keyjuan Brown of South Atlanta and Josiah Allen of Wheeler topped the 300-yard rushing mark.

Warner Robins and Trinity Christian, a pair of 2021 state champions that started slowly, reentered the high school football rankings this week after winning their first two region games. Warner Robins defeated Union Grove 30-7 to move to 3-4 overall. Warner Robins is No. 9 in Class 5A. Trinity Christian, last year’s Class A Private champion, is No. 8 this week in Class 4A. After an 0-2 start that dropped them out of the rankings, the Lions have won five straight, including two in a row against top-10 teams.

Gwinnett County police have apprehended an unnamed suspect in the shooting death of all-state wide receiver Elijah DeWitt, a Jefferson senior whose body was found Wednesday night in the parking lot of Sugarloaf Mills shopping mall in Lawrenceville. Police said DeWitt was shot multiple times.

Nick Woodford of Northeast in Macon and Tate Morris of McIntosh are the GHSA’s new leaders in rushing and passing, respectively. Woodford has rushed for 1,317 yards on the season, an average of 219.5 per game. The new passing leader is Morris, who is on pace for 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing in the regular season. Rabun County’s Jaden Gibson remains the leader in receiving yards with 958.