It seems there are four kinds of teams in the top 10 this week in Class AAAAAAA.
A – Undefeated teams with good wins, but not totally proven (Walton, Milton, Parkview).
B – Teams ranked highly in preseason that have lost to nationally ranked opponents (North Gwinnett, Grayson, Marietta) and who are still considered big threats to reach the semifinals or better.
C – Teams that have lost early to higher-ranked Georgia teams but are now back in the rankings (Archer, McEachern, Mill Creek).
D – Colquitt County
Let’s look at them a little more closely …
1. Colquitt County – The Packers have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 44-8. All three opponents – McEachern, Trinity Catholic and Thomasville – are pretty good, the Colquitt was clearly favored in each. Colquitt without doubt has been the most impressive team in the high class so far.
2. Walton, ranked No. 5 in preseason with the expection that this was the best Raider team in a few years, is 3-0, but far from proven. The Raiders beat current No. 10 Mill Creek 48-27 in the opener but struggled to beat Collins Hill 29-25 on Aug. 24. Marietta then beat Collins Hill 38-13 last week. Walton plays No. 4 North Gwinnett in two weeks.
3. Milton is 3-0 with victories over three ranked teams – Archer, Alpharetta and Cardinal Gibbons. Gibbons was ranked No. 1 in Florida’s Class 5A. Milton will be tested by Roswell in two weeks, then No. 6 Parkview.
4. North Gwinnett, the defending champion, is 1-1 with a 37-2 win over rebuilding Brookwood and a 28-14 loss to nationally ranked Wekiva of Florida on Saturday. North Gwinnett faces Norcross this week
5. Grayson, the preseason No. 1, is 1-1 and remains the most talented team as far as college recruits go. But after a blowout of Tucker in the opener, Grayson looked shaky in the 34-22 loss to nationally ranked Bergen Catholic. Grayson actually led in total yards but was never really in it after some special-teams breakdowns. Bergen seemed to move the ball any time that it needed to. Grayson travels to Marietta this week.
6. Parkview, ranked No. 10 in preseason, has beaten Mountain View 42-6 and Lowndes 39-27. Lowndes is the first top-10 team that Parkview has beaten since 2012.
7. Marietta is 1-2 after an impressive 38-13 victory over Collins Hill. Remember that Collins Hill lost to Walton 29-25 two weeks ago after failing to hold a 19-7 fourth-quarter lead. Marietta is host to Grayson this week.
8. Archer, a 2017 quarterfinalist that was knocked out by Colquitt County 12-7, was No. 3 in preseason, lost to Milton 21-19 in the opener, then routed a pretty good but not great Spartanburg, S.C., team 51-17 last weekend. Archer is home to No. 10 Mill Creek t his week.
9. McEachern, a 2017 semifinalist that was knocked out by North Gwinnett 38-17, was No. 7 in preseason, lost to Colquitt County 41-7, then beat South cobb 58-12 last week.
10. Mill Creek, unranked in preseason, lost its opener to Walton 48-27, then beat Dacula 49-21 and then No. 10 Norcross 39-14. Mill Creek plays at No. 8 Archer this week.
Others that could’ve been ranked: Lowndes and Tift County. Lowndes, the preseason No. 9, lost to No. 6 Parkview 39-27 but has won its other two games against smaller schools. Tift County, the preseason No. 8, lost to Warner Robins and has beaten Valdosta and Worth County.
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