Rankings guru breaks down AAA

Some of the top teams in Class AAA took it on the nose against higher-class opponents Friday, but if you were looking for a major shakeup in the AJC top 10 rankings, it didn't happen.

The reason: Those teams lost to really good, highly ranked higher-class opponents.

"(The top 10 in AAA is) playing bigger schools because they can compete with them," said Todd Holcomb, a former AJC staffer and co-founder of Georgia High School Football Daily, who has been compiling the AJC rankings since 2006. "The others don't because they usually can't. So the prime suspects are easy to identify. It's always hard to rank teams when there are a bunch of losses to bigger schools, but AAA is still easier to rank than most because there's such a gap between those traditional 7-8 powers and everybody else. Maybe the order is a little off, but I'm more certain that AAA's top 10 will still be around at the end than I am for probably any other class."

Peach County, ranked No. 3, lost 33-0 to Class AAAAAA No. 1 Lee County. The Trojans stayed at No. 3 in AAA. Westminster, ranked No. 4, lost to Class AAAA St. Pius 35-9. The Wildcats dropped one spot to No. 5

Top-ranked Calhoun and No. 2 Cedar Grove won in convincing fashion and stayed on top. The Yellow Jackets defeated Therrell, and Cedar Grove moved past Columbia.

"Calhoun is ranked No. 1 for being a defending champion that returned many or most of its key figures," said Holcomb. "They're likely better than there were in 2017, so it's not just rewarding them for 2017, but for what they ought to be again this year."

The leads for both teams necessitated a running-clock in the second-half.

"Cedar Grove is also better than last year," said Holcomb. "And they'll keep getting better because the only question mark to me is quarterback, and he's really talented, just young. Cedar Grove plays a much, much tougher schedule from here and could pass Calhoun in the rankings if they roll through that gauntlet."

Peach County suffered its first shutout since 2007. The Trojans step up in class again this week against Houston County.

"As for Peach County, the victory over Northside confirms they're a state contender again," Holcomb said. "I gave them a pass for losing to Lee County. Lee is far and away the most impressive team in AAAAAA. They're subject to blowing out any AAA team, so that doesn't really affect Peach's reputation."

Benedictine, which had last week off and will play top-ranked Class AAAA Blessed Trinity this week, moved up in the polls from fifth to fourth.  

Monroe Area, a program that had been floating around the top-10 bubble, entered the rankings at sixth after its defeat of then No. 6 Pace Academy. Pace, which was a week removed from beating ELCA, settled to No. 8.

"The toughest team to rank might be Monroe Area," Holcomb said. "Given that they beat Pace so easily, and Pace beat ELCA, Monroe Area has an argument to be No. 3 or No. 4. They're the outsider. Will they be like Liberty County, when they had Richard LeCounte, and be a real threat? Or like almost every other outsider that finds out in the playoffs that they're really not that good? I suspect they're really pretty good since they lost only 28-20 to Calhoun last year. But we'll see."

Seventh-ranked GAC stayed in the same position while it prepared for its trip to Prestonwood Christian in Texas. The Spartans lost to Westminster in Week 2.

No. 9 Lovett fell one spot despite a victory. Chalk it up to shifting rankings. The Lions defeated B.E.S.T. 43-0. Class AAA newbie, Jefferson, defeated West Hall 48-6 to stay at the No. 10 spot this week.

How they fared:

1. (1 last week) Calhoun (2-0)

Last week: Beat Therrell 52-6.

2. (2) Cedar Grove (3-0)

Last week: Beat Columbia 45-0. 3. (3) Peach County (1-1)

3. (3.) Peach County (2-1)

Last week: Lost to Lee County 33-0.

4. (5) Benedictine (1-0)

Last week: Off. Next: Friday at Blessed Trinity (3-0)

5. (4) Westminster (2-1)

Last week: Lost to St. Pius 35-9.

6. (NR) Monroe Area (3-0)

Last week: Beat Pace Academy 36-15.