Football rankings: Few upsets and Georgia teams strong in interstate games

The football rankings remained largely the same after almost no upsets involving top-10 teams in the third weekend of the season.

Thirteen top-10 teams were beaten, but only one lost to a lower-ranked, instate opponent from the same class.

That was former No. 5 Colquitt County in Class 6A. North Gwinnett, playing at home, beat the Packers 21-7 and moved up one spot to No. 7 while Colquitt fell to No. 10.

It was a good week for Georgia teams facing prime out-of-state competition.

Grayson, Class 6A’s No. 1 team, beat Alabama’s highest-rated team, Thompson, 24-23 in overtime. It was Grayson’s second straight victory over a top-100 national opponent, as the Rams beat Rabun Gap last week. Another one, Mallard Creek of North Carolina, is on this week’s schedule at home.

Grayson got its most recent victory, earned by defending a two-point conversion attempt on the final play, despite losing star quarterback Travis Burgess to a season-ending injury announced before the game. Burgess is committed to North Carolina.

Thomas County Central, Class 5A’s No. 3 team, beat Florida State High, a top-300 team in High School Football America’s national rankings, 79-14. The 79 points are a school record. Thomas Central has outscored its opponents 191-21 in three games.

Creekside, Class 4A’s No. 2 team, destroyed DeSoto, Texas, 70-24 at home. DeSoto, ranked No. 24 in Sports Illustrated’s national poll, beat Creekside 70-0 in 2024 in Texas. Creekside rebounded to reach the 4A semifinals last season.

Calvary Day, Class 3A-A Private’s No. 5 team, beat South Carolina’s reigning Class 3A champion, Oceanside Collegiate, 59-39. That avenged Calvary Day’s only regular-season loss since 2021.

Hebron Christian, Georgia’s defending 3A-A Private champion, lost to Tennessee’s highest-rated team, McCallie, 24-8. McCallie is a larger school, with 50% more students than Hebron.

Only Coffee in 5A and Kell in 4A dropped out of the rankings.

Coffee, formerly No. 10 in 5A, lost to Columbia County, Florida, and was replaced by River Ridge. Kell lost to Class 5A No. 9 Sequoyah 37-6 and was replaced by Eastside.

Prince Avenue Christian remained No. 1 in 3A-A Private despite its 28-13 loss to Blessed Trinity, the No. 3 team in 4A.

Here are the rankings after Week 3. The number in parentheses before team names indicate previous ranking.

Class 6A

1. (1) Grayson (3-0)

2. (2) Buford (2-0)

3. (3) Douglas County (3-0)

4. (4) Carrollton (3-0)

5. (6) McEachern (3-0)

6. (7) Lowndes (3-0)

7. (8) North Gwinnett (1-1)

8. (9) Valdosta (3-0)

9. (10) Norcross (2-0)

10. (5) Colquitt County (1-1)

Class 5A

1. (1) Hughes (2-0)

2. (2) Gainesville (3-0)

3. (4) Thomas County Central (3-0)

4. (3) Milton (2-1)

5. (5) Lee County (2-0)

6. (6) Roswell (2-0)

7. (7) Sprayberry (3-0)

8. (8) Houston County (3-0)

9. (9) Sequoyah (3-0)

10. (NR) River Ridge (3-0)

Out: No. 10 Coffee (1-2)

Class 4A

1. (1) North Oconee (2-0)

2. (2) Creekside (3-0)

3. (3) Blessed Trinity (3-0)

4. (4) Cartersville (3-0)

5. (5) Benedictine (1-2)

6. (6) Cambridge (3-0)

7. (7) Ware County (3-0)

8. (8) Marist (1-1)

9. (10) Central-Carrollton (3-0)

10. (NR) Eastside (2-1)

Out: No. 9 Kell (2-1)

Class 3A

1. (1) Calhoun (2-0)

2. (2) Jefferson (3-0)

3. (3) Sandy Creek (3-0)

4. (4) Peach County (3-0)

5. (6) North Hall (2-0)

6. (7) Stephenson (3-0)

7. (5) LaGrange (2-1)

8. (9) Monroe Area (2-0)

9. (10) Troup (2-0)

10. (8) Cherokee Bluff (2-1)

Class 2A

1. (1) Carver-Columbus (3-0)

2. (2) Pierce County (2-0)

3. (3) Rockmart (1-1)

4. (5) Carver-Atlanta (3-0)

5. (7) Morgan County (3-0)

6. (6) Callaway (0-2)