High school football rankings: Unranked teams rewarded for beating top-10s
Kell, Thomson and Bleckley County entered the football rankings this week after victories over top-10 teams in a weekend of limited upsets.
Kell of Class 4A beat No. 8 Blessed Trinity 3-0 and moved into the top 10 at No. 9. Blessed Trinity (4-3) fell to No. 10. Kell (5-2) started the season No. 10 but dropped out with losses to Sequoyah and Lowndes, top-10 teams from higher classifications.
Also in 4A, No. 10 Cass (6-2) fell out of the rankings after losing to No. 3 Cartersville 56-28.
In Class 2A, Thomson beat previous No. 7 Burke County 24-14. Thomson (4-3) is now No. 10. Burke County, the 2024 2A runner-up, fell out.
Bleckley County of Class A Division I made the biggest jump in any class, landing at No. 6 after beating previous No. 4 Northeast 14-13. Northeast (5-2) fell to No. 7. Bleckley (6-1) lost in August to current No. 9 Dodge County.
Only eight top-10 teams lost in Week 8, and four of those were beaten by other ranked teams. That spelled little change in the rankings. There was no change in four classes: 5A, 3A, A Division II and 3A-A Private.
The regular season has four more weeks. The playoffs are scheduled to begin Nov. 14.
Teams’ previous ranking in parentheses.
Class 6A
- (1) Grayson (7-0)
- (2) Buford (6-0)
- (3) Carrollton (7-0)
- (4) Lowndes (7-0)
- (6) McEachern (6-0)
- (7) Douglas County (5-2)
- (8) North Gwinnett (6-1)
- (9) Colquitt County (5-2)
- (5) Valdosta (6-1)
- (10) Hillgrove (6-0)
Class 5A
- (1) Hughes (7-0)
- (2) Thomas County Central (7-0)
- (3) Milton (6-1)
- (4) Gainesville (6-1)
- (5) Houston County (7-0)
- (6) Roswell (5-1)
- (7) Lee County (5-2)
- (8) Rome (4-2)
- (9) Sequoyah (6-1)
- (10) Northgate (7-0)
Class 4A
- (1) North Oconee (7-0)
- (2) Creekside (7-0)
- (3) Cartersville (7-0)
- (4) Benedictine (4-2)
- (5) Ware County (6-1)
- (6) Marist (5-1)
- (7) Central (Carrollton) (7-0)
- (9) Cambridge (6-1)
- (NR) Kell (5-2)
- (8) Blessed Trinity (4-3)
Out: No. 10 Cass (6-2)
Class 3A
- (1) Sandy Creek (6-0)
- (2) Peach County (7-0)
- (3) Calhoun (4-2)
- (4) Jefferson (6-1)
- (5) North Hall (6-0)
- (6) LaGrange (6-1)
- (7) Troup (6-0)
- (8) Jenkins (5-1)
- (9) West Laurens (6-0)
- (10) Westside-Augusta (6-0)
Class 2A
- (1) Carver-Columbus (7-0)
- (2) Pierce County (7-0)
- (3) Carver-Atlanta (7-0)
- (4) Morgan County (7-0)
- (5) Rockmart (5-1)
- (6) Callaway (5-2)
- (8) Sumter County (7-0)
- (9) Hapeville Charter (2-4)
- (10) North Murray (6-0)
- (NR) Thomson (4-3)
Out: No. 7 Burke County (5-2)
Class A Division I
- (1) Worth County (7-0)
- (2) Toombs County (6-1)
- (3) Thomasville (5-2)
- (5) Heard County (6-0)
- (7) Rabun County (7-0)
- (NR) Bleckley County (6-1)
- (4) Northeast (5-2)
- (6) Swainsboro (6-1)
- (10) Dodge County (6-1)
- (8) Lamar County (6-0)
Out: No. 9 Dublin (5-2)
Class A Division II
- (1) Lincoln County (6-0)
- (2) Clinch County (7-0)
- (3) Bowdon (5-2)
- (4) Johnson County (7-0)
- (5) Brooks County (3-4)
- (6) Early County (5-2)
- (7) Wheeler County (7-0)
- (8) Screven County (6-0)
- (9) Seminole County (5-1)
- (10) Emanuel County Institute (5-2)
Class 3A-A Private
- (1) Hebron Christian (5-1)
- (2) Fellowship Christian (5-1)
- (3) Calvary Day (5-1)
- (4) Aquinas (5-1)
- (5) Savannah Christian (4-3)
- (6) Prince Avenue Christian (5-2)
- (7) Athens Academy (6-1)
- (8) Holy Innocents’ (5-2)
- (9) Wesleyan (5-2)
- (10) Greater Atlanta Christian (5-1)
About the Author
Todd Holcomb has been a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1985. He is currently co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
