NATIONAL RANKINGS

3 schools take the lead among Georgia teams in national rankings

Buford, the defending consensus national champion, is ranked in top seven in all 10 of polls considered by AJC Varsity.

Graphics cover the walls inside the football locker room in the Thomas County Central indoor athletic facility. (A. Wallace for the AJC)

By Chip Saye

1 hour ago

Buford, Carrollton and Thomas County Central have separated themselves from the other Georgia teams in the national high school football polls after the first full week of the regular season.

Buford, the defending consensus national champion, is ranked in the top seven in all 10 of the polls considered by AJC Varsity. The Wolves are the top Georgia team in all but one poll, the Massey Ratings, which have Carrollton at No. 4, Buford at No. 5 and Thomas County Central at No. 6.

Carrollton is ranked in the top 24 of all 10 polls, while Thomas County Central made the top 25 in six of the 10.

The only other Georgia teams that earned a top-25 ranking in any poll are North Gwinnett (No. 18 Massey Ratings and No. 22 Sports Idol Nation), Hughes (No. 25, Massey Ratings) and Creekside (No. 25 NationalHSFB.com).

Seventeen Georgia teams are among the Massey Ratings’ top 100. Six Georgia teams — Sandy Creek, Lee County, Newton, Houston County, McEachern and Cartersville — moved into the top 100 this week, while Creekside, Rome, Benedictine and Brookwood slipped out.

Here is where Georgia teams stand in several national polls. The numbers on the left are this week’s rankings; the numbers in parentheses are last week’s rankings.