4 of Georgia’s best football teams playing out of state this weekend

Buford, Carrollton, Gainesville and Creekside — four of Georgia’s 2025 champions or runners-up — are traveling out of state this weekend for games that could shape how Georgia teams are viewed nationwide this season.

Carrollton is taking “two charter buses filled to the brim,” as coach Joey King put it, to Louisiana, where the Trojans will play Catholic of Baton Rouge on Friday night.

Carrollton, the runner-up to Buford in Georgia’s highest classification last season, is No. 6 in the Mister Football National High School Football Composite Rankings. Despite the rising profile as a national program, the Trojans have never traveled for an out-of-state game farther than Birmingham, Alabama, where the Trojans beat Parker in a 2024 game.

This time, the players will get a riverboat cruise in New Orleans, but it’s mostly business, King said. Catholic wasn’t his first choice for an opponent, but he’s embracing the challenge.

“It’s hard to find games,” King said. “We’ve got a five-team region and four region games, so planning those other six games is challenging at times unless you want to play teams you might play deep down in the playoffs, and nobody wants to do that.

“So we put out some feelers, and we ended up with (one of the top teams) in Louisiana. And they’ve got a great program, and we’re excited about the opportunity.”

Fourteen Catholic alumni have played in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. One is former Falcons star Warrick Dunn. Catholic is the No. 3 team in Louisiana, according to MaxPreps.

Buford, the reigning consensus national champion, is playing at Mallard Creek, the No. 3 team in North Carolina’s Class 8A and the No. 8 overall team in North Carolina according to the MaxPreps rankings.

Mallard Creek is a Charlotte team that came to prominence when it won three state titles in 2013-15 under current Denmark coach Mike Palmieri. Buford beat Mallard Creek 10-7 the most recent time they played, in 2023.

Class 6A powers Gainesville and Creekside are facing even higher-ranked opponents.

Gainesville is at East St. Louis, the consensus No. 20 team nationally and Illinois’ No. 1 team in MaxPreps.

Gainesville has played only three out-of-state games in history, and this will be the first beyond a bordering state. Gainesville was the 2025 Class 5A runner-up to Thomas County Central.

Creekside, the 2025 champion in 4A, is playing at St. Joseph, the consensus No. 31 team nationally out of Montvale, New Jersey. St. Joseph won a state title last season with a victory over Don Bosco Prep, New Jersey’s most famous program.

Creekside has been the bravest of Georgia travelers in recent years. The Seminoles took on national champion Mater Dei in California in 2023 and lost 62-0, then played Texas power DeSoto in 2024 and lost 70-0. Creekside played DeSoto at home last season and won 70-28.

One other Georgia team is playing a big national game, and that’s Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, the northwest Georgia boarding school that plays outside the Georgia High School Association.

Rabun Gap is playing at home Friday against Baylor, the consensus No. 11 school nationally out of Tennessee. Marshall Manning, the freshman son of Peyton Manning, plays for Baylor, but a reported foot injury will prevent his Georgia debut.

GHSA teams are 1-1 against Top 50 teams in the national consensus rankings this season. Lee County beat No. 18 Miami Carol City of Florida 23-20 last week in Leesburg. Host Creekside lost to No. 36 Clay-Chalkville of Alabama 29-20 the week before.

A few more remain. Buford, ranked No. 4 in the consensus rankings, is home to No. 28 Central of Miami on Sept. 11. Miami Carol City also plays at Grayson that weekend.