South Georgia power gets boost in national rankings with win over top-20 team

Lee County made the biggest moves among Georgia teams in the national rankings after its 23-20 victory over Miami Carol City of Florida last week.

The Trojans jumped from No. 91 to No. 25 in the MaxPreps poll after knocking off the consensus No. 18 team in the country. They also moved from unranked to No. 40 in the Sports Idol Nation poll and No. 21 in the NationalHSFB.com poll.

Buford remains the No. 1 Georgia team in eight of the nine polls considered by AJC Varsity. The Wolves are No. 9 in the Massey Ratings, the third-highest Georgia team behind No. 3 Carrollton and No. 4 Thomas County Central.

Buford and Carrolton face out-of-state opponents Friday night.

Buford travels to Mallard Creek of North Carolina. Mallard Creek is the No. 3 team in North Carolina’s Class 8A and the No. 8 overall team in the state, according to the MaxPreps rankings. Carrollton will travel to Louisiana to play Catholic of Baton Rouge. Catholic is the No. 3 team in Louisiana, according to MaxPreps.

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.

MaxPreps

(Full Top 100 list)

5. (7) Buford

14. (15) Carrollton

21. (32) Thomas County Central

25. (91) Lee County

39. (38) North Gwinnett

48. (99) Sandy Creek

50. (53) Newton

53. (50) McEachern

60. (57) Creekside

62. (61) Gainesville

79. (81) Lowndes

83. (NR) Blessed Trinity

87. (89) Valdosta

96. (NR) Hughes

98. (44) Milton

High School Football America

(Full Top 100 list)

2. (3) Buford

4. (7) Carrollton

22. (23) Thomas County Central

36. (36) Creekside

60. (60) Gainesville

62. (62) Hughes

64. (64) North Gwinnett

70. (77) Newton

80. (90) McEachern

82. (86) Lowndes

84. (NR) Sandy Creek

87. (73) Roswell

94. (95) Valdosta

Massey Ratings

(Full Top 100 list)

3. (4) Carrollton

4. (6) Thomas County Central

9. (5) Buford

20. (18) North Gwinnett

25. (29) Sandy Creek

36. (25) Hughes

40. (47) Newton

52. (54) Valdosta

54. (64) McEachern

57. (57) Lowndes

62. (35) Lee County

64. (49) Houston County

87. (NR) Brookwood

98. (76) Gainesville

100. (96) Grayson

Mister Football

(Composite list)

4. (4) Buford

6. (10) Carrollton

17. (19) Thomas County Central

28. (39) North Gwinnett

35. (NR) Blessed Trinity

40. (50) Sandy Creek

41. (NR) Lee County

53. (NR) Milton

Sports Idol Nation

(Full Top 50 list)

7. (6) Buford

17. (13) Carrollton

21. (22) North Gwinnett