AJC Varsity rankings: Brookwood reenters in 7A, rare appearance for one 2A team

Brookwood is back in the Class 7A football Top 10 after a redemptive victory over No. 3 North Gwinnett last week.

Ask

Which team is the best in Georgia?Who are this year's Super 11 Players?When are the state championships?

Rebounding from a loss to archrival Parkview, Brookwood defeated North Gwinnett 50-24 on Friday and reentered the rankings at No. 8. North Gwinnett fell to No. 9.

Brookwood (7-1, 3-1) and North Gwinnett (6-1, 2-1) are part of Gwinnett County’s ultracompetitive Region 7, which includes unranked Parkview (6-2, 3-1), Peachtree Ridge (6-1, 2-1) and Norcross (4-3, 2-1).

Norcross’ victory over Peachtree Ridge kept Peachtree Ridge out of first place and out of the rankings and left five teams with one region loss.

Most other new teams in the rankings got there after beating Top 10 teams.

LaGrange is back in the 5A rankings at No. 9 after beating previous No. 9 Central of Carrollton 28-25. LaGrange was No. 8 in preseason and got as high as No. 4 before a two-game losing streak.

Social Circle is No. 10 in 2A after beating previous No. 10 Jasper County 10-7. Social Circle has been ranked for only four previous weeks in poll history, the most recent in 2022.

In Class 4A-2A, Whitefield Academy beat No. 5 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 42-6 and entered the poll at No. 7. ELCA fell out.

In Class A, Mitchell County beat previous No. 5 Clinch County 12-10 and joined the rankings at No. 7. Clinch County fell to No. 10. Mitchell County had lost eight straight against Clinch County since its last win in 1955.

Also in Class A, Randolph-Clay moved from No. 7 to No. 3, the highest the Red Devils have been since 2005. Now 7-0 for the first time since 2004, they joined Johnson County as the classification’s only unbeaten teams after unranked Schley County beat previous No. 3 Macon County on Friday.

Class 7A

1. (1) Buford (6-0)
2. (2) Carrollton (7-0)
3. (4) Newton (7-0)
4. (5) Valdosta (6-0)
5. (6) Lowndes (7-0)
6. (7) Westlake (6-1)
7. (10) Colquitt County (5-2)
8. (NR) Brookwood (7-1)
9. (3) North Gwinnett (6-1)
10. (9) Grayson (4-3)

Out: No. 8 North Cobb (4-2)

Class 6A

1. (1) Thomas County Central (7-0)
2. (2) Creekside (5-1)
3. (3) Lee County (6-1)
4. (4) Gainesville (5-2)
5. (5) Milton (5-1)
6. (6) Coffee (5-1)
7. (7) Hughes (5-1)
8. (8) Jackson County (6-0)
9. (9) Sequoyah (6-1)
10. (10) East Paulding (6-0)

Class 5A

1. (1) Cartersville (7-0)
2. (2) Blessed Trinity (7-0)
3. (3) Marist (4-2)
4. (6) Tucker (6-0)
5. (5) North Oconee (6-1)
6. (4) Benedictine (6-1)
7. (7) Mays (7-0)
8. (8) Jefferson (5-2)
9. (NR) LaGrange (5-2)
10. (10) Cass (6-1)

Out: No. 9 Central (Carrollton) (4-3)

Class 4A

1. (1) Sandy Creek (7-0)
2. (2) Peach County (7-0)
3. (3) Troup (6-0)
4. (4) Cairo (7-0)
5. (5) Monroe Area (7-0)
6. (6) Stephenson (6-1)
7. (7) Douglass (4-2)
8. (8) North Hall (5-2)
9. (9) Northwest Whitfield (6-1)
10. (10) Howard (4-2)

Class 3A

1. (1) Toombs County (6-0)
2. (2) Appling County (7-0)
3. (3) Pierce County (6-1)
4. (4) Northeast (6-1)
5. (5) Columbia (4-2)
6. (6) KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (6-1)
7. (7) Crisp County (4-1)
8. (8) Hapeville Charter (3-3)
9. (9) Hart County (6-1)
10. (NR) Rockmart (4-2)

Out: No. 10 Stephens County (4-3)

Class 2A

1. (1) Heard County (6-0)
2. (2) Jeff Davis (6-0)
3. (3) Thomasville (6-1)
4. (4) Bremen (6-0)
5. (5) Dublin (5-1)
6. (6) Bleckley County (6-1)
7. (8) Commerce (6-0)
8. (7) Fitzgerald (5-2)
9. (9) Berrien (5-1)
10. (NR) Social Circle (6-1)