These 25 pairs of Top 10 teams show where Georgia’s football talent is densest

Six of the closest pairs of Top 10 teams are in South Fulton or Atlanta and include Douglass, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, Mays, Westlake, Creekside and Hughes. Creekside is playing Hughes on Friday night.

Creekside's Daniel Holt (right center) celebrates with teammates Tavarre Terrell (left, with arms raised) and Cassius Burch (center) during the 2025 Class 4A championship game, which Creekside won over Benedictine. All three players are back this season, and Creekside plays Hughes on Friday night in a game of Fairburn neighborhood rivals. (Courtesy of Cassius Burch and IQue Media Group)

By Todd Holcomb

1 hour ago

High school football fans in south Fulton County have good choices and short drives if they want to see some of the best games Friday night.

No. 2 Carrollton is playing at No. 6 Westlake in a Class 7A game, and No. 2 Creekside is playing at No. 7 Hughes in Class 6A. Westlake’s stadium, in a straight line, is less than 10 miles from Creekside’s.

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Creekside and Hughes, playing each other for the first time since 2019, are just 4 miles apart, making them the third-closest pair of Top 10 teams that are scheduled to meet. Closer are LaGrange and Troup in Troup County and Mount Vernon and Holy Innocents’ in north Fulton County.

Below are the 25 closest pairs of Top 10 teams in the AJC Varsity rankings. Most are teams from different classifications that don’t play each other, but they are evidence of football hotbeds.

Several teams show up more than once because they sit in closely quartered groups of elite teams.

On the north side of Atlanta, Mount Vernon, Holy Innocents’, Marist and Lovett make up five of these pairs.

From south and west of Atlanta, Douglass, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, Mays, Westlake, Creekside and Hughes make up six. Douglass, KIPP and Mays are Atlanta Public Schools teams; the others are Fulton County schools.

The closest pair is Fellowship Christian and Blessed Trinity, just 0.9 miles apart in a straight line.

It’s not just an Atlanta thing, though.

Chatham, Jackson, Lowndes, Troup and Thomas counties also have pairs of teams within 6.7 miles of each other, putting them in the top 25.

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0.9 miles — Fellowship Christian (No. 9 Private) and Blessed Trinity (No. 2 5A)
1.0 miles — Douglass (No. 6 4A) and KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (No. 6 3A)
1.6 miles — Benedictine (No. 6 5A) and Calvary Day (No. 2 Private)
1.6 miles — Jefferson (No. 8 5A) and Jackson County (No. 8 6A)
2.3 miles — Thomasville (No. 2 2A) and Thomas County Central (No. 1 6A)
2.7 miles — Marist (No. 3 5A) and Mount Vernon (No. 6 Private)
2.8 miles — Douglass (No. 6 4A) and Mays (No. 7 5A)
2.9 miles — Mount Vernon (No. 6 Private) and Holy Innocents’ (No. 3 Private)
2.9 miles — North Oconee (No. 5 5A) and Prince Avenue Christian (No. 1 Private)
3.2 miles — LaGrange (No. 9 5A) and Troup (No. 3 4A)
3.4 miles — Mays (No. 7 5A) and KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (No. 6 3A)
3.7 miles — Lovett (No. 5 Private) and Holy Innocents’ (No. 3 Private)
4.0 miles — Creekside (No. 2 6A) and Hughes (No. 7 6A)
4.0 miles — Milton (No. 5 6A) and Fellowship Christian (No. 9 Private)
4.3 miles — Milton (No. 5 6A) and Blessed Trinity (No. 2 5A)
4.4 miles — Greater Atlanta Christian (No. 4 Private) and Wesleyan (No. 8 Private)
4.5 miles — Valdosta (No. 4 7A) and Lowndes (No. 5 7A)
4.8 miles — Marist (No. 3 5A) and Holy Innocents’ (No. 3 Private)
5.1 miles — Tucker (No. 4 5A) and Greater Atlanta Christian (No. 4 Private)
5.2 miles — Mays (No. 7 5A) and Westlake (No. 6 7A)
5.5 miles — Creekside (No. 2 6A) and Sandy Creek (No. 1 4A)
5.8 miles — Buford (No. 1 7A) and North Gwinnett (No. 8 7A)
5.9 miles — Westlake (No. 6 7A) and Hughes (No. 7 6A)
6.4 miles — Lovett (No. 5 Private) and Mount Vernon (No. 6 Private)
6.7 miles — Brookwood (No. 7 7A) and Grayson (No. 10 7A)