Gainesville and Thomson moved up to No. 1 in their classifications in the football rankings after three weeks of the regular season after previous No. 1 teams Hughes and Fitzgerald lost.
Hughes was beaten by Butler, a Charlotte-area school, 30-27 on Saturday night at Atlanta’s Lakewood Stadium. Hughes, the defending Class 6A champion, had won 17 straight games. Butler (2-1) was unranked by MaxPreps in North Carolina’s highest classification.
Gainesville, which lost to Hughes in the 2022 final, is No. 1 for the first time since 2013. Gainesville beat Coconut Creek, Fla., 30-22 on Friday. Hughes fell to No. 2.
Thomson, the 2022 Class 2A champion, is No. 1 again after previous No. 1 Fitzgerald lost to Northeast-Macon 27-20. Northeast moved into the rankings at No. 5 after after becoming the first Macon public school to defeat a No. 1 team since 1975.
Fitzgerald, the 2022 2A runner-up and 2021 champion, fell to No. 6 and outside the top five for the first time since 2019.
Thomson also has lost, to Burke County 14-12, but there are only two unbeaten teams in the 2A rankings - No. 4 Pierce County (2-0) and No. 10 Toombs County (2-0).
Northeast’s victory also toppled some dominoes. Northeast lost its opener to Mary Persons, a 3A team, 20-14. Mary Persons moved into the 3A rankings this week at No. 10 after beating Trinity Christian 23-20.
Mary Persons’ lone loss came to Spalding, a 4A team, 28-20. Spalding entered the rankings at No. 9 after beating Fayette County 41-0. Spalding is 3-0 for the first time since 2015.
Fitzgerald and Hughes weren’t the only No. 1 team to lose Friday. Cedar Grove lost for the second week in a row but kept its spot atop 3A.
Cedar Grove lost to Westlake, the No. 7 team in 7A, 46-41 on a Westlake touchdown in the final minute. Cedar Grove’s other loss came against Monarch, the No. 10 team in Florida’s highest metro classification.
Class 7A
1. (1) Buford (3-0)
2. (2) Colquitt County (3-0)
3. (3) Mill Creek (3-0)
4. (4) Walton (2-0)
5. (5) Carrollton (2-1)
6. (6) Parkview (2-0)
7. (7) Westlake (3-0)
8. (8) Milton (1-1)
9. (9) Norcross (1-1)
10. (10) Grayson (2-1)
Class 6A
1. (2) Gainesville (3-0)
2. (1) Hughes (2-1)
3. (3) Houston County (3-0)
4. (4) Lee County (3-0)
5. (5) Roswell (3-0)
6. (8) Thomas County Central (3-0)
7. (6) Woodward Academy (1-1)
8. (7) Rome (2-1)
9. (10) Marist (2-1)
10. (9) Northside-Warner Robins (2-1)
Class 5A
1. (1) Ware County (3-0)
2. (3) Warner Robins (1-1)
3. (2) Creekside (2-1)
4. (4) Coffee (2-0)
5. (5) Cartersville (3-0)
6. (6) Jefferson (3-0)
7. (8) Hiram (3-0)
8. (9) Calhoun (2-1)
9. (10) Clarke Central (2-0)
10. (NR) Greater Atlanta Christian (3-0)
Out: No. 7 Jones County (1-2)
Class 4A
1. (1) Benedictine (3-0)
2. (2) North Oconee (2-0)
3. (3) Troup (3-0)
4. (5) Perry (1-1)
5. (6) Wayne County (2-0)
6. (4) Bainbridge (1-2)
7. (7) Holy Innocents’ (3-0)
8. (8) Burke County (2-0)
9. (NR) Spalding (3-0)
10. (9) Baldwin (2-1)
Out: No. 10 Stephenson (2-1)
Class 3A
1. (1) Cedar Grove (1-2)
2. (2) Calvary Day (2-0)
3. (3) Sandy Creek (3-0)
4. (4) Stephens County (3-0)
5. (5) Savannah Christian (2-1)
6. (6) Carver-Atlanta (1-1)
7. (7) Monroe Area (3-0)
8. (8) Thomasville (1-2)
9. (9) Carver-Columbus (2-0)
10. (NR) Mary Persons (2-1)
Out: No. 10 Dougherty (2-1)
Class 2A
1. (3) Thomson (2-1)
2. (2) Appling County (1-1)
3. (4) Callaway (1-1)
4. (5) Pierce County (2-0)
5. (NR) Northeast (1-1)
6. (1) Fitzgerald (2-1)
7. (7) Fellowship Christian (1-1)
8. (6) Rockmart (1-1)
9. (8) Cook (1-1)
10. (NR) Toombs County (2-0)
Out: No. 9 North Cobb Christian (1-1), No. 10 Athens Academy (1-2)
Class A Division I
1. (1) Prince Avenue Christian (3-0)
2. (2) Swainsboro (3-0)
3. (3) Irwin County (1-1)
4. (4) Bleckley County (2-0)
5. (5) Trion (2-0)
6. (6) Brooks County (0-2)
7. (7) Dublin (2-0)
8. (8) Rabun County (2-1)
9. (9) Elbert County (2-1)
10. (10) Mount Vernon (3-0)
Class A Division II
1. (1) Schley County (2-0)
2. (2) Manchester (2-0)
3. (4) Macon County (3-0)
4. (5) Bowdon (1-2)
5. (6) Aquinas (3-0)
6. (7) Clinch County (2-1)
7. (3) Early County (2-1)
8. (8) McIntosh County Academy (1-1)
9. (9) Greene County (3-0)
10. (10) Jenkins County (3-0)
Credit: Jamie Spaar
Credit: Jamie Spaar
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