Updated local high school football rankings and standings
Each of the three GHSA regions including local teams are moving into their final two weekends of the regular season with some interesting tests ahead for state playoff contenders. Standings provided by Georgia High School Association and rankings by Georgia High School Football Daily and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Region 7-AAAAA
Rome has all but secured the top spot in Region 7-AAAAA and continues to reign at No. 1 in the classification with an 8-0 mark. The Wolves have a two-game lead over state playoff contenders Carrollton, Kell, East Paudling, and Paulding County.
Kell and Carrollton have been in-and-out of the Top Ten all season and are favored to take two of the three remaining state playoff berths from this region. The final spot could come boil down to the November 3 county rivalry game of East Paulding at Paulding County.
Elsewhere in Class AAAAA, Buford (6-1), Stockbridge (8-0), Warner Robins (8-0), Jones Co. (8-0), Bainbridge (6-2), Starr’s Mill (7-1), Wayne Co. (6-1), Flowery Branch (8-1), and Griffin (8-1) make up the remainder of the current Top Ten.
Note: This week's live play-by-play broadcast via www.bartowsportszone.com is Villa Rica at Cass.
Region 5-AAAA
Cartersville (9-0) continues its streak as the No. 1 team in Class AAAA following a 62-0 shutout of Chapel Hill. It was the Canes 39th consecutive win in a three year streak that includes back-to-back Class AAAA state championships.
Trevor Lawrence -- a Clemson commit -- was 16-of-22 passing for 288 yards and four touchdowns in last week's win. For the season, he is 134-of-183 passing for 2,648 yards and 34 touchdowns with only one interception. Lawrence also now holds the state record for passing yards in a career (13,260) and needs just one TD pass to tie the career record of 155 held by Deshaun Watson (Houston Texans, Clemson Tigers, Gainesville HS).
Cedartown and Troup County are also Region 5-AAAA members in the state's Top Ten this week. The Buldogs edged the Tigers 21-18 last Friday to make a return trip into the rankings. It was Troup's first loss of the year.
As for the remainder of Class AAAA in the polls, Marist (8-0), Thomson (7-0), Ridgeland (8-0), Burke Co. (8-0), Blessed Trinity (7-2), and Woodward Academy (8-1) hold down positions 2-7. Mary Persons (6-2) is ranked ninth.
Region 6-AAA
With its sub-region divisions, Region 6-AAA has some of the most intriguing state playoff possibilities moving into this week's games. The top four seeds from each sub-region will face off November 3 to determine the region's four state playoff qualifiers.
This week, each sub-region determines its top two seeds for those games.
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and North Murray square off in the North sub-region while Class AAA 4th-ranked Calhoun (7-1) travels to 7th-ranked Bremen (8-0) to determine the top spot in the South. The losers of those two games will be the No. 2 seeds for the November 3 games for their respective sub-regions.
Adairsville holds the No. 3 South spot and Sonoraville is No. 4 in the South. Up North, Ringgold is third and Murray County fourth.
All of the November 3 games will be hosted by the North sub-region teams. (the games were all hosted by the South sub-region last season)
NOTE: Bartow Sports Zone (www.bartowsportszone.com) will broadcast the November 3 Adairsville game live.
In the Class AAA state-wide rankings, Cedar Grove (8-0) is No. 1, followed by Peach Co. (7-1) and Greater Atlanta Christian (8-1) in spots two and three. Jenkins (8-0) and Crisp Co. (6-1) are ranked fifth and sixth. Lovett (5-3), Morgan Co. (7-1), and Westminster (3-5) round out the AAA Top Ten.
Lowndes (9-0) is No. 1 in Class AAAAAAA, just ahead of unbeatens Archer (8-0) and Walton (8-0).
Tucker (7-1) is the top ranked team in Class AAAAAA. Benedictine (8-0) is No. 1 in Class AA, while Eagle's Landing Christian (8-0) continues as No. 1 in Class A-Private and Manchester (8-0) is the top team in Class A-Public.
