Thomas County Central surges in national polls as Georgia teams enter Week 10
The reigning Class 6A champion Yellow Jackets climbed in all nine national rankings tracked weekly by AJC Varsity, while Buford and Carrollton held their places as Georgia's highest-ranked teams.
By Robert Hayes ·
Reigning Class 6A state champion Thomas County Central was the biggest mover among Georgia high school football teams in the national rankings this week, gaining anywhere from one to four spots in each of the nine polls monitored weekly by AJC Varsity.
The Yellow Jackets climbed four spots to No. 13 in the ESPN SC Next poll and rose three places in the Mister Football Composite, USA Today, High School on SI and NationalHSFB.com rankings. Thomas County Central is now ranked among the top 15 nationally in every poll except Sports Idol Nation, which moved the Yellow Jackets up two spots to No. 20.
Buford remained the state's highest-ranked team in most of the polls. The Wolves held steady at No. 2 in the ESPN rankings and at No. 3 in the USA Today poll, and they sit No. 3 in MaxPreps, NationalHSFB.com and the Mister Football Composite, No. 4 in High School on SI and No. 6 in Sports Idol Nation. Buford did slip one spot to No. 3 in High School Football America and fell from No. 8 to No. 9 in the Massey Ratings.
Carrollton is Georgia's top team in the Massey Ratings, where the Trojans moved up one spot to No. 4. Carrollton also holds the No. 4 position in the ESPN and High School Football America polls, rose to No. 8 in High School on SI and No. 10 in MaxPreps, and climbed three spots to No. 14 in NationalHSFB.com. The Trojans did slide from No. 8 to No. 10 in the Mister Football Composite.
Several other Georgia programs made notable moves upward. Newton jumped nine spots to No. 27 in MaxPreps and entered the Mister Football Composite at No. 36 after being unranked last week, while Sandy Creek also joined the composite at No. 33. Valdosta climbed eight spots to No. 44 in the Massey Ratings, and Lee County, Creekside, Gainesville, Blessed Trinity and Cartersville each appeared in multiple polls.
Not every team trended up. Grayson tumbled 30 spots to No. 99 in the Massey Ratings, North Gwinnett fell 17 places to No. 87 in Massey and eight spots to No. 85 in High School Football America, and Brookwood dropped to No. 82 in Massey after sitting at No. 74 a week ago.
Valdosta-area programs continue to draw national attention beyond the Wildcats' Massey rise. Valdosta also checks in at No. 75 in MaxPreps, up two spots, and No. 90 in High School Football America. Lowndes is ranked No. 69 in MaxPreps, No. 71 in High School Football America and No. 86 in the Massey Ratings.
The rankings movement comes as Georgia teams head into Week 10 of the season, with Buford, Carrollton and Thomas County Central firmly established as the state's standard-bearers on the national stage across the nine polls.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
