Football rankings: Coffee moves to No. 1; Cedar Grove (2-4) still on top

Fellowship Christian Paladins helmets rest on the field at Barron Stadium in Rome on Aug. 19, 2022 during the 31st annual Corky Kell Classic. (Adam Krohn/for the AJC)

Credit: Credit: Adam Krohn

Credit: Credit: Adam Krohn

Fellowship Christian Paladins helmets rest on the field at Barron Stadium in Rome on Aug. 19, 2022 during the 31st annual Corky Kell Classic. (Adam Krohn/for the AJC)

Coffee’s football team is No. 1 for the first time, and Calvary Day made a bid to do the same but remained No. 2 in the AJC rankings this week despite No. 1 Cedar Grove losing for the fourth time.

Coffee is on top of the Class 5A rankings after previous No. 1, Ware County, the defending champion, lost to Class 4A’s No. 4 team, Bainbridge, 35-21 last week.

Coffee defeated Bainbridge 23-14 in August and stands 5-0. The Trojans have been a frequent recent contender, making six quarterfinals over the past seven seasons and a 2017 championship game.

Coffee moved up from No. 3, jumping Creekside, which remained No. 2. Creekside is unbeaten in Georgia but lost 68-0 to the consensus No. 1 team in the country, Mater Dei of California.

In 3A, Calvary stayed No. 2 even after beating then-No. 5 Savannah Christian 42-21.

No. 1 Cedar Grove lost to unbeaten Colquitt County of 7A 50-42 on Friday. Colquitt is 5-0 and ranked in the top 25 of seven national polls.

Cedar Grove has now lost to three current top-10 7A teams (Mill Creek and Westlake are the others) and to a bigger Florida school, Monarch. Cedar Grove also beat Calvary Day 30-0 in the 2022 3A quarterfinals.

Missing from the rankings this week for the first time since 2016 is Irwin County, the previous No. 3 in Class A Division I. Irwin lost to unranked Metter 20-14 on Friday and fell to 2-3. Irwin had been ranked 89 straight weeks, the eighth-longest streak in the state.

Class 7A

1. (1) Buford (5-0)

2. (3) Mill Creek (5-0)

3. (4) Walton (4-0)

4. (2) Colquitt County (5-0)

5. (5) Carrollton (5-1)

6. (7) Newton (5-0)

7. (10) Grayson (4-1)

8. (6) Parkview (4-1)

9. (NR) Westlake (5-1)

10. (NR) North Cobb (3-2)

Out: No. 9 Valdosta (4-2)

Class 6A

1. (1) Gainesville (5-0)

2. (3) Thomas County Central (5-0)

3. (4) Houston County (5-0)

4. (10) Douglas County (5-0)

5. (2) Hughes (3-2)

6. (5) Lee County (4-1)

7. (6) Rome (4-1)

8. (7) Marist (4-1)

9. (8) Roswell (4-1)

10. (9) Woodward Academy (3-2)

Class 5A

1. (3) Coffee (5-0)

2. (2) Creekside (4-1)

3. (4) Jefferson (5-0)

4. (5) Cartersville (5-0)

5. (7) Hiram (5-0)

6. (1) Ware County (3-2)

7. (8) Calhoun (4-1)

8. (9) Greater Atlanta Christian (5-0)

9. (NR) Ola (4-0)

10. (6) Warner Robins (2-3)

Out: No. 10 Dalton (4-1)

Class 4A

1. (1) Benedictine (5-0)

2. (2) North Oconee (4-0)

3. (4) Perry (4-1)

4. (5) Bainbridge (3-2)

5. (6) Holy Innocents’ (5-0)

6. (7) Burke County (5-0)

7. (8) Spalding (5-0)

8. (NR) Central-Carrollton (5-0)

9. (9) Wayne County (4-1)

10. (NR) North Hall (5-0)

Out: No. 3 Troup (4-1), No. 10 Baldwin (3-2)

Class 3A

1. (1) Cedar Grove (2-4)

2. (2) Calvary Day (5-0)

3. (3) Stephens County (5-0)

4. (4) Sandy Creek (5-1)

5. (6) Mary Persons (4-1)

6. (5) Savannah Christian (3-2)

7. (7) Thomasville (2-3)

8. (8) Morgan County (4-1)

9 (10) Lumpkin County (5-0)

10. (NR) Carver-Atlanta (1-3)

Out: No. 9 Carver-Columbus (2-3)

Class 2A

1. (1) Thomson (4-1)

2. (2) Appling County (3-1)

3. (4) Pierce County (5-0)

4. (3) Callaway (2-2)

5. (5) Northeast (4-1)

6. (6) Fellowship Christian (3-1)

7. (7) Fitzgerald (3-2)

8. (8) Rockmart (2-2)

9. (9) Toombs County (5-0)

10. (10) Cook (2-2)

Class A Division I

1. (1) Prince Avenue Christian (6-0)

2. (2) Swainsboro (5-0)

3. (4) Trion (4-0)

4. (5) Rabun County (4-1)

5. (6) Brooks County (1-3)

6. (7) Elbert County (4-1)

7. (9) Bleckley County (3-2)

8. (NR) Commerce (4-1)

9. (NR) Lamar County (4-2)

10. (NR) Dublin (3-1)

Out: No. 3 Irwin County (2-3), No. 8 Mount Vernon (4-1), No. 10 Bryan County (4-1)

Class A Division II

1. (1) Schley County (5-0)

2. (5) Greene County (5-0)

3. (4) Manchester (4-1)

4. (2) Macon County (4-1)

5. (3) Clinch County (5-1)

6. (6) Bowdon (4-2)

7. (7) Early County (4-1)

8. (8) Jenkins County (6-0)

9. (9) Lanier County (4-0)

10. (10) Aquinas (4-1)