Marist and Sandy Creek are new No. 1 football teams after an opening week in which 31 top-10 teams lost, including four ranked at the top of their classes. The No. 1 teams going down were Buford in Class 6A, Benedictine in 4A, Jefferson in 3A and Bowdon in A Division II.
None suffered a big upset, and Buford and Bowdon stayed on top in their classes. Buford lost to Milton 13-10 in a game between with top-25 national rankings, and Bowdon lost to Fellowship, the No. 4 team in Class 3A-A private, 36-35 on a last-minute two-point conversion.
Benedictine lost 41-17 to Rabun Gap, a Georgia mountain boarding school that plays in a North Carolina independent association and holds top-100 national rankings. Benedictine fell to No. 5 in 4A.
Marist, ranked No. 3 in preseason, took Benedictine’s spot at No. 1 with its 23-7 victory over Jefferson, which fell to No. 5. Marist was a semifinal team in Class 6A last season. The victory over a No. 1 team was the sixth in the career of Marist coach Alan Chadwick, whose first season was 1985.
Sandy Creek took Jefferson’s spot in Class 3A.
Fifteen teams entered the rankings.
Collins Hill replaced Grayson after Collins Hill beat the Rams 20-19. Grayson also dropped out of the rankings after its 2023 opener but still made the state semifinals.
Cedar Grove, the defending Class 3A champion, is out of the rankings for the first time since 2014. The Saints lost to Class 6A’s No. 3 team, Douglas County, 42-7. They were ranked only No. 9 in preseason because of heavy roster turnover.
Week one’s biggest upset, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, was Seminole County’s 32-14 victory over No. 5 Schley County in Class A Division II. Schley was a 29-point favorite. Seminole entered the rankings for the first time since 2014.
Class 6A
1. (1) Buford (0-1)
2. (2) Carrollton (1-0)
3. (4) Douglas County (1-0)
4. (5) Colquitt County (1-0)
5. (6) Walton (1-0)
6. (7) Mill Creek (1-0)
7. (NR) North Gwinnett (1-0)
8. (8) Camden County (1-0)
9. (NR) Valdosta (1-0)
10. (NR) Collins Hill (1-0)
Out: No. 5 Grayson, No. 9 Westlake, No. 10 Newton
Class 5A
1. (1) Milton (1-0)
2. (2) Gainesville (1-0)
3. (4) Lee County (1-0)
4. (5) Thomas County Central (1-0)
5. (6) Hughes (1-0)
6. (8) Coffee (1-0)
7. (3) Woodward Academy (0-1)
8. (7) Rome (0-0)
9. (10) Roswell (1-0)
10. (9) Houston County (1-0)
Class 4A
1. (3) Marist (1-0)
2. (5) Perry (1-0)
3. (4) Cartersville (1-0)
4. (7) Ware County (1-0)
5. (1) Benedictine (0-1)
6. (6) North Oconee (1-0)
7. (10) Blessed Trinity (1-0)
8. (8) Creekside (0-0)
9. (NR) Cass (1-0)
10. (NR) Eastside (1-0)
Out: No. 2 Stockbridge
Class 3A
1. (2) Sandy Creek (1-0)
2. (8) Douglass (1-0)
3. (NR) Peach County (1-0)
4. (1) Jefferson (0-1)
5. (6) Mary Persons (0-0)
6. (10) Troup (1-0)
7. (NR) Cairo (0-0)
8. (NR) Monroe Area (1-0)
9. (4) Calhoun (0-1)
10. (3) LaGrange (0-1)
Out: No. 5 Bainbridge, No. 7 Lumpkin County, No. 9 Cedar Grove
Class 2A
1. (1) Pierce County (0-0)
2. (5) Stephens County (1-0)
3. (6) Carver (Columbus) (1-0)
4. (7) Burke County (1-0)
5. (9) Cook (1-0)
6. (10) Hapeville Charter (0-0)
7. (3) Rockmart (0-1)
8. (2) Appling County (0-1)
9. (4) Callaway (0-1)
10. (NR) Hart County (1-0)
Out: No. 8 Thomson
Class A Division I
1. (1) Toombs County (0-0)
2. (6) Thomasville (1-0)
3. (7) Dublin (1-0)
4. (5) Rabun County (1-0)
5. (NR) Lamar County (1-0)
6. (2) Commerce (0-1)
7. (10) Bleckley County (1-0)
8. (4) Fitzgerald (0-1)
9. (3) Swainsboro (0-1)
10. (8) Northeast (0-1)
Out: No. 9 Elbert County
Class A Division II
1. (1) Bowdon (0-1)
2. (4) Irwin County (1-0)
3. (2) Brooks County (0-1)
4. (3) Manchester (0-1)
5. (6) Clinch County (1-0)
6. (7) Bryan County (1-0)
7. (8) Greene County (1-0)
8. (NR) Seminole County (1-0)
9. (9) Trion (1-0)
10. (NR) Metter (0-0)
Out: No. 5 Schley County, No. 10 Telfair County
Class 3A-A private
1. (1) Prince Avenue Christian (1-0)
2. (2) Savannah Christian (1-0)
3. (3) Hebron Christian (1-0)
4. (4) Fellowship Christian (1-0)
5. (6) Calvary Day (1-0)
6. (8) Wesleyan (1-0)
7. (NR) Athens Academy (1-0)
8. (10) North Cobb Christian (1-0)
9. (7) Greater Atlanta Christian (0-1)
10. (NR) Lovett (1-0)
Out: No. 5 Trinity Christian, No. 9 Aquinas
