Many of the top teams around the state are taking the week off, leaving the schedule a bit thinner than usual. But that doesn’t mean there are no good contests on the horizon this weekend.

Here are five outstanding games to watch on Friday night:

Hughes at Douglas County: This is GPB’s Football Fridays in Georgia game of the week.

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Hughes, No. 5 in the GPB Class 5A rankings, has not been pushed in either of its first two games. The Panthers pummeled Westlake, then ranked No. 9, 52-21 in the opener and followed that with a 52-16 romp over Mays. The Panthers, coached by Daniel Williams, did not play over the weekend. Hughes is ranked No. 70 in the nation by MaxPreps.

Douglas County, No. 3 in the GPB Class 6A Rankings, began the season with lopsided wins over Cedar Grove (42-7) and Jonesboro (48-8). The Tigers beat Class 7A Newton 35-15 on Saturday in Covington. The Tigers are coached by Johnny White and are ranked No. 18 in the national rankings by MaxPreps.

Hughes leads the series 10-4, but Douglas County has won four of the last five meetings. Douglas County won 30-27 last season after Hughes prevailed 48-3 on the way to a state championship in 2022.

Thomas County Central at Thomasville: The “Battle of Thomasville” will be raging at Thomasville’s Veterans Memorial Stadium when Class A Division I No. 3 Thomasville (3-0) hosts defending state champion Thomas County Central (3-0), ranked No. 2 in Class 5A. The all-time series is even at 28-28. TCC has won the last two meetings since the arrival of coach Justin Rogers, including 45-7 a year ago. Thomasville is coming off a 35-28 win over rival Cairo, while Thomas County Central walloped Florida State High of Tallahassee 63-28.

Stephens County at Jefferson: A lot of eyes in Northeast Georgia will be drawn to this game. Stephens County is ranked No. 4 in Class 2A and Jefferson (2-1) is No. 2 in Class 3A. Both teams disposed of the two Athens teams last weekend -- Stephens County blitzed Cedar Shoals 52-3 and Jefferson took down Clark Central 42-14. The teams have only played seven times, with Stephens County leading the series 4-3. They haven’t met since 2017 when Jefferson prevailed 27-24.

Cartersville at Calhoun: This Northwest Georgia rivalry remains intact, even though the schools were reclassified into different divisions. Cartersville (3-0) is the No. 1-ranked team in Class 4A and Calhoun is No. 5 in Class 3A. Cartersville has flashed some great defense so far with two shutouts and has only allowed six points in three games. The Canes beat Hapeville Charter 24-0 last week. Calhoun bounced back from its season-opening loss to Class 5A Creekview to beat Westminster 28-20. Cartersville leads the series 32-7-1 and has won five of the last six meetings, including 21-17 in 2023. Calhoun’s last win came in 2022 when the Yello Jackets prevailed 50-48 in triple overtime.

North Gwinnett at Mill Creek: There is no question that this is the spotlight game in Gwinnett County this week. North Gwinnett (2-0) is undefeated after going to Moultrie and stunning Class 6A No. 5 Colquitt County 14-3. It ended a 21-game regular-season winning streak for Colquitt. Mill Creek (3-0) is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A and is coming off a 48-14 win over Archer. The teams met last year in the Corky Kell Classic with Mill Creek running away to a 49-14 win.