Three No. 1-ranked teams lost last week, but one of them remains in the top position. 

Cedar Grove dropped a thriller to Class 7A No. 6 Westlake for its second straight loss, but the Saints remained at the top of the Class 3A rankings. Click here to watch the Cedar Grove-Westlake game on-demaind. 

Hughes, the No. 1 team in Class 6A, lost to Butler, N.C., 30-27, and dropped to No. 2 in the rankings. Gainesville, which lost to Hughes in the 2022 state championship game, moved up a notch and into the No. 1 spot.

Fitzgerald lost to Northeast Macon 27-20, but tumbled to No. 4 in the Class 2A rankings, which allowed Thomson to move into the top spot.

“So, the question this week is: How far do you drop a team if they were a Top 10?” GPB’s Jon Nelson said. “Answer, at least from me, is for the most part not much. The only exception in that is Fitzgerald. With both Northeast and Fitzgerald in AA, they're both top-10, but you have to include one over the other in your lists. Hughes, you drop a little. Creekside, you drop a little. They played the No. 1 team in the nation in some circles.”

Nelson alluded to Creekside, which fell from No. 2 to No. 4 in Class 5A after losing to Mater Dei of California, the No. 1 team in the nation. 

Matt Stewart, the play-by-play announcer for GPB’s Football Fridays in Georgia, said, “Woke up Sunday morning to find out Hughes had been beaten by a good Butler Bulldogs team in Matthews, N.C. I felt the same shock as when I woke up and found out Mike Tyson had been knocked out by Buster Douglas. It was also Hughes' first regular season loss since Aug. 20, 2021. From a rankings standpoint Butler was a good, but not great team. I dropped the Panthers four spots to No. 4 on my ballot.”

There are several new teams in the rankings this week: Marist, No. 10 in Class 6A; Kell at No. 9 and Clarke Central at No. 10 in Class 5A; Stockbridge at No. 9 and Central Carroll at No. 10 in Class 4A; Mary Persons, No. 10 in Class 3A; Toombs County, No. 10 in Class 2A; and Brooks County, No. 9 in Class A Division I.

Class 7A

  1. Buford
  2. Colquitt County
  3. Carrollton
  4. Mill Creek
  5. Walton
  6. Westlake
  7. Parkview
  8. Milton
  9. Norcross
  10. Grayson

Also receiving votes: Camden County, Lowndes

Class 6A

  1. Gainesville
  2. Hughes
  3. Houston County
  4. Roswell
  5. Thomas County Central
  6. Lee County
  7. Rome
  8. Brunswick
  9. Woodward Academy
  10. Marist

Also receiving votes: Northside-Warner Robins, Douglas County.

Class 5A

  1. Ware County
  2. Warner Robins
  3. Cartersville
  4. Creekside
  5. Coffee
  6. Jefferson
  7. Calhoun
  8. Hiram
  9. Kell
  10. Clarke Central

Also receiving votes: Greater Atlanta Christian

Class 4A

  1. Benedictine
  2. North Oconee
  3. Troup
  4. Perry
  5. Holy Innocents’
  6. Wayne County
  7. Spalding
  8. Burke County
  9. Stockbridge
  10. Central Carroll

Also receiving votes: Cedartown, Bainbridge, Westside Macon, Baldwin

Class 3A

  1. Cedar Grove
  2. Calvary Day
  3. Stephens County
  4. Sandy Creek
  5. Savannah Christian
  6. Carver Atlanta
  7. Monroe Area
  8. Carver Columbus
  9. Hebron Christian
  10. Mary Persons

Also receiving votes: Thomasville

Class 2A

  1. Thomson
  2. Appling County
  3. Northeast
  4. Fitzgerald
  5. Callaway
  6. Rockmart
  7. Fellowship Christian
  8. Pierce County
  9. Columbia
  10. Toombs County

Also receiving votes: Spencer, Putnam County, Cook

Class A Division I

  1. Prince Avenue Christian
  2. Swainsboro
  3. Irwin County
  4. Trion
  5. Bleckley County
  6. Elbert County
  7. Dublin
  8. Rabun County
  9. Brooks County
  10. Bryan County

Also receiving votes: Lamar County, Mount Vernon

Class A Division II

  1. Schley County
  2. Manchester
  3. Jenkins County
  4. Bowdon
  5. Early County
  6. McIntosh County Academy
  7. Macon County
  8. Aquinas
  9. Johnson County
  10. Clinch County

Also receiving votes: Telfair County, Lanier County, Greene County