Week 4 is a mixed bag for high school football programs around the state.
Some GHSA powers like Valdosta, Lowndes and Grayson are playing national opponents this weekend. Others, like Rockmart and Eagle’s Landing Christian, are hosting their first region games.
Some teams have a couple more games to tweak things, while for others, playoff implications are in play.
Follow below for the latest highlights, notable moments and other standout information from all games in Week 4.
To submit entries — highlights, notable moments or impressive stats — for consideration, tag @theleoreport on X.
To see live scores for all games, go to AJC.com/sports/varsity/football/scores.
Douglas County's game at Hughes might have more talent on the field than anywhere else in the state tonight.
Division-I talent will be all over the field, to the point that it's difficult to track. We can show you a list with every Douglas County and Hughes player that has a state-ranked recruiting profile with 247Sports.
Here's a look at those 16 upperclassmen. Players' committed schools are included, if applicable.
Douglas County
- Senior WR Aaron Gregory (Texas A&M)
- Senior EDGE Jordan Carter (Texas A&M)
- Senior WR Devin Carter (Florida State)
- Senior QB Michael Johnson (Utah)
- Senior S Jamar Owens (Indiana)
- Senior RB Zamarcus Lindley
- Senior IOL Eddie Alford (Memphis)
- Junior OT Joshua Sam-Epelle
- Junior S Adryan Cole
- Junior S Kennedy Green
Hughes
- Senior TE Xavier Tiller (Florida State)
- Senior RB Carsyn Baker (Florida)
- Senior QB Darnell Kelly (Colorado State)
- Senior RB Qwantavius Wiggins (FIU)
- Senior CB Julian Byrd (Tulsa)
- Junior OT Kelsey Adams
Rockmart is trying to win its 60th-straight region game tonight. The Yellowjackets will host Ringgold to open region play.
Ringgold nearly snapped Rockmart's streak last season. The Yellowjackets beat Ringgold with a walk-off field goal to open region play in 2024.
Rockmart will also rely on freshman quarterback Tucker Parson, the son of head coach Biff Parson.
The younger Parson led Rockmart to a 56-7 beatdown of Cedartown in Week One before losing 39-14 to Cartersville in his last game. Parson is one of several young quarterbacks looking to earn a four-year starting spot.
Crop of freshman QBs proving talent early for Georgia high school programs
Creekside and Douglas County made the most notable jumps of Georgia teams in national polls this week.
Creekside might have claimed the most notable win in the country last week, beating DeSoto 70-28 after losing to the same team 70-0 the season before.
Douglas County is 3-0 with dominant wins over North Gwinnett and Jonesboro and a 27-21 win over Newton last week.
Here are a few national polls worth noting for Creekside, Douglas County, or both. The current ranking is on the left, and last week's ranking is in parentheses on the right.
High School Football America Top 100
19. Douglas County (21)
78. Creekside (NR)
Massey Ratings Top 100
22. Creekside (77)
23. Douglas County (47)
SBLive/Sports Illustrated Top 25
24. Douglas County (NR)
NationalHSFB.com Top 25
24. Creekside (NR)
25. Douglas County (NR)
Blue Star Media Top 25
13. Douglas County (NR)
Georgia's top playmakers have had three weeks to identify themselves. Here's a look at the passing rushing and receiving yards leaders at every classification entering tonight.
Newnan quarterback, receiver top yardage leaderboards after Week 3
6A
- Passing: Davin Lemire, Campbell - 766
- Rushing: Kamari Holloman, Tift County - 489
- Receiving: Nick Buggs, Campbell - 382
5A
- Passing: Brodie Campbell, Newnan - 928
- Rushing: M.J. Dowdy, Winder-Barrow - 501
- Receiving: John Matthews, Newnan - 423
4A
- Passing: Caine Woods, Dalton - 891
- Rushing: Moonie Gipson, Kell - 494
- Receiving: Havyn Searels, Dalton - 332
3A
- Passing: Caden Hight, Heritage (Ringgold) - 762
- Rushing: Amari Latimer, Sandy Creek - 511
- Receiving: Ja'darius Hinton, Ridgeland - 364
2A
- Passing: Jayden McCullough, North Cobb Christian - 729
- Rushing: Cooper Bazarsky, North Cobb Christian - 622
- Receiving: Terrious Favors, Carver (Atlanta) - 311
A Division-I
- Passing: Brody Fleming, Bleckley County - 685
- Rushing: Zay Prince, Athens Academy - 503
- Receiving: Taurean Rawlings, Mount Vernon - 371
A Division-II
- Passing: Linc Allen, Trion - 595
- Rushing: Earnest McIntosh, McIntosh County Academy - 431
- Receiving: Bryson Roberts, Trion - 281
With just a few hours until Friday night number four kicks off, take a minute to look back on GHSA's top four plays from last week.
We're peaking into heated rivalry season, and no game in Georgia will have more bad blood this week than the Rose City Rumble.
That's where Thomas County Central will host Thomasville in one of the top high school football rivalries in the state.
“It really is intense at all levels," Thomasville coach Jonathan DeLay said this week. "The football game is the big one, but it doesn’t matter what the sport is. It could be tiddlywinks and you’d have Thomasville on one side and Central on the other."
Thomasville coach says county rivalry ‘really is intense at all levels’
One team will leave with its first loss of the season, as both enter Friday night 3-0. Thomasville is ranked No. 3 in Class A Division I while Thomas County Central is ranked No. 3 in Class 5A. Thomas County Central is an 18-point favorite, according to the Maxwell Projections.
Thomasville: I couldn’t wait to leave my hometown. Now, I can’t shut up about it.
Central has four Power 4 committed players in DE Cam Brooks (California), WR Jaydon Dunbar (Pittsburgh), RB Deuce Lawrence (Wake Forest) and OL Artem Korchagin (California).
Thomasville has two players committed to play Division I football in QB Cam Hill (Mercer) and RB Lavonte Cole (South Alabama).
Thomas County Central, which leads the all-time series 29-28, has won the last three meetings by a combined score of 124-17. Before that, Thomasville won four of the previous five from 2017 to 2021.
To submit entries — highlights, notable moments or impressive stats — for consideration, tag @theleoreport on X.
Happy Friday, folks. Let's look past the spreadsheets, upcoming tests and muggy crawlspaces we're about to sink into and fix our eyes on tonight.
We've got six games between Georgia teams ranked in the top 10 of their respective classifications.
Here's a look at all six, starting with the bigger schools and working down the ladder.
- Roswell (No. 6 in 5A) at Buford (No. 2 in 6A)
- Douglas County (No. 3 in 6A) at Hughes (No. 1 in 5A)
- Thomasville (No. 3 in A Division I) at Thomas County Central (No. 3 in 5A)
- Cartersville (No. 4 in 4A) at Calhoun (No. 1 in 3A)
- Callaway (No. 6 in 2A) at Cook (No. 10 in 2A)
- Worth County (No. 2 in A Division I) at Brooks County (No. 4 in A Division II)
Earlier today, AJC Varsity announced its 2026 Super 11 watchlist, highlighting 16 juniors that could be considered front-runners to make the AJC Super 11 next August.
The time to make the list isn't the offseason. It's right now and over the next couple months, when some juniors become team leaders, change programs for the better and might even win state championships.
And we invite you to watch along as we evaluate the state's top 2026 talent through the rest of the season. You can read about each player in the story below.
5-star talent headlines 2026 AJC Super 11 watchlist
So, here are where our watchlist members playing Friday night will be.
- Jefferson LB Max Brown: at Clarke Central
- Savannah Christian IOL Jordan Dillon: at Oceanside Collegiate (SC)
- Kell RB Moonie Gipson: at Wheeler
- Oconee County TE Mason Hall: at Loganville
- North Cobb QB Teddy Jarrard: vs. Cass
- ECI CB Chase Johnson: at McIntosh County Academy
- Brooks County TE George Lamons: vs. Worth County
- Toombs County DB Alex Scott: at Rome
The other eight watchlist members are on bye this week. Here they are.
- Prince Avenue RB Andrew Beard
- North Gwinnett LB Jake Godfree
- Benedictine EDGE LaDamion Guyton
- Gainesville QB Kharim Hughley
- Blessed Trinity EDGE DJ Jacobs
- Athens Academy ATH Keyon Standifer
- Brookwood RB Brayden Tyson
- Carver-Columbus IOL Terrance Warren III
There are several interesting out-of-state games for fans to keep an eye on this week.
Here’s a look at nine out-of-state games for GHSA teams this weekend, starting with Mt. Bethel Christian’s Thursday night trip to national power IMG.
- Mt. Bethel Christian at IMG (FL)
- Jesuit (FL) at Valdosta
- Manatee (FL) at Lowndes
- Ware County at Bartram Trail (FL)
- Kathleen (FL) at Cairo
- Jean Ribault (FL) at Camden County
- Newton at Bryant (AR)
- Carver (AL) at Mundy's Mill
- Mallard Creek (NC) at Grayson
- Savannah Christian at Oceanside Collegiate (SC)
- Savannah Country Day at Bluffton (SC)
- Washington-Wilkes at McCormick (SC)
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