Georgia’s regular season closed with a familiar kind of pressure at the top: Buford is still chasing a national crown, and the road back to No. 1 now runs straight through the postseason.
The Wolves finish the regular season 10-0 and sit No. 4 in the latest High School On SI national rankings. That puts them behind IMG Academy, St.
Thomas Aquinas and Santa Margarita, and means the defending national champion will need more than an unbeaten record to reclaim the top spot. Buford opens the playoffs Friday against Marietta.
Georgia’s presence near the top is strong again. Carrollton checks in at No. 8 nationally, Thomas County Central is No. 12, and Newton’s own 10-0 run has it under consideration for the national Top 25. That leaves Georgia with three teams already inside the national Top 12 before a single playoff game kicks off.
Buford’s path is especially tricky because of where it landed in the Class 7A bracket. The Wolves are the No. 9 seed and share the field with undefeated Newton and Carrollton, along with Valdosta, Lowndes, Brookwood and North Gwinnett. A repeat as High School On SI’s national champion will demand a deep run through one of the state’s toughest postseason brackets.
A year ago, Buford moved from No. 2 to No. 1 after surviving five playoff games and beating Carrollton for the state title. This season, the challenge starts at home against Marietta, and the Wolves will have to keep winning while the pressure around them only grows.
Newton’s regular season deserves its own spotlight. The Rams are 10-0 after beating five teams that were ranked in the Top 10 when they played. Carrollton and Thomas County Central also enter the playoffs undefeated and nationally ranked, giving Georgia a cluster of elite teams heading into November.
There are plenty of other unbeaten programs in the state mix as well. Sandy Creek, Cartersville, Blessed Trinity, Jackson County, Peach County, Appling County and East Paulding all finished the regular season without a loss.
For 10 weeks, the rankings have been built around one question: who is playing the best football in Georgia? Now the answer has to be settled on the field.
Georgia’s end-of-regular-season top 25 is loaded with playoff openers set for Friday, Nov. 13.
Buford is 10-0 and opens with Marietta. Carrollton is 10-0 and draws North Forsyth.
Thomas County Central is 10-0 and faces Collins Hill. Newton is 10-0 and meets Veterans.
Sandy Creek is 10-0 and plays Heritage-Catoosa.
The rest of the top 25 brings the same kind of balance between perfect records and battle-tested teams. Cartersville is 9-1 and opens against Shiloh.
Blessed Trinity is 9-1 and gets West Forsyth. Jackson County is 9-1 and faces Northside-Warner Robins.
Peach County is 10-0 and meets Perry. Appling County is 9-1 and takes on South Forsyth.
Also in the rankings, East Paulding is 10-0 and opens against M.L. King. The list continues with teams such as Northside-Columbus, Norcross, North Atlanta, Creekview, East Jackson, Jackson, Temple, Lassiter, Tift County, Loganville, Walton, Mount Zion-Jonesboro, Dutchtown and Whitewater all set for Friday playoff games.
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