A pair of familiar faces have climbed into the No. 1 spot in this week’s GPB Sports football rankings.

Thomas County Central, which won the most recent of its six state championships in 2023, is the new No. 1 team in Class 5A. Lincoln County, which has 11 state championship trophies, is on top in Class A Division II.

Thomas County Central moved up one spot in the rankings after preseason No. 1 Milton lost its season opener to Class 6A No. 2 Buford 20-13. TCC took care of business by routing Monroe 56-7.

Lincoln County had its opener against Augusta Christian cancelled by bad weather, but still managed to leapfrog from No. 4 into the top spot. Previous No. 1 Bowdon lost its opener to Class A Division I No. 5 Fellowship Christian 26-0 and No. 2 Brooks County was beaten 35-7 by Class A Division I No. 2 Thomasville.

The other No. 1 teams retained their position atop their classifications: Grayson in 6A, North Oconee in 4A, Calhoun in 3A, Carver Columbus in 2A, Toombs County in Class A Division I and Prince Avenue Christian in Class 1-3A Private.

“The way Grayson and North Oconee came out of the gate, you could tell they had things to prove,” said GPB’s Jon Nelson.

Grayson steamrolled then-No. 7 Collins Hill 51-3 to avenge last year’s season-opening loss. North Oconee dropped a 41-0 hammer on rival Oconee County in the annual “Battle of Hog Mountain.”

The most changes came in Class A Division II, where five ranked teams lost their opener. Moving into the rankings are Fitzgerald at No. 8, Rabun County at No. 9 and Swainsboro at No. 10.

Other teams jumping into the poll this week are: McEachern, No. 10 in 6A; Newnan, No. 10 in 5A; Perry, No. 10 in 4A; Carver Atlanta, No. 7 in 2A; and Hapeville Charter, No. 10 in 2A.

Class 6A

  1. Grayson
  2. Buford
  3. Douglas County
  4. Carrollton
  5. North Cobb
  6. Colquitt County
  7. Valdosta
  8. Lowndes
  9. North Gwinnett
  10. McEachern

Class 5A

  1. Thomas County Central
  2. Hughes
  3. Milton
  4. Gainesville
  5. Lee County
  6. Coffee
  7. Houston County
  8. Sprayberry
  9. Roswell
  10. Newnan

Class 4A

  1. North Oconee
  2. Cartersville
  3. Creekside
  4. Benedictine
  5. Blessed Trinity
  6. Ware County
  7. Kell
  8. Marist
  9. Jones County
  10. Perry

Class 3A

  1. Calhoun
  2. Sandy Creek
  3. Peach County
  4. LaGrange
  5. Jefferson
  6. Stephenson
  7. North Hall
  8. Calvary Day
  9. Cherokee Bluff
  10. Westover

Class 2A

  1. Carver-Columbus
  2. Prince Avenue Christian
  3. Rockmart
  4. Pierce County
  5. Hebron Christian
  6. Morgan County
  7. Callaway
  8. Burke County
  9. Thomson
  10. Hapeville Charter

Class A-Division 1

  1. Toombs County
  2. Thomasville
  3. Savannah Christian
  4. Lamar Count
  5. Fellowship Christian
  6. Worth County
  7. Heard County
  8. Fitzgerald
  9. Rabun County
  10. Swainsboro

Class A-Division II

  1. Lincoln County
  2. Metter
  3. Clinch County
  4. Bowdon
  5. Brooks County
  6. Wilcox County
  7. Manchester
  8. Early County
  9. Jenkins County
  10. Johnson County

Class 3-1A Private

  1. Prince Avenue Christian
  2. Hebron Christian
  3. Savannah Christian
  4. Calvary Day
  5. Fellowship Christian
  6. Aquinas
  7. Lovett
  8. Wesleyan
  9. Athens Academy
  10. Holy Innocents’

Note: The GPB poll includes private school teams in Class 1-3A in the rankings according to classification, since they compete alongside those same teams during the regular season. The GPB poll also has a separate ranking for the Private schools since they compete separately during the state playoffs. Thus, many private schools will appear in both sets of rankings.