Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

This week's Central Georgia HS football rankings

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
This week's Central Georgia HS football rankings

By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
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          As the shuffling begins, remember a few things about polls.

          It’s just not about head to head.

          You can win a game and drop.

          You can lose a game and stay put. Depending on others, you can lose a game and move up.

          Going up or down without playing isn’t a bonus or punishment. Other teams moved you up or down.

          People polls are supposed to contain objectivity, context, research, and an open mind. No homerism (eliminates broadcast options).

          For some pollsters, like here, it comes down to who is better this week. Would No. 4 beat No. 3 or No. 5? Not where will they be in a month, not where they were a few weeks ago.

          All rankings – and selection committees, etc. – involve everything, including plenty of stuff people don’t pay attention to. Or grasp.

          It’s early. Establishing a level takes a few weeks as we find things out about teams.

          Like, who saw Mary Persons being thumped at Jasper County?

          Who saw Mount de Sales starting off 3-0?

          Who saw Perry being outscored 104-44 to a 3A and AA opponent, albeit state-caliber opponents?

          Nobody – including coaches and parents and players – knows too much about a lot of teams, here and everywhere.

          The plan to drop Division I to five teams comes at a good time.

          Jeez.

          Warner Robins feels like a 2-0 team that should be 1-1 and could easily be 0-2. Does one drop a 2-0 team from the top 5?

          No, and one almost put the Demons in a tie with Baldwin. Strength of early schedule is the difference. But Warner Robins is back on the ledge this week with Northside.

          Basically, there are six games this week that can lead to serious shuffling in both divisions; Warner Robins-Northside, Bowdon-Lamar County, Baldwin-Dublin, Jasper County-Bleckley Couty, West Laurens-Dodge County, and Bulloch-John Milledge.

          That’s just with teams that are ranked. Throw in a few more with teams on the fringe and any upsets, and it’ll get funky.

 

Division I (Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 14 teams)

5. Baldwin
          Neither win came over exactly exceptional competition, but 2-0 is 2-0, and Baldwin doesn’t always open 2-0.

4. Warner Robins
          A little more discipline and fundamentals from the opposition, and the Demons would be 0-2. But gutting it out and taking advantage of others’ foibles without countering with your own is relevant.

3. Vacant
          There is a clear gap between the Bears and Trojans and everybody else right now.

2. Peach County
          Outscoring two quality – and bigger-classification - opponents, albeit down more than usual early in the season, 105-45 is pretty sporty. It compares well to the 2019 start, when the 3-AAA Trojans outdide 6A Northside and Lee County 61-30. The margin’s not the same, but neither is the competition.

1. Houston County
          A week off after a quality TCOB – takin’ care of business – game doesn’t tell us much about the Bears. And we won’t know a whole lot until Westlake’s visit on Sept. 18. But we know enough to know they’re the best Division I team in Central Georgia.

 

Division II (Classes 3A, AA, A, GIAA, 33 teams

10. Putnam County
          The War Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since 2021, when they outscored Morgan County and Jasper County 108-0. Yeah, they’ve slumped to 76-8 so far.    

9. FPD
          It was a nice win over a Westfield team in search of consistency and an identity, but the Vikings are going to need the air game soon.

8. ACE Charter
          Overcoming a 17-point lead in the final six minutes at the House of Pain? Granted, it’s not a decade ago in Sandersville, but that’s still a pretty good feat, especially for a team less than a decade old.

7. Lamar County
          The Trojans last double-digit loss at home to a team in a smaller class was a surprising 17-0 loss to St. Anne-Pacelli, then a Class A-Private GHSA team, in 2021.

6. Macon County
          The Risper Era is off to a better-than-expected start, outscoring two opponents 82-0. One of those came against a team 1-8 last year, the other against a 7-4 2025 team.

5. Jasper County
          The Hurricanes are one of those wait-and-see teams. Then again, Dublin did to them what Dublin did to a 5A team, so maybe Jasper County is close to eliminating the “wait” part.

4. Dodge County
          Rolling into Barnesville for the first game of the year and rolling out with a double-digit win is solid. The Indians may be capable of such things down the line, which in that region, they better be capable.

3. John Milledge
          The competition will be an issue for rankings for awhile. The Trojans will drop some until they get into region play, though this week might be interesting.

2. Northeast
          *Sigh* The very simple things, the self-inflicted wounds, the stuff teams spend all week on, the common sense things, did in the Raiders against Warner Robins, preventing the Raiders from an epic win. This isn’t necessarily new.

1. Dublin
          By pretty much any standard, Dublin is off to its best 2-0 start since 2019, when the first two wins came over a pair of ranked teams, albeit Class A and AA. The Jasper County win two weeks ago may grow in impact, and we’ll see about Perry, but both are still notable in the dominance of the Irish.