5 Takeaways from Week 6 of Georgia high school football

A big night for Top 25 teams; Godfree beats his former team; Rookie QB shines for Grayson

North Gwinnett head coach, after a narrow loss to Parkview last year, earned his first win against his former team, Friday night, led his Bulldogs to a 52-13 win over the Panthers on Friday. / North Gwinnett Athletics

Week 6 is in the books and it had its fair share of storylines come out of it. 

Friday night marked the midway point in the regular season for a slew of teams, and it was filled with a plethora of wins from the current Power 25 teams in the state of Georgia. No one of note suffered a Week 6 loss, and virtually no one received a scare outside of a couple of teams. 

North Gwinnett head coach Eric Godfree earned a milestone win Friday night, and a Top 10 team had a new signal caller earning his first career start. 

Below are five things we learned from Week 6. 

Every team our Top 25 Georgia High School Football Rankings won in Week 6

There will be little to no movement in next week’s Georgia Top 25 high school football rankings and for good reason. 

While four teams inside the Top 25 were off this week (Thomas County Central, Douglas County, Camden County and Valdosta), the remaining 21 teams in action all won on Friday night.  

Even more impressive, only two of the 21 games were decided by seven points or fewer. No. 16 Norcross escaped with a thrilling 27-26 region win over Peachtree Ridge, and No.18 Coffee won a defensive slugfest against Daytona Beach Mainland, 10-7. 

Virtually all of the state’s best won big, including No. 1 Milton’s 47-0 win over Chattahoochee, No. 3 Buford’s 46-0 win over Discovery and No. 4 North Gwinnett’s 52-13 win over Parkview. 

North Gwinnett’s Eric Godfree defeats former school for first time

In his first chance against his former school last year, North Gwinnett head coach Eric Godfree very nearly pulled the upset on the road against Parkview, a game his team lost, 35-32. 

This year, the victory for Godfree was sealed early. The Bulldogs romped the Panthers 52-13, in a game they dominated from the very beginning. They led the Panthers 38-0 at the half with senior quarterback Ryan Hall tossing three of his four touchdown passes in the first 24 minutes. 

With the win, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2013. They’ve shown little to no weaknesses thus far and will have a great chance to win the Region 7-6A championship.  

Their two toughest games remaining in the regular season will come against Peachtree Ridge at home in two weeks, and Norcross at home in their second to last game on Oct. 25. 

Deuce Smith shines in his firs start at quarterback for Grayson

The seventh-ranked Rams appear to have a new starting quarterback, at least for now, and his name is Deuce Smith. 

Travis Burgess, who started the first four games of the season for the Rams, was sidelined as a precaution Friday night, and that gave the start to Smith, a sophomore who was making his first career start for the Rams at home against Grovetown.

Burgess was 58 of 104 (58%) for 708 yards and tossed eight touchdowns through his first four starts. They were 3-1 in those games, including wins in each of their past three games. 

Smith made the most of his opportunity Friday night against Grovetown. He tossed five touchdown passes in a 63-0 shutout and received rave reviews after the game by coaches and media members alike. 

Will Smith remain as the Rams starting quarterback next Friday night when they make a trip to face Newton? Or will Burgess be healthy enough to make a return? We will have to wait and see. 

Collins Hill survives scare from Central Gwinnett 

The Eagles avoided disaster in their Region 7-6A opener Friday night. 

Leading Central Gwinnett just 10-7 at the half, the Eagles tacked on an insurance touchdown in the second half, and its standout defense pitched a shutout to survive with a 17-7 win. The Eagles are now 5-0 on the season, a record few would have predicted at the halfway point. 

Through five games, it’s abundantly clear what the Eagles’ identity is. They are a team built by a standout defense that is allowing just 12.6 points-per-game. On offense, they’re getting just enough from a young, inexperienced group that’s learning how to play on Friday nights. 

That recipe will bode well for the Eagles on most Friday night’s and they will get an 0-4 Mountain View team at home next week. But with Mill Creek and Buford looming in the two games after that, they’ll need to play their best games to date if they want to have a chance to keep their undefeated season alive. 

North Cobb is improving every week 

The Warriors were left with a bad taste in their mouth at the end of last season. 

After earning a home playoff game in last year’s Class 7A state playoffs, they were immediately bounced by Collin Hill, who embarrassed them 45-14 to end their season. 

In 2024, they started with a 49-21 win against a struggling Archer squad, and have steadily looked better and better with each passing week. After beating East Coweta by seven points in Week 3, they’ve beaten Cass, North Pauling and Walton by nearly identical scores to improve to 5-0 on the season. 

Ranked No. 19 in last week’s Top 25 poll, they should win Region 5-6A with relative ease and they have a very good chance of completing a perfect 10-0 regular season. But are they a team that should be feared in this year's Class 6A state playoffs?

Class 6A is loaded to say the least. As of now, the Warriors are currently ranked as the 12th best team by SBLive in Class 6A despite their 5-0 record. They’re probably not a team that can win a state championship, but they’re definitely a team that can give one of the favorites a good game if they’re able to advance past the first round.