MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week

Six teams in the latest MaxOPreps Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard are previewed in this, the penultimate MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week for the 2011 season.

Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.) comes in ranked No. 18. In order to advance to the first Florida Class 8A championship game, the Hurricanes must beat a red-hot Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) squad that bounced once-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas out of the playoffs last week.

A pair of games involving Top 10 teams from Georgia are also in action. No. 6 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) must defeat fellow unbeaten Walton (Marietta, Ga.) to claim its first Class 5A title, while No. 8 Buford (Ga.) aims for its fifth-consecutive state crown against undefeated Calhoun (Ga.), the team it beat in the state final the last three seasons.

Meanwhile in Texas, two of the state's top dual-threat junior quarterbacks will duel when No. 5 Skyline (Dallas) takes on undefeated Southlake Carroll in the Class 5A-I semifinals. Led by Devante Kincade, this is the deepest playoff run in nearly 40 years for Skyline. Carroll, which features Kenny Hill, won four state titles in the 2000s but hasn't been this far in the postseason since 2006.

A break-even 5-5 record last week for Jamie DeMoney tightened the race to the top in our season-long prediction contest. Stephen Spiewak went 8-2 last week, making up three games on DeMoney and putting himself well within striking distance to overtake the lead and repeat as the prediction champion. You can track our overall results and standings all season long by clicking here.

Here's a look at this week's Top 10 Games of the Week along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Steve Montoya, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland and Jamie DeMoney.

Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) vs. Walton (Marietta, Ga.)

Regardless of who wins Saturday night's finale at the Georgia Dome, there will be a first-time state championship in Georgia's 5A classification this season. Grayson (14-0), which is in the title game for the first time in its 12-year history, has been nationally ranked and one of the season-long favorites to win the championship. The Rams barely slipped past Colquitt County (Moultrie) in last week's semifinals. Senior receiver Marcus Lindquist caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Nick Schuessler with 28 seconds left in the game to help secure a 35-31 victory, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Fellow unbeaten Walton features one of the state's top juniors in running back Tyren Jones, who has nearly 2,300 yards on the ground this season. He had 187 yards in last week's 30-24 semifinal win over Lassiter (Marietta), according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, Jones might be in for his toughest outing of the season against a Grayson defense that has been dominant against the run all season.

Mitch Stephens: Grayson 38, Walton 35
Steve Montoya: Grayson 20, Walton 17
Stephen Spiewak: Grayson 21, Walton 10
Kevin Askeland: Walton 28, Grayson 21
Jamie DeMoney: Grayson 23, Walton 17