Three Top 50 high school football teams are featured in the MaxPreps Games of the Week, led by a Georgia showdown between No. 5 Grayson (Loganville) and McEachern (Powder Springs). The Rams opened the year with a 51-13 win over Jones County (Gray), led by 2021 Georgia Tech commit Jamal Haynes who had five receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
The other ranked teams in action this week are No. 15 Trinity (Louisville) opening up its season hosting Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) and St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) facing No. 27 Mentor (Ohio).
Two Oklahoma games are on tap led by one of the biggest rivalries in high school football — Union (Tulsa) vs. Jenks.
Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah join Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma as states represented in this week's top matchups.
Pulaski Academy meets Ravenwood (Tenn.) on Friday in what should be a high-scoring affair.
File photo by Richey Miller
Top Players
This
was supposed to be 2021 Florida commit
Carlos Del Rio facing his old
team but he hasn't been cleared to play by the Georgia High
School Association so Cannon will get another start for the
No. 5 team in the country. Cannon threw for over 200 yards and two scores
in the season-opening win over Jones County (Gray). The
Indians look to bounce back after a 35-7 loss to North Gwinnett
(Suwanee).
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
St. X's 24-10 win over defending Ohio Division II champs La Salle (Cincinnati) was one of the most impressive of the week. McCaughey shined with over 300 yards passing and three scores. Elder evened its record with a 42-14 win against Floyd Central (Floyd Knobs, Ind.) after losing in double overtime against La Salle (Cincinnati). This is the 20th meeting between the Cincinnati powers since 2004. The Bombers have won 12 of the previous 19 but Elder owns the last three meetings.
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
Both teams are off to a 2-0 start. Broken Arrow won big in its season opener on ESPN2 against Bentonville West (Centerton, Ark.) and answered that with a 14-7 win over Union (Tulsa). Owasso has outscored its first two opponents 79-38.
Top Players
Bob Beatty has done nothing but win since being named head coach at Trinity back in 2000, going 231-42 and leading the Shamrocks to their 14th state title in 2019. They return a lot of key players from last season's 6A title squad and will be the favorites to repeat in 2020. Up first is a 1-1 Archbishop Moeller team.
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
After a 24-23 season-opening win over No. 50 Washington (Massillon), the Eagles got shutout 35-0 by Archbishop Hoban (Akron) last week to drop from the Top 50. A win over No. 27 Mentor gets them back in the rankings next week. The Cardinals have outscored their first two opponents 64-31 and are a couple of wins away from jumping into the Top 25. Four of the last five meetings have been decided by one score, including both games last season with Mentor winning by one each time.
Friday, 8 p.m. - ESPNU
Top Players
The nationally televised game on ESPNU this week is going down in the Peach State and the focus will be the quarterbacks. Vandagriff is a 2021 Georgia commit and 5-star gunslinger who accounted for over 300 yards of offense and six touchdowns in the Wolverines season opening 42-7 win over Calvary Day (Savannah). Stockton recently committed to South Carolina and he was named our
Freshman of the Year in 2018. The top-rated dual threat quarterback in the Class of 2022 has accounted for over 8,200 yards of total offense and 113 touchdowns through his first two years.
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
The second out-of-state matchup featured should see a lot of points on the scoreboard. Pulaski Academy won its season opener against Robinson (Little Rock) 48-35 and has scored at least 40 points in 14 of its last 15 games. Ravenwood has won its first three games outscoring the opposition 128-30. These two played last season and Ravenwood won a shootout 61-47.
Top Players
Orem bounced back after having its seven-game winning streak snapped by beating Alta (Sandy) to improve to 3-1. The Knights have dominated the opposition outscoring their first four opponents 163-18. This will be the first meeting between the two Utah powers since 2004 and the Tigers won 24-10.
Top Players
Records are meaningless when these two Oklahoma powers square off in the Backyard Bowl — one of the best rivalries in high school football. Union needs to beat its rival on Friday to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2006. Jenks nearly snapped Bixby's state best 27-game winning streak last week but fell short, 42-35. This is the 57th meeting between the two since 1977 with Jenks winning 34.
Top Players
Maryville: RB
Parker McGill (5-11, 205), S
DJ Burks (5-11, 175), QB
Carson Jones (6-2, 210), WR
Nick Dagel (6-2, 175), DE
Lou Burchfield (6-1, 205)
According to the
computer state rankings this one features No. 2 vs. 3. Alcoa has one of the best defenses in the country and has outscored its first three opponents 128-7. The Tornadoes have won 14 straight with their last loss coming against Maryville last season, 17-3. The Rebels have reeled off 18 straight wins and won their 17th state championship in school history in 2019. Alcoa is the only school with more — winning an 18th last season and going for a six-peat in 2020.
