Georgia HS football live updates: Follow for highlights, upsets and more

As we enter the halfway point of the season, many teams will start their push for the playoffs. Some have already started with region play, kicking off for larger regions over the last couple weeks. 

The Maxwell Projections predict the playoff bracket every week, and you can see every predicted playoff field after Week 4 right here. 

Below, we have the projected state champion at every GHSA classification. 

Class 6A

Grayson (4-0)

Class 5A

Hughes (3-0)

Class 4A

Creekside (3-0)

Class 3A

Jefferson (4-0)

Class 2A

Carver-Columbus (3-0)

Class A Division I

Thomasville (3-1)

Class A Division II

Bowdon (3-1)

Class 3A-A Private

Prince Avenue Christian (2-1)

We’ve got a full list of the 10 top-scoring teams across every classification in Georgia.

We don’t have room for all that — you can find the full story here — but we can show you the top-scoring teams across every classification through Week 4.

Here we go:

Class 6A

Valdosta - 49.0

Class 5A

New Manchester - 62.0

Class 4A

Creekside - 50.0

Class 3A

Monroe Area - 46.7

Class 2A

Carver-Columbus - 54.0

Class A Division I

Temple - 50.0

Class A Division II

Lincoln County - 46.5

Class 3A-A Private

Aquinas - 43.7

GIAA

Stratford County - 43.0

For all the top-ranked matchups this week, many teams are starting their pursuit of a playoff spot tonight. 

Here's a look at the five highest-rated games between region opponents this week, according to the Maxwell Projections. 

1. North Gwinnett (-15) at Brookwood - 7 p.m.
2. Sprayberry at Sequoyah (-14)  - 7:30 p.m.
3. Rome (-9) at East Paulding - 7:30 p.m.
4. West Forsyth (-2) at Lambert - 7:30 p.m.
5. Sandy Creek (-12) at Upson-Lee - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday night holds eight games across Georgia high school football. 

Here's the full slate, along with the favorite according to the Maxwell Projections:

• Pierce County (-19) at New Hampstead
• Columbia at Calloway (-13)
• Manchester (-15) at Spencer
• Jenkins (-28) at Beach
• St. Pius X (-30) at Druid Hills
• Drew (-5) at Midtown
• Hardaway at Shaw (-19)
• Clarkston at Tucker (-43)

Colquitt County should be thankful it's coming off a bye, because it's got an abnormal amount of football ahead. 

How a tennis player became Colquitt County football’s ‘incredible story’

The Packers will kick off their first of three games in an eight-day stretch on Friday night at Lee County. Class 5A's No. 5 team will host Class 6A's No. 10 team at 7:30 p.m. 

Colquitt County will then turn around and play Monroe on Tuesday after the Week 2 matchup was postponed due to weather. The Packers are scheduled to play again on Sept. 19 when Rickards from Tallahassee, Florida, comes to town. 

Colquitt County coach Sean Calhoun hasn't coached three games in eight days before, but he's not apprehensive. His team has only played two games in four weeks, and with region play just 15 days away, Calhoun is happy to see his team get experience. 

"We need it," Calhoun told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after a Week 3 loss to North Gwinnett. "I'm not making any kind of excuses. How we played tonight wouldn't have changed, but we needed that (Monroe) game last week."

As many teams start region play this week, the amount of out-of-state opponents for GHSA programs continues to decline. 

We still have four GHSA teams playing teams from bordering states in Week 5. 

Here they are, according to the HSFA. 

• Christ School (N.C.) at Hebron Christian
• DeLand (FL) at Appling County
• Gadsden County (FL) at Coffee
• Ware Shoals (S.C.) at Towns County