We are three weeks into the high school football season. It’s now officially September, which means in just two short months, we’ll already be talking about playoffs, state championship runs and way-too-early outlooks into next year.
In other words, it’s the perfect time to break out our Augusta Press Sports Top 10 Power Rankings.
Each Sunday, we’ll provide a top-10 poll for our 33-team coverage area. Some of it you’ll agree with. Some of it you won’t agree with. The good news is, unlike the college game, none of these rankings matter region and state championship implications. But what’s an entertaining football season without a ranking system or poll to argue about, right?
So, with two and three games under our belts for most teams, here’s our first stab at ranking the local teams, regardless of classification and regardless of region. We’ll tell you now that more weight will be given to strength of schedule and performance than just win-loss records alone. For example, just because a team is undefeated doesn’t meant mean it’s automatically ranked above one that isn’t.
1. Evans (2-0). Next up: vs. Lakeside (2-0), 9/6
2. Aquinas (1-1). Next up: vs. Hephzibah (1-1)
3. North Augusta (1-1). Next up: vs. South Aiken (1-1), 9/6
4. Lincoln County (3-0). Next up: vs. Elbert County (1-2), 9/13
5. Strom Thurmond (2-0). Next up: vs. North Augusta (1-1), 9/13
6. Burke County (2-1). Next up: vs. Warren County (2-1), 9/6
7. Lakeside (2-0). Next up: at Evans (2-0), 9/6
8. Laney (2-1). Next up: vs. Oglethorpe County (0-3), 9/6
9. Harlem (2-0). Next up: vs. Baldwin (0-2), 9/13
10. Thomson (1-2). Next up: at Grovetown (0-3), 9/6
Rankings Summary: Evans has been, in our eyes, the most comprehensively impressive team thus far in the season and, to this point, has earned the top spot. Some may scratch their heads at ranking Thomson No. 10 despite losses to Evans and North Augusta and a closer-than-expected, 14-7 win at Richmond Academy. But Thomson still has an impressive aggregation of talent, and we believe that by season’s end, we’ll look back and call Evans and North Augusta two of the area’s top teams, hands down.
More and more, Lincoln County is starting to look like the Lincoln County of old. We like Thurmond, but their first two wins have come against a rebuilding Silver Bluff squad and a McCormick program that’s had two winning seasons since 2017. Aquinas, in our view, still represents the area’s best chance at a state championship — at least for now, and though originally thought to be in a bit of a rebuilding year, Laney has been impressive early, and, if not for a shortened opener against Westside, could be sitting at 3-0 right now.
Others considered: Westside, Greenbrier, Warren County, South Aiken, Hephzibah.
