Ron Seibel: Elite group trying to stay perfect

Not many high school football teams can say they finished a regular season with a perfect record.

Last year in the GHSA, only 19 teams finished the regular season with 10-0 records. Only three of those teams -- Colquitt County, Buford and Calhoun -- finished the drill and walked off the field with 15-0 marks. A fourth team, Mount Paran Christian, did the best it could, going 14-0 in winning the Class A private title.

Who's left in the race to go perfect in 2015? Twenty-six teams remain. Let's take a look:

CLASS AAAAAA

Rush Propst's top-ranked Colquitt County Packers have won all of their games by at least three touchdowns this season, building a 23-game winning streak that started following a 2013 Class AAAAAA semifinal loss to Norcross. In order to go 10-0, however, Colquitt County will have to get by another unbeaten team, seventh-ranked Camden County, which has survived some relatively close calls.

In north Georgia, second-ranked Grayson is 9-0 and leading Region 8-AAAAAA and has just one game remaining against a .500 Brookwood team. No. 3 Roswell is 8-0 and leads Region 5-AAAAAA, but the Hornets still have a game against 10th-ranked Etowah (7-1) remaining. No. 5 Mill Creek is 8-0 and leads Region 7-AAAAAA but has games against unranked Norcross and No. 9 Peachtree Ridge (combined record 13-3) remaining.

CLASS AAAAA

Northside has the read option working extremely well right now, riding a 19-game winning streak that started last year following a loss at Jones County. The Eagles close out the regular season next week against sixth-ranked Houston County (7-1).

Three teams in Region 4-AAAAA -- Northgate, Starr's Mill and Stockbridge -- are 8-0. Northgate (tied for 10th) and Starr's Mill (just outside the poll) meet this week, while second-ranked Stockbridge takes on one-win Union Grove before crossover play next weekend.

Also, last year's Class AAAAA runner-up, third-ranked Mays, is 8-0, as is fourth-ranked Lanier.

CLASS AAAA

Despite entering the season with a young team, fourth-ranked Mary Persons has answered every challenge so far in an 8-0 start. After taking on a sub-.500 Baldwin team this week, the Bulldogs close the regular season next week at West Laurens (6-2).

Four other teams in Class AAAA are 8-0. Region 5-AAAA's Woodward Academy is ranked No. 1, with its regular-season finale against Carrollton likely being for the region title. Cartersville (Region 7-AAAA) is ranked second and closes against Pickens (7-1) Fifth-ranked Bainbridge (Region 1-AAAA) plays a sub-.500 team before next week's region crossover. Locust Grove (Region 4-AAAA) is just outside of the top-10 and plays a winless team this week before its region crossover.

CLASS AAA

Dodge County is the only unbeaten team in this classification from the southern part of the state. The seventh-ranked Indians built off the quiet success they had last year, allowing no more than 20 points to any one opponent. They play Pierce County (6-2) for first place in their sub-region before taking part in crossover play next week.

Defending champion and top-ranked Calhoun now has a 23-game winning streak going, with every win but one this season coming by comfortable margins. All that's left in the regular season for Calhoun are games against sub-.500 opponents.

Also unbeaten: second-ranked Blessed Trinity, third-ranked Jefferson (games against two 6-2 teams remaining) and fourth-ranked Central-Carrollton (closing with 7-1 Callaway).

CLASS AA

Benedictine and Darlington are the only two unbeaten teams left standing in Class AA. Top-ranked Benedictine is the defending Class AA champion, while No. 3 Darlington has a game against Chattooga (6-2) remaining.

CLASS A

Mount Paran Christian is ranked first in Class A and is the defending Class A private school champion, a winner of 22 straight games. Prince Avenue Christian is leading Region 8-A and has two games against sub-.500 competition left. Lincoln County is the lone public school in Class A with an unblemished record remaining, although it faces Aquinas (7-1) on Friday, with that winner traveling to Stratford (6-2) for the Region 7-A title Nov. 6.

Contact Ron Seibel at 744-4222 or rseibel@macon.com

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Ron Seibel: Elite group trying to stay perfect ."