Class A DIV. II Blog: Bowdon, Brooks County lead early 2025 rankings

The 2025 GHSA football season kicks off in just four weeks and the first preseason/Week 1 rankings are beginning to emerge. During the regular season, the AJC, Score Atlanta, GPB and ITGNext each have their weekly rankings inputted into a composite poll. Those four outlets are combined with the MaxPreps rankings for each classification and also the Maxwell rankings—both of which are determined by mathematical calculations and models. This blend of four media outlets and the two computer-based rankings create what is called the composite rankings and those are released each Wednesday in Todd Holcomb and Chip Saye’s invaluable Georgia High School Football Daily newsletter and website.

ITGNext is the first outlet to release a preseason poll for Class A Div. II and the author Phil Jones gives his breakdown the the top 10 teams. This poll and the full breakdown can be viewed HERE along with the preseason rankings for each of the other classifications. Here is a look at the top 10.

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2025 ITGNext Class A Div. II Preseason Poll

1. Bowdon

2. Brooks County

3. Clinch County

4. Metter

5. Lincoln County

6. Telfair County

7. Schley County

8. Jenkins County

9. Mitchell County

10. Johnson County

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Three-time defending state champion Bowdon returns as No. 1 and state-runner-up Brooks County debuts at no. 2. Jones points to the 46 touchdowns that Bowdon’s top three returning offensive playmakers accounted for last season and that production strengthened the case for the Red Devils to return at the top. Brooks County is a solid No. 2 after reaching the finals last year with first-year head coach Josh McFather. Clinch County is an interesting pick for No. 3—beating out teams like Manchester and Irwin County—which were left out of the poll for various reasons. The biggest surprise team according to Jones is Mitchell County—which he placed at No. 9 and Jones points to the team’s 14 returning starters as a reason for placing Mitchell County in the poll. Neither Manchester nor Irwin County were given spots in the poll and Trion was also left out.

Metter, Lincoln County, Telfair County, Schley County, Jenkins County and Johnson County are the other teams that debuted in the poll.

For context, this is how the Score Atlanta poll looked at the end of the 2024 season. Three of the top-5 teams at the end of the 2024 rankings are not in the ITG’s 2025 preseason rankings (Manchester, Irwin County and Trion) and No. 8 Early County and No. 9 Wilcox County are also absent—meaning that half of the poll contains teams that were not ranked at the end of last season.

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Final Score Atlanta 2024 Poll

Class A Div. II

1. Bowdon

2. Brooks County

3. Manchester

4. Irwin County

5. Trion

6. Clinch County

7. Lincoln County

8. Early County

9. Wilcox County

10. Metter

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Stay tuned for the release of Score Atlanta’s Week 1 rankings and keep an eye on Class A Div. II this season as the composite polls sort out a highly-competitive landscape this season.