Hellooooo, high school football. Has it been 9 whole months since the two-point fail heard 'round the county?

The last three years have been some of the best in Hall County football history, with the territory formerly known more for hoops sending three different teams in three different years to the Georgia Dome, culminating in Gainesville's oh-so-close near miracle last season.

We may look back at that as the high-water mark - at least for the next couple of years. As you'll see from the ballot below,  the thought here is that Hall County is in for a down year, at least compared to the glories of 2007-2009. 

Here's this week's AP poll.

And here's my ballot, with notes (by the way, if you haven't heard about the incident between Wilcox County and Fitzgerald, you'll want to follow the link below):

Class A

Rank, team, Previous
1. Wilcox County (1)
2. Wesleyan (2)
3. Savannah Christian (3)
4. Charlton County (4)
5. Clinch County (5)
6. Lincoln County (6)
7. Twiggs County (7)
8. Johnson County (8)
9. ELCA (9)
10. Holy Innocents' (10)

Notes: At this point in the season, it's hard to argue against the last two state champs. That could change, though, if Nick Marshall's ankle injury is severe enough to keep him out for any significant length of time. The UGA recruit was injured in what turned out to be a scrimmage-gone-wrong against Fitzgerald. Sounds like it got pretty ugly. 

Class AA

1. Carver-Columbus (1)
2. Buford (2)
3. Fitzgerald (3)
4. Calhoun (4)
5. Jefferson County (5)
6. Callaway (6)
7. Cook (-)
8. Thomasville (9)
9. Westminster (8)
10. Hart County (10)

Notes: Cook made some serious noise last week, starting the season with a win over Colquitt County, a Class AAAAA semifinalist last year. Not to be outdone, Fitzgerald pounded Class AAAAA Tift County, 40-26, in a contest that was more lopsided than the score might indicate.

Class AAA

1. Sandy Creek (1)
2. Peach County (2)
3. Washington County (3)
4. Westside-Macon (4)
5. St. Pius X (5)
6. Gainesville (6)
7. Cairo (7)
8. Baldwin (8)
9. Grady (9)
10. Carrollton (10)

Notes: Some might say I've got Gainesville overrated considering the talent the Red Elephants lost. Some might be right. But the additions of Mantevius Rucker and Mike Norman should solidify the defense, while the return of Devon Pierce should steady the offense. That said, a win in Week 1 over Buford would be a surprise. To hold their ranking, the Red Elephants will need to give the Wolves a fight. North Hall is lurking just outside my top 10 and could take their rival's spot as early as next week.

Class AAAA

1. Northside-Warner Robins (1)
2. Griffin (2)
3. Clarke Central (3)
4. Tucker (4)
5. Rockdale County (5)
6. Thomas County Central (6)
7. Kell (9)
8. Southwest DeKalb (7)
9. Marist (8)
10. Sprayberry (10)

Notes: Region 8-AAAA was underrated all of last year. Have we now over-corrected? In addition to two teams in the top five, I've got Apalachee and Flowery Branch just outside the top 10. It'll be difficult to get a true read on the region again this year as their 10-game round-robin schedule leaves no room for non-region opponents.

Class AAAAA

1. Camden County (1)
2. Lowndes (2)
3. Stephenson (3)
4. North Gwinnett (5)
5. Newnan (6)
6. Peachtree Ridge (7)
7. Valdosta (10)
8. Etowah (-)
9. Woodstock (-)
10. McEachern (8)

Notes: The first week of the season was a busy one in the state's largest classification. Three teams in my first top 10 ballot took a loss (Colquitt County, McEachern and Grayson), plus two more that were just outside the poll (Lassiter and South Gwinnett). Lowndes, North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge solidified their spots with wins over South Gwinnett, Lassiter and McEachern, respectively.