After a week when the fun and games of the sports world took a backseat to the very real world problems of one of the area's high school football coaches, it's good to get back to the action on the field.

Thankfully, there's plenty in that realm to entertain us this week, starting with 8-AAA opening subregion play. White County-Lumpkin County is the maquee game in my mind, but the results from North Hall-Chestatee and Franklin County-Stephens County will tell us just as much about the pecking order of the North subregion.

Though we know anything can happen, it seems pretty clear that Gainesville and Monroe Area are at the forefront of 8-AAA South. I've got Gainesville back in my top 10 after an impressive win (especially in the second half) against Franklin County last week, and Monroe Area right behind them. Until the Red Elephants and Purple Hurricanes meet in two weeks, the match-ups in this subregion are a little less compelling.

Here's this week's top 10. My official ballot is below.

Class A

Rank, Team, Previous

1. Charlton County (1)
2. Wesleyan (2)
3. Clinch County (3)
4. Savannah Christian (4)
5. Wilcox County (5)
6. Johnson County (6)
7. Lincoln County (7)
8. Eagles Landing (8)
9. Marion County (-)
10. Darlington (-)

ON THE CUSP: George Walton, Bremen

Class AA

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

ON THE CUSP: North Oconee, Elbert County, Dade County, Lovett

Class AAA

1. Sandy Creek (1)
2. Peach County (2)
3. Cairo (3)
4. Baldwin (4)
5. Carrollton (5)
6. St. Pius X (6)
7. Cartersville (7)
8. Woodward Academy (8)
9. Eastside (9)
10. Gainesville (-)

ON THE CUSP: Monroe Area, Butler, Perry

Class AAAA

1. Northside-Warner Robins (1)
2. Tucker (2)
3. Clarke Central (3)
4. Kell (5)
5. Griffin (4)
6. Marist (7)
7. Flowery Branch (8)
8. Starr's Mill (9)
9. Thomas County Central (10)
10. Chattahoochee (-)

ON THE CUSP: Ware County, Hiram, East Paulding

Class AAAAA

1. Camden County (1)
2. North Gwinnett (2)
3. Peachtree Ridge (3)
4. Stephenson (4)
5. McEachern (5)
6. Lowndes (6)
7. Valdosta (7)
8. Norcross (8)
9. South Gwinnett (9)
10. Grayson (10)

ON THE CUSP: Newton, Etowah, Woodstock