WHO'S HOT: Strom Thurmond and Silver Bluff, two of South Carolina's top Class AA teams, are a combined 7-1 heading into their matchup this Friday.

That one loss occurred when Silver Bluff fell to Aiken, which is unbeaten and looks like one of the top Class AAAA teams in the state. The Hornets defeated the Bulldogs 14-7 on Sept. 4.

WHO'S NOT: All 10 schools in Region 3-AAAA. Each has played one nonregion game and the group finished 3-7, with two wins over Greenbrier and one over Aquinas.

A Richmond Academy win over North Augusta or Hephzibah over Lincoln County would have been nice.

BEST WIN LAST WEEK: Aiken's 23-21 victory over Boiling Springs, a team that had outscored its previous three opponents 150-49.

At 4-0 heading into region play, the Hornets are looking more and more like the area's best team.

HONORABLE MENTION: With a 40-16 victory over C.A. Johnson, Fox Creek broke a 21-game losing streak.

The Predators' last win was in August 2006, a 28-22 victory -- in four overtimes -- over Southside Christian.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Glenn Hills' second-half romp over Lakeside.

The Spartans had been laying low for most of the early season and played just one region game heading into Columbia County on Friday. Down 14-0 early, they outscored the Panthers 28-0 in the second half.

Glenn Hills is 2-0 in region play for the first time in Ernest Tolbert's three seasons as coach.

FRIDAY'S TOP GAMES

1. Strom Thurmond at Silver Bluff: The Rebels could complete a four-game sweep of their Aiken County schedule with a victory.

2. Glenn Hills at Evans: The Spartans are laying waste to Columbia County (back-to-back wins over Harlem and Lakeside), but they face the county's top program here.

3. Jefferson County at Vidalia: Everyone in Region 3-AA will have their eye on this one, a meeting between its last two unbeaten teams.

ROAD TRIP: Greenbrier visits Douglass on Saturday, a 150-mile one-way trip. It's the first of three trips the Wolfpack (1-2) will make to the Atlanta area this season because they compete in Region 2-AAAAA.

The Astros (1-2) were a second-round playoff team last season, falling by 19 points to powerful Lowndes.

MATHIS WATCH: With 217 yards rushing Friday, Thomas Jefferson Academy senior Derrick Mathis moved past Herschel Walker on Georgia's all-time rushing list.

Mathis has gained 6,246 yards.

Should he maintain his current average of 155.8 yards per game, Mathis would become just the fifth player to break the 7,000-yard mark.

Mathis also has scored 102 career touchdowns, fourth all-time.

Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.