While one game doesn’t necessarily make or break a season, here are the games that could mean the difference between these Georgia high school football teams winning their regions; earning a crucial first-round home playoff game; or perhaps making the playoffs altogether in 2025.
Some teams also have that one game that seems to be the big hurdle they need to get over to prove they are ready to take that next step toward being state champion material.
These are those teams. These are their games.
Colquitt County
Oct. 3, 2025 – Lowndes vs. Colquitt County
What Makes This a Make-or-Break Game?
With no clear-cut favorite this year in Region 1-6A, every region contest for every team is going to be important in deciding both a potential first-round home playoff game and, quite possibly, a region championship.
That has belonged to the Colquitt County Packers, who are back-to-back region champions.
Last season, the Pack won the region on the back of their region-opener over Lowndes in a thrilling 38-35 nail-biter. That win was huge for head coach Sean Calhoun’s Packers as they lost to the Valdosta Wildcats the very next week in a low-scoring affair 7-3. That put Colquitt County at 1-1 in the region.
It also proved to be the tiebreaker for the Packers as both they and the Vikings tied with a 4-1 region record. The head-to-head win gave the No. 1 seed and region championship to Colquitt County. It could have been a much different story if that 3-point win over Lowndes went the other way.
That same scenario will be at play again this year as Colquitt County heads to Lowndes to take on the Vikings in the region-opener. The very next week, Valdosta is Colquitt County’s opponent.
Win versus Lowndes, and Colquitt County gives itself a little wiggle room. Lose versus Lowndes, and Colquitt County is looking at a must-win game against Valdosta.
Being 0-2 in region play is not the position Colquitt County wants to be in.
Collins Hill
Oct. 3, 2025 – Collins Hill vs. Buford
What Makes This a Make-or-Break Game?
Last season Collins Hill began Year 2 of the Drew Swick era with an exciting road victory at Grayson 20-19.
That win helped Collins Hill to a 6-0 start to the season, setting up a major contest at undefeated Buford. Collins Hill fell to the Wolves by a 34-7 final that night, but it was the only regular-season loss for Swick’s Eagles, who finished as the No. 2 seed in Region 8-6A and advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. That’s where their season ended, in a rematch versus the red-hot Grayson Rams, the eventual state champion.
Collins Hill finished the 2024 season as a Top 10 team in Class 6A.
Now Collins Hill is back, but a win over Buford in what could be the biggest home game in years could really put them over the hump and on their way to making another run at a state championship.
Oct. 3 versus Buford could be the biggest game since Swick took over as head coach at the start of the 2023 season.
Lee County
Sept. 26, 2025 – Thomas County Central vs. Lee County
What Makes This a Make-or-Break Game?
In what was arguably the most anticipated game of the 2024 season in the entire state, the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets visited the Lee County Trojans after damage from Hurricane Helene forced the game to be delayed to a rare Saturday afternoon matinee from the previous Friday night.
Both teams were ranked in everyone’s Top 5, and when it was over, the Trojans had ended the Yellow Jackets’ win streak at 20 games with a 35-23 win in Leesburg, Georgia.
That victory set Lee County on the path to a perfect 5-0 region record, the region title, and an undefeated regular season.
This year’s matchup could be even bigger, if that’s possible. There’s a pretty good chance that both teams will be highly ranked entering the contest, even when you consider that Lee County will face off against Colquitt County at home in a big non-region affair two weeks prior to the Central game.
It’s also the region-opener for both teams, and the winner will take a big step toward gaining the upper hand at securing the No. 1 seed in Region 2-5A, which boasts Coffee and Houston County as possible front-runners as well.
The game will be played at Thomas County Central, which can be a tough venue for any visiting team. However, given the fact that this is Lee County, a major rival and the team that ended Thomas County Central’s win streak last year, you can bet the Yellow Jackets’ fans will have those noisy horns blasting nonstop.
This one has all the makings for a monumental game, and you can say it is a make-or-break game for both teams.
Hughes
Sept. 9, 2025 – Hughes vs. Douglas County
What Makes This a Make-or-Break Game?
This isn’t a region game, but I’m still going to rank this as one of Hughes’ most important games of the 2025 Georgia high school football season.
The Hughes Panthers have received a good bit of preseason hype, and they deserve it. They were, after all, one of the two final teams left standing at the end of the 2024 season in one of the toughest classifications in the state, Class 5A.
However, they’ve lost a ton of talent from that team.
That’s why I’ve got their third game of the season against a good Douglas County Tigers team as a make-or-break game. Last year’s contest versus Douglas County was Hughes’ only regular-season loss.
To be honest, this year’s game could be their hardest of the entire season once again, and it could forecast what kind of team new head coach Andrico Hines has to work with as they head down the stretch toward the region portion of their schedule.
If the Panthers can take care of business against the Tigers at home, then they have a chance to coast the rest of the way.
Gainesville
Sept. 12, 2025 – Gainesville vs. Carrollton
What Makes This a Make-or-Break Game?
To say the 2024 season was a letdown for the Gainesville Red Elephants is not an overstatement. They started off the year just as they had in head coach Josh Niblett’s first two seasons with a strong start, winning their first three games over Marietta, Westlake, and Moody from Alabama.
The next week saw Gainesville suffer their worst loss since Niblett’s arrival in 2022. That stinging, 29-point loss to Carrollton in Week 4 seemed to set the tone for what would be a tough 2024 season for Gainesville. It wasn’t a region loss, but it was a game against a formidable opponent that may have shaken the confidence of a Gainesville program that had not come close to anything like it in Niblett’s first two seasons and the first month of the 2024 season. All had seemed to be going just fine.
That’s why I’m tagging this matchup as a make-or-break game for Gainesville in 2025. No, it’s not a region game. Yes, they could lose and then bounce right back. However, Carrollton will likely once again be Gainesville’s first major challenge of the 2025 Georgia high school football season, with apologies to Marietta, Westlake, and Moody.
You can bet that Niblett has this game circled as an important one for his team.
