Final Week of the Regular Season Promises to be Fun-Filled Halloween Night
With each passing week of the Georgia high school football season, the games and performances seem to keep getting better and better. This past week’s games were once again some of the most exciting and unpredictable football we have had so far.
If you thought Week 11 was exciting, wait until you see this upcoming final slate of regular season games. Let’s take a look back at last week and see what awaits this final week of the regular Georgia high school football season.
Class 6A: Region 1 Championship Showdown
In the southernmost region of the classification, Region 1-6A, three traditional powers will enter their games Friday night in a position to win the region by the end of the night.
Of course, the game between Valdosta and Lowndes, known as The Winnersville Classic, is always huge, but this year’s matchup between the two schools has a region championship at stake. Lowndes is 9-0 overall and 4-0 in region play. Valdosta is 8-1 overall with a 3-1 region record.
Colquitt County is also in the mix and will travel to Richmond Hill for its final regular season game. The Packers, who are the defending region champion, are also 3-1 in the region.
So, how will the region champion be decided?
If Lowndes defeats Valdosta, Lowndes is the region champion.
If Valdosta beats Lowndes and Colquitt County beats Richmond Hill, then we have a three-way tie atop Region 1-6A with the three teams at 4-1. If that is the case, the tiebreaker comes down to points allowed by each of the teams versus the other three playoff teams in the region.
Richmond Hill will be the No. 4 seed out of Region 1-6A and will travel to play either Buford or Mill Creek in Round 1 of the playoffs, depending on which team wins its game Friday night. The winner will be the region champ and the top seed out of Region 8-6A.
McEachern, North Gwinnett Claim Region Titles
McEachern won its second Region 3-6A title in the past three seasons under head coach Kareem Reid with a 56-18 victory over South Cobb. The Indians remain undefeated at 9-0 overall and are playing as well as anyone in the state in Class 6A.
North Gwinnett won its region for the second year in a row, defeating Norcross 44-6 to secure the top seed in Region 7-6A. The Bulldogs of head coach Eric Godfree have won eight in a row since dropping their season opener against Douglas County 21-7.
Class 5A: Halloween Night to Decide Region Champions
Roswell defeated Gainesville in a much-anticipated battle of Region 7-5A foes last week at City Park in Gainesville, Georgia. The game was eerily similar to last year’s 48-45 win by the Hornets and puts Roswell one step closer to winning the region in JT Thompson’s first season as Roswell’s head coach.
Thompson and his Hornets will need to beat Milton this week, which begs the question that fans are asking: Can Roswell find a way, emotionally and physically, to rise up for a second straight week and beat the defending two-time state champions after coming off such a demanding win against the Red Elephants? This will be Thompson’s team’s biggest test yet when they host Milton head coach Ben Reaves and the defending state champions at The Hornets Nest.
Milton lost to Gainesville 28-16 two weeks ago, but rebounded last week against Johns Creek to win 57-0.
A Roswell win equals the region championship and top seed heading into the playoffs, while a Milton win forces a three-way tie.
Thomas County Central Rolls Past Houston County
Thomas County Central rolled to a 31-7 win over Houston County in the most anticipated matchup in Class 5A last week. Both teams entered the game undefeated, and for a fleeting moment, the Yellow Jackets trailed 7-3 early in the first half. Central retook the lead and never looked back on its way to the win.
The Yellow Jackets of head coach Justin Rogers clinched the Region 2-5A championship with the win and will finish the season at Coffee.
A team that could face any of the Region 2-5A teams down the line in the classification’s postseason is Rome. The Wolves of head coach John Reid won Region 5-5A Friday night with a 38-7 victory over New Manchester.
Elsewhere, region titles will be decided in a few must-see matchups in Week 12 of the 2025 Georgia high school football season.
Hughes won its game over Morrow 40-0 to set up the season finale against Lovejoy to decide the Region 3-5A champion. Hughes is 9-0 and 6-0 in the region, while Lovejoy is 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the region. The Hughes Panthers of head coach Andrico Hines will be the heavy favorite heading into the game, but remember it’s Halloween. Spooky things happen on this night.
Upsets of the Week
For a couple of teams, the tricks of Halloween came a week early in the form of an upset loss.
Class 4A
Ware County lost to head coach Shane Sams and the Demons of Warner Robins 48-44 and, in the process, handed the region championship to Benedictine and head coach Danny Britt. The win over Ware County was without a doubt one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 Georgia high school football season.
Class 3A
Another upset occurred when Cairo head coach David Coleman’s Syrupmakers defeated the highly ranked Peach County Trojans 38-31 in Cairo, Georgia, Friday night in a battle of Region 1-3A teams.
The win gives the Syrupmakers a perfect region record at 4-0 as they head into their regular season finale at home against Westover, which is now 3-1, along with Peach County. If the Syrupmakers beat the Patriots, they’ll win the region outright. It would be their first region championship in seven years. Cairo last won a region title in 2018.
Class 2A
Appling County has found its second wind and is looking much different than the Pirates team that started the season with three losses in their first four games. Since falling to 1-3 after a 46-30 loss to DeLand, the Pirates of Appling County head coach Tucker Pruitt have reeled off five straight wins to improve to 6-3 on the season.
Their last win was a 57-27 victory over Cook, which will set up a possible region title matchup with Pierce County in Blackshear, Georgia, Friday night.
Appling County is 3-0, and Crisp County and Pierce County are both 2-1. The Crisp County Cougars will travel to Adel, Georgia, to play the Cook Hornets, needing a win for any chance at winning the region. If the Cougars can beat the Hornets, they will improve to 4-6 overall and 3-1 in Region 3-2A, where it counts. If the Appling County Pirates win, they are the champs, regardless of what Crisp County does.
Class 1A-Division I: Jasper County’s Historic Season Continues
One of the best turnarounds in the 2025 Georgia high school football season is occurring in Monticello, Georgia. Head coach Ashley Henderson will lead Jasper County into the biggest game the city of Monticello and the county of Jasper has seen in a long time after he and his Hurricanes defeated Putnam County this past week to improve to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the region.
Jasper County, or Monticello as some fans refer to the team, is tied with Lamar County, which is also 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the region.
It’s a winner-take-all game in Monticello Friday night, and it’s going to be the biggest game this town has seen in years. How big?
“Really big,” Henderson said. “The town will shut down.”
Henderson said things have been building up to this moment, and for one of the rare times in program history, fans will be lined up to get their seats.
“The last two years we’ve had the No. 1 and No. 2 largest crowds in stadium history, but this game (Lamar) will top those,” Henderson said.
While the diminutive goblins, ghosts, and witches knock on your doors begging for sugary treats, fans all over Georgia who love their high school football will be enjoying many treats themselves. The GHSA has most definitely saved the best for the last week of the regular season. Halloween is going to be wicked good.
