Here are our top 10 performers from the semifinals of the 2025 Georgia high school football playoffs.
Top Overall Performances
Bowdon athlete Kaiden Prothro once again makes our list of top 10 performers with another four-touchdown game.
He previously led Bowdon to a quarterfinal victory with four touchdown receptions. In that game, he became the all-time Georgia high school football career touchdown pass leader.
In the semifinals against Clinch County, he caught two touchdown passes on offense, returned an interception for a touchdown, and returned a blocked field goal attempt for a touchdown to give him four touchdowns and help put Bowdon back in the state title game for a fourth straight year.
Top Offensive Performances
Carver-Columbus running back Kelston Tarver rushed for 187 yards with two touchdowns to lead Carver to a 33-14 win over Burke County in the Class 2A semifinals.
Toombs County quarterback Joseph Owens completed 19-of-24 pass attempts for 287 yards passing and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 40-14 win over Heard County and a return trip to the Class 1A-Division I state championship game.
Benedictine quarterback Stephen Cannon rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown and completed 9-of-12 passes for 146 yards passing and one touchdown to lead Benedictine to the 28-20 win over Marist and a trip to the Class 4A state championship.
Top Defensive Performances
Carver-Columbus linebacker Tristian Givens, a Texas A&M commit, had 11 total tackles, including three tackles for loss; two quarterback sacks; and two quarterback hurries to lead the Carver defense versus Burke County.
Benedictine linebacker Jayden Houston had 16 tackles to lead the Cadets’ defensive effort in their win over Marist in the semifinals.
Jefferson free safety Mack Gaddis had 10 total tackles, including four tackles for loss, and one quarterback sack to lead Jefferson to a 17-13 win over West Paulding in the Class 3A semifinals.
Gainesville linebacker Darryn “Boom” Williams made 11 tackles, had two forced fumbles, and returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown to lead Gainesville’s defense in the win over Hughes in their quarterfinal matchup.
Gainesville linebacker Xavier Griffin had 18 tackles to help lead the Red Elephants’ defensive effort in their win over Hughes.
Top Special Teams Performances
Marist kicker Tyler Baradel connected on a 51-yard field goal and a 35-yard field goal and made two extra-point attempts for Marist in their semifinal matchup against Benedictine. It comes a week after his last-second, game-winning field goal gave the War Eagles a win over North Oconee in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
Congratulations to all of the ITG Next Georgia top performers from the semifinals of the 2025 state playoffs.
