2025 Georgia High School Football Preseason Rankings: All Classifications
Throw away the classifications. I want to know, quite simply, which 10 high school football teams are the best in Georgia. Being the top-ranked team in a single classification does not necessarily mean that team is one of the 10 best overall in the state. Forget about how many A’s this team has or that team has in front of its name. Here are ITG Next’s 2025 Georgia high school football preseason rankings, regardless of classification.
1. Grayson (Class 6A)
The Grayson Rams have the best team in the state’s largest classification, which is usually good enough to make a team the top overall in the state.
That’s the case with Grayson, who is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as state champion in Class 6A.
The Rams have the best offensive player in the state in Travis Burgess. They also have Tyler Atkinson, who makes a pretty good case as the best defensive player in the state.
Grayson head coach Santavious Bryant is quickly emerging as one Georgia’s best. Despite being one of the youngest head coaches, he has already proven to be as seasoned as many of the veteran coaches in the state.
2. Thomas County Central (Class 5A)
Thomas County Central head coach Justin Rogers has taken the Yellow Jackets to the stratosphere of high school football, developing one of the most talent-rich rosters in Georgia.
The current Thomas County Central roster has approximately 17 players with some form of an offer to play collegiately, according to Rogers. A roster that deep with talent will likely be in the hunt for a state championship in 2025.
3. Carver-Columbus (Class 2A)
The Carver Tigers out of Columbus, Georgia, return a majority of the players who put together one of the more dominant seasons in 2024. That includes wide receiver KJ Miles, running back Kelston Tarver, and running back Jakobe Caslin, who was the 2024 Class 2A-Region 1 Player of the Year.
There’s not another team in any class in Georgia with more talent than Carver. One look at the roster shows approximately 18-20 players who are either being recruited or have college offers.
4. Milton (Class 5A)
The Milton Eagles put together one of the most dominant seasons in 2024 en route to the Class 5A state championship, their second straight.
They’ll be going for the three-peat with a few of the most potent members of that 2024 team no longer around, but Milton still has playmakers rolling out from everywhere, especially along the offensive line. Included in that group is freshman Landon Ghea, who is a monster at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds. He’s already been offered by the University of Alabama.
The man charged with replacing departed quarterback Luke Nickel is Derrick Baker, who transferred to Milton this offseason from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
5. North Oconee (Class 4A)
The North Oconee Titans rolled to an undefeated season in 2024, landing them the school’s first football state championship. With the reigning Class 4A Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year returning, among most of the other starters from last year’s undefeated squad, don’t expect much change.
The leader of the team’s offense, quarterback Harrison Faulkner, and running back JT Doster return, as do four-star edge Khamari Brooks and defensive lineman Nolan Bloom to the defensive side.
6. Buford (Class 6A)
The Buford Wolves may have the most overall talent of any high school football team in Georgia, and that’s not just the 2025 team. Buford seems to roll out as much pure talent as any program in any classification each year, but it hasn’t added up to a state championship since 2021.
Buford head coach Bryant Appling’s 2025 team will have a great shot with players like five-star defensive lineman Bryce Perry-Wright and ITG Next’s top athlete in the state in Tyriq “Ty Boogie” Green.
7. Lee County (Class 5A)
Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio’s team lost its best quarterback in school history in Weston Bryan and its best rusher in school history in four-year starter Ousmane Kromah, so it looks like a rebuilding year, right?
No way. The overall talent and depth of Lee County’s roster this year may actually be the best it’s ever been.
The Trojans have an imposing starting 11 on defense, led by the best secondary in the state in Stanford commit Lasiah Jackson and super sophomores Montravious Clay and Trey Bush, who started all 14 games as freshmen in 2024.
The linebacking group is stacked with juniors Greg Batson and Jace Murray, who both hold numerous FBS offers, along with Jayden Hudson and Jaylon Carolina.
First Team defensive lineman Martin Atkins will anchor the defensive front.
8. Gainesville (Class 5A)
If any good came from Gainesville’s seven-win season and earlier-than-expected exit from the playoffs last year, it was a motivating drive for the Red Elephants heading into the 2025 season.
“We look forward to the opportunity as we own last year in order to earn the right to chase best this season,” Gainesville head coach Josh Niblett said earlier this offseason.
Gainesville returns about half of last year’s starters, but it’s a quality-versus-quantity deal as four-star quarterback and Clemson commit Kharim Hughley leads the offense and five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin leads a talented defensive unit.
9. Carrollton (Class 6A)
It’s not a stretch to say that Carrollton head coach Joey King is overdue to bring a state championship home to the Trojans. He led Carrollton to the Class 7A state title game in 2022 and to the Class 6A state championship game in 2024, only to fall short both times.
It’s been 27 years since Carrollton’s last football state title.
King has done a great job of leading his team right to the brink of a state championship and has a talented team in 2025 to make another run at the finals.
10. Bowdon (Class 1A-Division II)
Don’t get lost in the fact that the Bowdon Red Devils are a Class 1A program. Just like other successful teams in the state, they have Division I college bound athletes, including five-star receiver Kaiden Prothro. In fact, head coach Rich Fendley’s team brings back a lot of Prothro’s talented teammates this season.
“We will return 18 seniors, and I feel as good about this team as any I have had heading into the season,” Fendley said earlier this offseason.
Bowdon has won three straight state titles and will be going for the four-peat, a rare feat in Georgia high school football’s state finals. Any team going for a fourth straight state championship belongs right up there with the state’s best.
