The 2024 Georgia high school football schedules have been released. Reclassification has given us one less classification, which in turn has produced more teams per region across the board and grouped championship-caliber teams together in the same region. That will make for some highly competitive region games this year. Add to that teams with strong non-region games, and the result will be some difficult Georgia high school football schedules in 2024. Some are harder than others, but here are the 10 Georgia high school football teams we think will have the toughest week-by-week tests from start to finish.
Better buckle up!
10. Gainesville (Region 7-5A)
The Red Elephants and head coach Josh Niblett will open the season with four straight road games, with five of their first six games away from the friendly confines of their home stadium of City Park.
Those away games will be challenging, as they travel to Marietta; Moody, Alabama; Wetslake; and Carrollton. In fact, Gainesville will have seven road games this year, including at Roswell.
They’ll have defending state champion Milton as one of their home games.
Gainesville’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 at Marietta
- 8/23 at Moody (Moody, Alabama)
- 8/30 at Westlake
- 9/13 at Carrollton
- 9/20 vs Lanier
- 9/27 at Johns Creek
- 10/04 vs Seckinger
- 10/11 vs Milton
- 10/18 at Chattahoochee
- 10/25 at Roswell
9. Ware County (Region 1-4A)
The Gators will take on state champions Coffee and Perry this year, with a home game against Benedictine, who has won a state title in two out of the past three seasons.
Ware County will play Jacksonville’s Bartram Trail and Lincoln from Tallahassee in the middle of the season. Both teams advanced deep in the 2023 FHSAA state playoffs.
Ware County’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 at Appling
- 8/23 at Coffee
- 8/30 vs Bainbridge
- 9/6 vs Bartram Trail (Jacksonville, Florida)
- 9/13 Open
- 9/20 vs Lincoln (Tallahassee, Florida)
- 9/27 vs Benedictine
- 10/4 at New Hampstead
- 10/11 Open
- 10/18 At Perry
- 10/25 vs Warner Robins
- 11/01 at Wayne County
8. Milton (Region 7-5A)
The defending state champions from Class 7A have moved to Class 5A for the 2024 season, and head coach Ben Reaves and his Eagles will be tested with games against three nationally ranked teams.
Milton opens up with a home game against Buford before traveling to South Florida for the second straight season to play American Heritage in the Broward County High School National Football Showcase.
After returning home to face Alpharetta, Milton will be looking at four of their next five games away from Eagles Stadium. That includes games at Blessed Trinity and nationally ranked Gainesville before ending the regular season against the always dangerous Roswell Hornets.
Milton’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 vs Buford
- 8/22 at American Heritage (Broward County High School National Football Showcase in Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
- 8/30 vs Alpharetta
- 9/6 Open
- 9/13 at Blessed Trinity
- 9/20 vs Chattahoochee
- 9/27 at Seckinger
- 10/4 at Lanier
- 10/11 at Gainesville
- 10/25 vs Johns Creek
- 11/1 vs Roswell
7. Coffee (Region 2-5A)
Defending state champion Coffee will have a tough road if they are to defend their 2023 Class 5A football state championship.
Coffee moves to a new region this season, which includes another 2023 state champion in Thomas County Central.
The Trojans start off with a road game at Bainbridge in what will be coach Jay Walls’ first game as the Bearcats’ new coach.
After Coffee’s home opener against 2022 Class 5A state champion Ware County, the Trojans welcome three Florida teams to Jardine Stadium, including defending FHSAA Class 3S state champion Mainland from Daytona Beach.
They then begin region action, which includes a regular season finale against defending Class 6A state champion Thomas County Central in a battle of undefeated champions from a year ago.
Coffee’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 at Bainbridge
- 8/23 vs Ware County
- 8/30 vs Columbia County (Lake City, Florida)
- 9/7 Open
- 9/13 vs Gadsden County (Havana, Florida)
- 9/20 vs Mainland (Daytona Beach, Florida)
- 9/27 vs Warner Robins
- 10/04 at Lee County
- 10/11 Open
- 10/18 vs Houston County
- 10/25 vs Veterans
- 11/01 at Thomas County Central
6. Bainbridge (Region 1-3A)
New head coach Jay Walls will be greeted with one of the state’s toughest slates of opponents waiting to welcome him back to Georgia.
Walls and his Bainbridge Bearcats will take on defending Class 5A state champion Coffee to open the season at home. They’ll also welcome Class 2A semifinalist Cook the following week.
Former head coach Jeff Littleton brings his new team, Tift County, to the team he coached at and won a state championship with in 2018 on Sept. 6. The next week, the Bearcats can have no letdown as they must visit defending Class 6A state champion Thomas County Central.
Welcome back to Georgia, Coach Walls.
Bainbridge’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 vs Coffee
- 8/23 vs Cook
- 8/30 at Ware County
- 9/6 vs Tift County
- 9/13 at Thomas County Central
- 9/27 at Cairo
- 10/4 vs Westover
- 10/11 Open
- 10/18 vs Peach County
- 10/25 at Monroe
- 11/01 vs Dougherty
5. Appling County (Region 3-2A)
The Pirates must face off against two state finalists, including a state champion, along with two semifinalist teams in 2024. Pierce County won the Class 2A state championship last year, while Swainsboro played in the Class 1A-DI championship game, losing to Prince Avenue Christian. Cook and Fitzgerald were each Final Four teams a year ago.
Ware County won a state title in 2022, and both the Gators and Crisp County were second-round playoff teams last year.
Suwannee from Live Oak, Florida, was a regional quarterfinalist in the 2023 FHSAA state playoffs and is one of the Pirates’ opponents this year.
Appling County’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 vs Ware County
- 8/23 Open
- 8/30 Wayne County
- 9/6 at Swainsboro
- 9/13 at DeLand (DeLand, Florida)
- 9/20 vs Suwannee (Live Oak, Florida)
- 9/27 vs Fitzgerald
- 10/11 vs Crisp County
- 10/18 at Tattnall County
- 10/25 at Cook
- 11/01 vs Pierce County
4. Lee County (Region 2-5A)
Head coach Dean Fabrizio’s Trojans’ non-region 2024 schedule includes two of the state’s most dominant programs in the first month of the season with the opener against Warner Robins, then at Colquitt County two weeks later. Lee County then plays defending state champions Thomas County Central and Coffee in back-to-back weeks to open their region schedule.
Lee County’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 vs Warner Robins
- 8/23 vs Hapeville Charter
- 8/30 at Tift County
- 9/6 Open
- 9/13 at Colquitt County
- 9/20 vs Wekiva (Florida)
- 9/27 vs Thomas County Central
- 10/4 vs Coffee
- 10/11 Open
- 10/18 at Veterans
- 10/25 at Northside (Warner Robins)
- 11/01 vs Houston County
3. Wayne County (Region 1-4A)
Region 1-4A could be the state’s toughest region top to bottom, and Wayne County could have the state’s toughest schedule with a challenging non-region slate as well.
The Yellow Jackets head into the 2024 season under new head coach John Mohring, who has been the head coach at Savannah Country Day for the past three seasons.
He’ll lead his new team through a schedule that includes five state champions from the last three seasons in Pierce County (2023), Perry (2023), Warner Robins (2021), Ware County (2022), and Benedictine (2022). All except Pierce County are region foes.
New Hampstead was a second-round playoff team in 2023.
Wayne County’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 vs Glynn Academy
- 8/23 vs Brunswick
- 8/30 at Appling County
- 9/06 vs Pierce County
- 9/13 at Richmond Hill
- 9/20 Open
- 9/27 at Warner Robins
- 10/04 vs Perry
- 10/18 vs Benedictine
- 10/25 at New Hampstead
- 11/01 vs Ware County
2. Benedictine (Region 1-4A)
Benedictine’s 2024 football schedule includes a first-ever meeting against Buford and a trip to face Ohio powerhouse Archbishop Moeller.
Head coach Danny Britt’s Cadets not only have tougher region foes to get through this season compared to last season, but they have one of the hardest non-region high school football schedules of any other Georgia team, regardless of classification, in 2024. Their non-region opponents include the aforementioned Buford Wolves and Archbishop Moeller Crusaders, as well as Rabun Gap, a powerhouse in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association that went 13-1 in 2023.
Every opponent on Benecitine’s 2024 schedule made the playoffs last season.
Benedictine’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/17 at Rabun Gap (Erk Russell Classic in Statesboro, Georgia)
- 8/23 at Buford
- 8/30 vs Burke County
- 9/7 Open
- 9/14 at Archbishop Moeller (Ironton Gridiron Classic Ohio vs USA in Ironton, Ohio)
- 9/20 vs Westminster
- 9/27 at Ware County
- 10/4 at Warner Robins
- 10/11 vs New Hampstead
- 10/18 at Wayne County
- 10/25 vs Perry
- 11/1 Open
1. Veterans (Region 2-5A)
Take one look, and there’s certainly an argument for the Veterans Warhawks having perhaps the toughest 2024 high school football schedule in Georgia. Here’s why.
After opening the season at Jones County, a second-round playoff team in 2023, Veterans stays on the road for two more weeks, which includes a Week 3 game against 2023 Class 4A semifinalist Starr’s Mill.
In their final seven regular-season games, Veterans will play three 2023 state champions, with Perry at home followed by road games at the Jackets’ Nest against Thomas County Central and at Coffee in Douglas.
Throw in two-time state champion Lee County, who was a quarterfinal playoff team last season, plus Houston County and Northside (Warner Robins), and you have quite a daunting test awaiting head coach Josh Ingram and his Veterans squad in 2024.
Veterans’s 2024 Football Schedule:
- 8/16 at Jones County
- 8/23 at Statesboro
- 8/30 at Starr’s Mill
- 9/7 Open
- 9/13 vs Perry
- 9/20 at Warner Robins
- 9/27 vs Houston County
- 10/4 at Thomas County Central
- 10/11 Open
- 10/18 vs Lee County
- 10/25 at Coffee
- 11/1 vs Northside (Warner Robins)
