As teams are getting ready for spring practice, we thought we’d take a look ahead to the fall and the 2025 Georgia high school football season and give you top 5 dark horse teams to watch. These are the teams that most of us probably aren’t giving much of a chance to win a state championship, but could surprise everyone by the time the late rounds of the playoffs are here.
1. McEachern
The McEachern Indians will be loaded on both sides of the ball in 2025.
The offense returns dual-threat quarterback Calvin “CJ” Pittman Jr., who completed 66% of passes for 883 yards and six TDs with zero interceptions last season. He also used his speed, having rushed for 511 yards with four TDs last season. Pittman recently won the region track championship in the 110-meter hurdles.
The Indians’ rushing attack will have several talented backs competing for carries this upcoming season, starting with running back Jayreon “JJ” Campbell, a three-star recruit who has 31 college offers, including from Alabama, Indiana, and Georgia Tech.
He’ll get pushed this season with a talented group of rushers, including Campbell High School transfer Henry Pullen and rising sophomore Gavin Hammett.
Running back Gabriel Watson, one of ITG Next’s “Georgia High School Football Players to Watch in 2025 and Beyond,” will also vie for playing time in a crowded but talented backfield.
Returning four-star wide receiver Nalin Scott, a rising senior, is wanted by just about every major college in the country. He’ll be a weapon in the Indians’ receiving corps with his outstanding speed and ability to stretch the field.
The entire defense is back, led by returning three-star edges Zakir Abdul-Salaam and Darryl “Hawk” Rivers, who is a transfer from Campbell High School. Both are rising seniors. Standing at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds with an 82-inch wingspan, Abdul-Salaam has 36 tackles, including three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery over the last two seasons. Rivers is 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds with an 83-inch wingspan.
2. Cook
The Cook Hornets started 19 underclassmen in the 2024 season. Those young guys will return a year older and with a year of experience under their belts for the 2025 season. That group includes rising junior running backs Nigel Kenney and Markeise Miller, who handled most of the carries last year.
Also look out for incoming freshman Dawson Davis. He led Cook Middle School’s eighth-grade team to the 2024 conference championship, and he will certainly see playing time on the varsity squad in 2025.
Another incoming freshman to watch is quarterback Noel Register. Earlier this year, Cook head football coach Byron Slack said that he fully expects Register to compete for the starting QB spot.
“Noel is a great young talent who is very athletic,” Slack said. “He’s already 6 foot tall and has a natural snap to his arm.”
MJ Tippins, who assumed quarterback duties in 2024, will return to his natural position of wide reciever, opposite of last year’s leading receiver Alton Scott, who will enter his junior season.
The Hornets’ three leading tacklers from last year are back in Jabari Dawson, Brayln Bennett, and Defensive Player of the Year Carter Morrison. All three will be juniors.
The nation’s No. 1 punter in the Class of 2026 is Brooks Moore, and he is a weapon. He may be the overall top punter in the country, and he’ll be back.
Cook will be a team to watch in 2025.
3. Kell
With 10 starters returning on offense and 8 starters returning on defense, head football coach Bobby May’s Longhorns are a team to keep an eye on in 2025.
Key starters back from last year’s 7-5 squad include athlete Brayden Rouse, who had nine TDs and 118 tackles last year, and running back Quinterrius “Moonie” Gipson, the Class 4A rushing leader who rushed for 1,903 yards and 25 TDs in 2024.
Quarterback Kaleb Narcisse will be back for his senior season. He is coming off a 2024 season that saw him throw for 2,667 yards and 28 TDs.
Athlete Jowell Combay is back on both sides of the ball. Last year he scored 11 TDs with 600 yards receiving while adding 64 tackles on defense.
Returning with Combay on defense will be defensive backs Tony Forney and Jalen Williams.
Forney had 48 tackles, three interceptions, and four blocked punts on special teams last year, and Williams had six interceptions with four fumble recoveries.
4. Worth County
Worth County head football coach Jeff Hammond is one of the top offensive minds in high school football, and he’ll have several key offensive playmakers returning in 2025.
That includes one of the best QBs in the state in rising junior Lyndon Worthy, who threw for 3,408 yards and 37 TDs last year.
Joining Worthy in the offensive backfield will be last year’s leading rushers Kaden Chester, who rushed for 1,150 yards with 22 TDs, and Tre’shaun Jones, who rushed for 839 yards and 11 TDs.
Rising senior and tight end Jayden Farley, who had 710 yards receiving on 37 catches in 2024, will be a top target for Worthy again in 2025.
The defense will return eight starters, including defensive end Josh McGee, offensive and defensive lineman King Toomer, linebacker Daylon Smith, and defensive back Khalijah Thomas. McGee had 51 tackles and three sacks last season. Toomer, a rising senior, had 62 tackles, including 13 TFLs, over the past two seasons. Smith, a rising junior, had 76 tackles and led the team in sacks last year with four. Thomas had 46 tackles, two forced fumbles, and led the team in interceptions last season.
5. Cambridge
There’s another team from Milton, Georgia, to keep an eye on in 2025, and it’s the Bears of Cambridge High School. Head football coach Tyler Jones led Cambridge to the Class 4A quarterfinals last season despite finishing as the No. 4 seed in Region 6. That’s the same region as another of our teams listed here: Kell.
Jones has some talent returning this year, including arguably the best receiving tandem in the state in rising seniors Craig Dandridge and Hudson Cocchiara. The duo combined for 124 catches and 2,723 yards with 24 touchdowns last season. Cocchiara’s 66 receptions was No. 1 in the GHSA Class of 2026, and Dandridge’s 1,443 yards receiving was fourth best in the state. Dandridge also had a pick 6 last year, and he is listed as a four-star recruit. Both are receiving interest from multiple Division I colleges.
The QB situation is undecided with three candidates battling it out this offseason to fill the vacancy left by last year’s starter, Weston Taylor. Jordan Higdon is a rising junior who will battle with a couple of talented newcomers in Marcus Turk and Connor Langford. Turk is a Class of 2027 dual-threat quarterback who has transferred in from Milton. Langford is a rising senior who came over from Duluth, where he threw for 2,976 yards and 35 TDs the last two seasons.
Cambridge boasts one of the best kickers in the state in rising senior Leo Attard.
Also back is speedy safety Cam Parodi, who has 12 Division I college offers.
