2025 GHSA Class 6A Football State Championship Contenders
With the GHSA 2025 football state playoffs right around the corner, it’s time to start considering which teams have a real chance at hoisting the Class 6A state championship trophy in each classification.
I’ll be asking that question over the next few days in a series of articles where I take a look at the true contenders in each classification and ask the question: Who’s going to kiss that trophy at the end of the state championship game?
We start with the Class 6A defending state champion Grayson Rams.
Grayson
Of course, there are the Grayson Rams, winners of last year’s 2024 Class 6A state championship and defending state champs. They are looking and playing like state champions eager to defend their crown. They lost All-Everything quarterback Travis Burgess in the second game of the 2025 Georgia high school football season, and everybody was thinking this was going to be the chance to knock off the Rams.
Not so fast.
Athletic Director Brian DeBerry told me after the Burgess injury that despite what anybody outside of the Rams’ inner circle may have thought, the expectations of the Grayson football family had not changed.
“Our expectations for our team do not change,” DeBerry said in late August. “Deuce Smith will take over for us at quarterback, and Deuce will lead us on offense.”
DeBerry’s words were prophetic. Grayson has rallied around Smith, who stepped in for the five-star Burgess, and the Rams continue to look poised and ready for a strong defense of their state title.
It’s worth noting that Grayson is 8-0 but only ranked at No. 5 in the GHSA’s current postseason rankings formula, or PSR.
Lowndes
The Lowndes Vikings are currently the top-ranked team in the GHSA’s PSR, which will be used next year to determine each classification’s 32 playoff teams. While it doesn’t mean anything in terms of the postseason for this year, it does give you an idea of how the new playoff formula ranked the strength of teams.
The Vikings are ranked higher than Buford, McEachern, Grayson, and Carrollton, teams that many think of when considering who has a shot at the state title this year.
If Lowndes is the top-rated team, this should make head coach Adam Carter’s squad the favorite to win the GHSA Class 6A state championship, right?
The Vikings have made a pretty good argument for the high mark. Through its first eight games, Lowndes is undefeated overall and in Region 1-6A, with games still left at Richmond Hill and across town at Valdosta on Halloween night.
I have to remind you that Lowndes was in a similar situation a year ago, as they finished the regular season at 9-1 and entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed from Region 1-6A. Lowndes won a first-round game before being ousted from the playoffs with a 42-7 loss at Buford.
If the Vikings make it to the semifinals this year, a likely rematch with Buford awaits. Can Lowndes make it through Buford this time?
They’ll have to make it out of their region first. The Valdosta game on Halloween night could mean everything for the Vikings’ postseason and state title chances.
Buford
The Buford Wolves have the best chance to unseat the Grayson Rams, and there is a chance that the two teams could meet in the Class 6A state championship.
I feel that Buford has the best overall talent outside of Grayson. It’s just a matter of Buford head coach Bryant Appling’s Wolves putting it all together.
They will win their region, and that would put them in a position as the favorite in every round, including the semifinals, where a likely matchup with either Valdosta or Lowndes would be waiting.
Buford may very well control its own destiny here, folks.
McEachern
I predicted before the start of the 2025 regular season that the McEachern Indians were one of the teams to watch for this year, regardless of classification. So far they have not let me down with an 8-0 start to the season.
McEachern is heading into its biggest game of the season against Hillgrove, which will decide the region championship and the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs.
McEachern has a No. 3 PSR through the first nine weeks of the 2025 Georgia high school football season, ahead of Carrollton and defending state champion Grayson.
The Indians are also just now getting completely healthy, which could make an already solid team even better when it counts the most.
Carrollton
The Carrollton Trojans are undefeated and will likely make another strong run through the playoffs as they have in each of the past four postseasons. Since 2021, the Trojans have advanced to the state title game twice, in 2022 and last season, where they lost both times. They lost in the semifinals in 2021 and in the quarterfinals in 2023.
Carrollton has never won a state championship under Joey King in football. Will this be the year head coach King’s team finally breaks through?
North Gwinnett
After losing to Douglas County to start the season, the North Gwinnett Bulldogs bounced back in Week 2 with an impressive home win over Colquitt County, followed by another win over Mill Creek in Week 3 by the same score.
They say defenses win championships, and head coach Erik Godfree’s Bulldogs have one of the best units in Class 6A, allowing an average of just under 10 points per game.
If North Gwinnett can win its second straight Region 7-6A title, it would likely face a gauntlet of fellow championship contenders on their way through the bracket, including Colquitt County, Carrollton, or Grayson, before it would even reach the Class 6A state championship.
Douglas County
The Douglas County Tigers and head coach Johnny White suffered two losses in the middle of the season to Hughes and Buford in consecutive weeks. There’s no shame in losing to those fine programs, but if the Tigers have true state championship hopes, those are the teams they’ll need to show they can beat come playoff time.
I’m just not sure they are there yet.
Colquitt County
The Colquitt County Packers have taken on some of the state’s best teams in Benedictine, Lee County, and North Gwinnett, plus region foes Lowndes and Valdosta, and they have won against three of those teams.
With two region contests remaining, Colquitt County could finish as the No. 2, No. 3, or No. 4 seed heading into the state playoffs. That’s Region 1-6A for you.
The truth is that any Region 1-6A team other than the No. 1 seed faces a stiff test trying to get through this bracket.
Enter as the No. 2 seed, and the Packers are looking at facing Collins Hill in Round 1. If the Packers win that one, North Gwinnett likely awaits.
Enter as the No. 3 seed, and Colquitt County is likely facing Mill Creek, then Grayson.
Enter as the No. 4 seed, and Colquitt County is likely saying, “Hello,” to Buford.
May the force be with you.
Valdosta
The Valdosta Wildcats have a ton of talent. There is no denying that. But the past two seasons, Valdosta has not been able to make it past the second round of the playoffs, losing to Carrollton two years in a row.
Valdosta may win Region 1-6A. That’s if they beat Tift County and then Lowndes in the last game of the regular season.
If the Wildcats do and enter the playoffs as the top seed from Region 1-6A, their biggest stumbling block would be a potential quarterfinals matchup versus McEachern. Their reward for beating the Indians would be facing Buford in the semifinals.
Class 6A has some really good teams, but I believe it’s Grayson and Buford in the end.
