The GHSA football playoffs are about to get serious.

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This week’s quarterfinal-round games feature a massive showdown in Class 6A that will be featured on GPB’s Football Fridays in Georgia, one of three state championship rematches on the schedule that will determine the Final Four.

GPB will televise the Class 6A battle between No. 1 Grayson and No. 3 Carrollton, a pair of 12-0 teams who will be meeting for only the second time. A year ago Grayson shocked Carrollton 38-24 in the championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and won the school’s fourth state title. 

The two teams are quite different. Carrollton is a point-scoring machine; the Trojans have put up 109 points in two playoff wins. Grayson does it with defense; the Rams have allowed 17 points in the playoffs.

The other two championship rematches are equally as compelling, with Marist going to North Oconee in Class 4A and Prince Avenue Christian visiting Hebron Christian in the Private category. 

No. 1 North Oconee (12-0) and No. 5 Marist (11-1) played an epic championship game last year. North Oconee scored late and held off a last-minute Marist surge for a 14-7 win and its first state championship. The two teams are polar opposites; Marist is an option team that keeps the ball on the ground, while North Oconee has exploited the play-making ability of quarterback Harrison Faulker and a roster full of playmakers. 

No. 1 Hebron Christian (11-1) won its first state championship a year ago by stunning No. 6 Prince Avenue Christian 56-28. Both teams have new coaches this year, with Kenny Dallas taking over at Hebron and Jon Richt taking over at Prince Avenue. The two teams met during the final game of the regular season with Hebron prevailing 43-6. 

The teams in the GPB rankings continued to hold form. All eight teams in the quarterfinals are ranked in 5A, 3A and Private. There are seven ranked teams remaining in 4A and Class A Division II, and six ranked teams left in 6A and 4A. 

Click here to see the state playoff brackets. 

Class 6A

No. 4 North Gwinnett travels to play West Forsyth, Walton travels to No. 6 Valdosta, and No. 10 Douglas County is at No. 2 Buford. 

Douglas County and Buford played on Sept. 12 in the regular season with Buford winning 34-26 in a game featured on GPB-TV. Click here to watch the replay. 

Class 5A

The featured game has No. 4 Gainesville at No. 2 Hughes, their first meeting since Hughes prevailed 35-28 in the 2022 state championship game. The game has some uncertainty, however, since Gainesville was involved in a third-quarter brawl with Brunswick on Friday that caused the game to be prematurely stopped and forfeited. The GHSA is investigating the incident and executive director Tim Scott told the Georgia High School Football Daily that a decision on player suspensions – or even a forfeit – will be announced Monday. 

The other quarterfinal games feature No. 9 Woodward Academy at No. Thomas County Central, No. 3 Roswell at No. 8 Sequoyah, and No. 5 Rome at Jackson County. This is the first quarterfinal appearance for Jackson County. 

Class 4A

Lithonia, the only unranked team remaining, takes its turn at slowing down Creekside’s offensive juggernaut. No. 3 Creekside has scored 40-plus points in 11 games and has topped 69 points six times.

The other quarterfinal games feature No. 2 Cartersville at No. 7 Kell, and No. 4 Central Carroll at No. 6 Benedictine.

Class 3

No. 1 Sandy Creek will continue its title quest against unranked Douglass. The Patriots have won their last 10 games by at least 23 points. Douglass went on the road last week and eliminated defending champion Calhoun 12-0.

Other third-round games are Cairo at No. 5 Jefferson, No. 6 Jenkins at No. 8 West Laurens, and No. 4 LaGrange at No. 10 Stephenson, which defeated Douglass in the regular-season finale. 

Class 2A

No. 1-ranked and undefeated Carver Columbus, the defending state champion, will host No. 8 Thomson, winners of its last seven games. Carver has won its last four games by shutout and has blanked the opposition eight times. 

Other games are No. 5 Sumter County at No. 3 Carver Atlanta, No. 7 Hapeville Charter at No. 2 Morgan County, and No. 4 Rockmart at No. 7 Burke County. 

Class A Division I

Only five ranked teams survived to reach the third round, making this perhaps the most open classification. 

No. 6 Fitzgerald is at No. 3 Heard County, No. 5 Northeast is at No. 2 Toombs County, unranked Gordon Lee is at No. 1 Worth County, and Rabun County is at Pepperell in the only game in the state that features two unranked teams. 

Class A Division II

No. 4 Bowdon, the three-time defending state champion, will host unranked Jenkins County in the quarterfinal. The other games feature No. 6 Wheeler County at No. 2 Clinch County, No. 5 Screven County at No. 10 Early County, and No. 9 Brooks County at No. 1 Lincoln County. 

Private

In addition to the Price Avenue-Hebron rematch, the third-round games feature No. 5 Savannah Christian at No. 2 Fellowship Christian, No. 10 Whitefield Academy at No. 3 Calvary Day, and No. 7 Greater Atlanta Christian at No. 4 Athens Academy.