There are plenty of familiar faces among the football teams that have advanced to this week’s Final Four, including defending state champions Toombs County, Bowdon, Carver Columbus and Hebron Christian.

But for two teams who are still in contention, this will be their first trip to the state semifinals. Both West Laurens in Class 3A and Sumter County in Class 2A are the semifinal rookies.

West Laurens has never advanced past the quarterfinal round of the playoffs since it  began playing football in 1972. The Raiders, in their fourth season under coach Kip Burdette, are 13-0 – the first unbeaten regular season in school history.

West Laurens has steadily built to this point under Burdette. After going 1-9 and 2-8 in his first two seasons, the Raiders went 8-3 in 2024 and made the playoffs again after a two-year absence. 

Sumter County is in the semifinals for the first time since the school was formed in 2004 after the merger of Americus High School and Sumter County High School. The Panthers had never previously advanced past the second round. Sumter County is 12-1 and set a program record for most wins. 

Sumter is in its third season under coach Will Rogers. He took the job after the program endured three consecutive one-win seasons and went 5-5 in 2023, then 10-2 with an appearance in the second round in 2024. 

Worth County won’t be making its first Final Four appearance, but the Rams have not advanced this far since 1991.