It’s semifinal week for the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) and two northeast Georgia teams are among the 32 programs still left scattered across the eight classifications.
Jefferson is into the Class 3A Final 4 for a second straight year. The No. 1-seeded Dragons (10-3) take on 20th-seed LaGrange (10-3) who is the surprise team in the field, at Memorial Stadium.
The Dragons were denied a shot at the state finals last year in a 28-17 loss to Creekside in the Class 5A semifinals on the road. They are looking for their first state title appearance since 2020, when they lost 14-10 to Marist in the 4A finals with Malaki Starks and Sammy Brown.
They are seeking just their second-ever state crown after winning the Class 2A title in 2012.
The winner will play the Calhoun-Stephenson winner on Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Buford is in the Class 6A semifinals, the Wolves’ first Final 4 since 2021, when they won the last of three straight titles in Class 5A (1) and Class 6A (2).
The Wolves play host to Carrollton in the final game ever at Tom Riden Stadium. The two teams’ have been ranked Nos. 1 and/or 2 the entire season.
It will be a fitting way to send Tom Riden into the history books.
The winner of that one will face the Douglas County-Grayson winner at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.
And speaking of Douglas County, the Tigers are an interesting story. They have been playing football for 92 seasons, beginning in 1925. Over the first 90 seasons, they had just two semifinal appearances, actually winning the 1964 Class 2A title with a 13-0-1 record. That was the last time they made it past the semifinal round.
However, the Tigers are into the Class 6A Final 4 for a second straight season in 2024. They lost 24-21 to Woodward Academy last season in the semifinals.
On Friday, they will take on Gwinnett County powerhouse Grayson on the road. The Rams are into their 9th semifinal round since 2008, coming away with three state titles, the last one in 2020.
Defending Class 5A state champion Coffee is another interesting program. The current Trojans program began playing football in 1970. They had never made the state finals until winning the title last year.
The Trojans take on Hughes on Friday in Fairburn with a chance to get back to consecutive finals for the first time in program history. However, the Panthers won the Class 6A state title in 2022.
But after going just 2-2 on the road during the regular season, Coffee is 3-0 on the road (Jackson County, Brunswick, Sequoyah) in the 2024 playoffs.
Expect an absolute war just south of Atlanta.
MORE NOS. 1 VS. 2 IN THE SEMIFINALS
Also in Class 5A, Milton and Lee County meet in Roswell in the semifinals. Like Buford and Carrollton, it will be a showdown of Nos. 1 (Milton) and 2 (Lee County) atop the classification rankings.
Both teams have been outstanding vs. ranked teams and something will have to give.
The defending Class 7A champion Eagles (13-0) have won 9 straight over ranked teams going back to last season. The Trojans from Leesburg (13-0) have won 5 straight over ranked teams this season.
Toombs County, which took out Commerce earlier in the Class A D1 playoffs, will travel to Dublin in another 1 vs. 2 showdown in the semifinals.
The Fighting Irish (13-0 and the No. 2 team) have won 5 straight over ranked teams going back to last season. The Bulldogs (11-1) are just 3-2 over their last 5 meetings vs. ranked teams going back to last season but are 2-0 this year.
A COACHING SURPRISE AND SOME NOT SO SURPRISING
Georgia High School Football Daily announced on Thursday that Gwinnett County’s all-time winningest coach, Keith Maloof, has stepped down at Norcross after 26 seasons. Maloof was 210-92 for the Blue Devils and passed former Parkview coach Cecil Flowe in 2023 as the top Gwinnett County coach.
Longtime Norcross assistant Corey Richardson will be Maloof’s successor, the school announced as well.
Maloof’s son, Tyler Maloof, is the head coach at Lanier, which plays in the same region as Gainesville.
Also on Thursday, and not surprisingly, GHSFD also announced that Cedar Grove had let head coach Roderick Moore go after just one season.
The Saints finished 3-7 and lost in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs, their quickest playoff exit since 2012. They won five state titles between 2016 and 2023 with three different head coaches.
The three wins was the fewest for the program since 1994 playing a full schedule. They went 3-5 during the shortened COVID year of 2020. It was the first losing season for the Saints in a full 10-game season since 2005.
Those two moves are part of 22 head coaching changes overall around the state, or roughly 5 percent of the total GHSA programs.
Two northeast Georgia area teams also are among the 22 so far seeking new coaches.
Dawson County is in the market after Sid Maxwell stepped down after 10 seasons. He coached 30 seasons, including at Lambert (5 years) and Sequoyah (15 years) compiling a 197-128 record and capturing three region titles in that span
Flowery Branch is also looking for a new head coach after letting Jason Tester go last month.
Since Lee Shaw stepped down after opening the program in 2002 and coaching 10 seasons, the Falcons are now on to their fourth coach over the past dozen years.
Gene Cathcart, the former Habersham Central and Jefferson coach, stepped down earlier at Loganville for health reasons. The Red Devils promoted assistant Stephen Smith immediately following Cathcart’s announcement.
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