Playoff recap: Carrollton, Marist oust defending champs Grayson, North Oconee
Carrollton and Marist defeated defending champions Grayson and North Oconee, ended the state’s two longest winning streaks, while Sumter County and West Laurens advanced to their first semifinals in history in state football playoffs Friday night.
Worth County and Pepperell broke semifinal droughts dating to the 1990s, and Kell was notably impressive, blowing out Class 4A’s No. 2 team, Cartersville, 48-21.
Carrollton beat Grayson — a team holding three No. 1 national rankings — 34-14 in Class 6A. Grayson had won 26 straight games, including a 38-24 victory over Carrollton in the 2024 6A final last December. That was Carrollton’s only loss over the past 26 games, and the Trojans (13-0) have five top-12 national rankings of their own.
Carrollton and Grayson were tied 14-14 at halftime, and Carrollton scored the game’s final 20 points, scoring 10 each in the third and fourth quarters. Carrollton’s Cameron Wood rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns, and Carrollton held Grayson to 77 yards rushing. Zykie Helton, a Georgia-committed two-way lineman, had 2.5 behind the line for 17 yards in losses.
Carrollton (13-0) will be back at home next week against eighth-ranked North Gwinnett, a 25-15 winner over West Forsyth. No. 2 Buford and No. 5 Valdosta are in the other semifinal. Valdosta held off unranked Walton 45-42.
The Class 5A semifinals were relatively uneventful, as No. 2 Thomas County Central, No. 3 Roswell and No. 8 Rome won. The bigger news came Wednesday, when the GHSA postponed the fourth quarterfinal game — No. 4 Gainesville at No. 1 Hughes — as courts are expected to decide the status of Gainesville’s more than 30 suspended players from an altercation in the second round.
In Class 4A, Marist beat reigning champ North Oconee 23-20 on Tyler Baradel’s 34-yard field goal on the final play of the game. Baradel also made field goals of 35 and 37 yards. North Oconee had won 27 straight games. Its senior class finished 52-3 and beat Marist 14-7 in last year’s state finals.
Marist, ranked No. 6, will play No. 4 Benedictine next week while No. 1 Creekside plays No. 5 Kell in the other semifinal.
In Class 3A, No. 7 West Laurens (13-0) beat No. 6 Jenkins 21-16. West Laurens, in its 54th season of football, had been 0-5 in quarterfinals. West Laurens will play at No. 3 Jefferson next week. No. 1 Sandy Creek and No. 8 LaGrange are in the other semifinal.
Sumter County made its history in Class 2A with a 39-20 victory over No. 2 Carver of Atlanta. Sumter County (12-1) will be at home next week against No. 7 Hapeville Charter.
No. 1 Carver of Columbus and No. 9 Burke County are in the other semifinal in a rematch of the 2024 final. Burke beat No. 4 Rockmart 41-40 on Friday after trailing 27-7 at halftime.
In Class A Division I, No. 1 Worth County beat Gordon Lee 17-7 while Pepperell beat unranked Rabun County 34-0. Worth’s most recent semifinal appearance was in 1991. Pepperell’s last was in 1998. Pepperell is the only semifinal team in any class that is unranked. The two will play each other next week while Toombs County and Heard County play in the other semifinal.
No. 1 Lincoln County, No. 2 Clinch County, No. 3 Bowdon and No. 8 Early County are the semifinals teams in Class A Division II. Bowdon is a three-time defending champion.
In the Class 3A-A Private division, No. 1 Hebron Christian, No. 2 Fellowship Christian, No. 3 Calvary Day and No. 8 Greater Atlanta Christian got through. Hebron beat Prince Avenue Christian 63-20 in a rematch of the 2024 final.
About the Author
Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
