How much time was spent in video review at the GHSA state championships?

Video review has largely added value to GHSA football state championships, as referees can correct crucial calls on Georgia high school football’s biggest stage.

One key element of video review is timeliness.

Efficient reviews help the jam-packed schedule stay on time while lengthy reviews can cause significant pauses that compound throughout the day.

While time spent in-review was not the sole cause of scheduling delays, a common complaint during the state finals was the actual start times of the games, with the Buford-Carrollton game — a de facto national championship — kicking off after 9:30 p.m., more than 90 minutes after the scheduled start time.

The Thomas County Central-Gainesville final, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m., kicked off after 9 p.m. the next night.

The GHSA set a two-minute time limit on reviews when the addition was proposed in 2023. According to Section 5, Article 3 of the proposal, the official “will have a maximum of two minutes to make a decision on the challenge. The two minutes will begin once the official is on the headset.”

Another article stated that officials were expected to keep all reviews at two minutes unless the review had “end of game impact” or had “multiple aspects as part of the review.” No specific time limit was stated in that case, though efficiency was emphasized.

There were 19 video reviews in the eight 2025 GHSA football state championship games. Five of those reviews were at least three minutes long from the moment the review was announced to the moment the verdict was delivered.

Twelve of the 19 total reviews ran longer than the two-minute time limit.

High school referees don’t typically use video review, and the lack of familiarity could explain many longer reviews in the first half of the week. Video reviews did appear to get more efficient as the week progressed.

The longest review of the week — which lasted over five minutes from announcement to announcement — was the first one. The average review time of the week’s first four games was just over 3:20, compared with an average time of 1:51 in the last four games.

Here is a breakdown of all 19 video reviews from the GHSA football state championships.

The first number in parentheses is time spent elapsed from review announcement to verdict. The second number is time elapsed from whistle to snap.

Bowdon-Lincoln County

4:32, third quarter — (5:02, 6:42 between plays)

Lincoln County’s impressively large fan section erupted when Christian Elam stripped the ball out of Josh Chandler’s arms and recovered it at the goal line. The last-minute fumble recovery kept Lincoln County’s deficit at 21-17.

Then began the longest official review of the weekend. Officials overturned the call after over five minutes of deliberation, giving Bowdon a crucial touchdown.

3:01, third quarter — (2:49, 3:38 between plays)

The second video review of the week came moments later when Bowdon’s Mike Patterson scooped his hands under a low pass for an interception at the 35-yard line. Lincoln County challenged the call that Patterson caught the ball, but the call on the field was upheld after 2:49 elapsed.

Creekside-Benedictine

6:35, second quarter — (1:27, 3:25 between plays)

The first official review of the Class 4A state championship came on a potential strip sack in the second quarter. Benedictine quarterback Stephen Cannon was hit while throwing, and the ball squirted out of his hand for an apparent fumble.

The ball was recovered by Creekside, but field officials called the play an incomplete pass. A short official review upheld the decision, and Creekside hit Cannon for a strip sack on the next play.

7:58, third quarter — (2:26, 4:16 between plays)

Creekside’s dominant pass rush forced another official review in the third quarter. Tavarre Terrell was dragging Cannon down from behind, and the quarterback tried to throw the ball away as he went down.

The initial call on the field was an incomplete pass, but it was overturned after official review.

1:10, fourth quarter — (4:01, 5:22 between plays)

Day One’s second-longest review came on another goal line play. Officials initially said Cannon scored an eight-yard touchdown on fourth down.

Upon official review, the call was overturned after over four minutes of deliberation. Cannon was just short of the goal line, and Benedictine scored on the next play.

Worth County-Toombs County

00:52, second quarter — (3:27, 7:04 between plays)

Justin Powell’s run inside the Worth County 10-yard line was initially called a yard or two short of the line to gain. An official review stopped play to get a better look at the spot of the ball.

After nearly three and a half minutes of reviewing, the ball was placed between the nine-yard line and the 10-yard line. Officials did not announce if the spot was different from the initial call on the field.

5:01, third quarter — (4:08, 5:17 between plays)

Two separate reviews were announced after this third quarter play. Officials first examined a sideline catch by Worth County’s Colby Griffis, which was called incomplete on the field.

The call was overturned after two minutes and eight seconds. Then, a second review was announced to determine the spot on the field. The spot was changed two minutes later, and play resumed soon after.

9:02, fourth quarter — (2:19, 3:24 between plays)

Worth County quarterback Lyndon Worthy fumbled around midfield roughly halfway through the fourth quarter. Toombs County recovered the fumble, and after a relatively quick official review, the call on the field stood.

Carver-Columbus-Hapeville Charter

*2:15, second quarter — A short video review was called to correct the time on the play clock. The review lasted roughly 30 seconds.

1:15, second quarter — (4:22, 7:03 between plays)

Hapeville Charter quarterback Keylan Pope connected with Jayden Lambert over the middle of the field. Lambert ran deep into the red zone before he was hit by several Carver defenders, forcing a fumble and inciting a penalty flag from the back judge.

The official review lasted over four minutes before Lambert was ruled down before losing the football, and a Carver defender was penalized for illegal helmet contact.

Buford-Carrollton

5:19, second quarter — (2:00, 4:05 between plays)

Carrollton quarterback Mason Holtzclaw completed a six-yard pass to Rontre Welch, who clearly caught the ball in bounds. The ball was ripped out of Welch’s hands after several steps as he fell out of bounds, provoking the review.

Welch’s catch was confirmed after exactly two minutes of deliberation.

8:47, third quarter — (2:25, 3:57 between plays)

Officials said Carrollton receiver Ryan Mosley fought just hard enough to earn a first down on third-and-11. Buford challenged the spot of the ball in hopes that a review would show Mosley was just short of the line to gain.

The challenge failed after roughly two and a half minutes, and Carrollton’s drive continued.

Hebron Christian-Calvary Day

6:55, first quarter — (2:05, 3:34 between plays)

Calvary Day challenged a one-handed catch by Hebron Christian’s Jarvis Mathurin early in the game. The challenge was successful, and the call was overturned after roughly two minutes of video review.

7:16, second quarter — (1:18, 2:38 between plays)

Hebron Christian’s Jai’lil Goley went up for an interception over a Calvary Day receiver. Goley bobbled the ball to the ground, and the call on the field was an incomplete pass.

The call on the field stood after another quick official review.

4:11, fourth quarter — (1:53, 3:38 between plays)

Officials wanted a better look at James Mobley’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Ty Pinckney late in the fourth quarter. Pinckney caught the pass before Hebron Christian’s Masen Hardy ripped it out of his hands.

Another sub-two-minute official review showed Pinckney secured the catch and got a foot down in the end zone before losing possession of the football.

4:11, fourth quarter — (2:44, 4:55 between plays)

The fourth and final review of the game came on the ensuing kickoff. Calvary Day recovered an onside kick, regaining possession around midfield trailing just 28-21.

An official review of the play showed that Calvary Day had touched the ball just before it traveled 10 yards, though, and the call on the field was reversed. Hebron Christian was awarded possession and never gave it up, sealing the Class 3A-A Private state championship.

Sandy Creek-Jefferson

10:04, third quarter — (2:01, 3:33 between plays)

Jefferson’s punter had to drop to a knee on his own four-yard line to catch a low snap. The punter quickly stood up and punted the ball away, but officials ruled a turnover on downs when the punter had taken the knee.

An official review confirmed the call after two minutes and one second, and Sandy Creek got the ball four yards from the goal line.

10:10, fourth quarter — (00:18, 1:13 between plays)

One of the fastest reviews of the week came early in the fourth quarter. Sandy Creek receiver Nathan Holston couldn’t keep his feet inbounds on a deep ball, and the officials confirmed the call in less than 20 seconds.

2:53, fourth quarter — (2:06, 3:17 between plays)