Colquitt County ruined Lowndes’ perfect season, Brookwood got a region title with big help from North Gwinnett, and Milton, Tucker, Ware County, Peach County, Appling County and Callaway came away with Top 10 victories on the final Friday of the football regular season.
In Class 7A, No. 9 Colquitt County (7-3, 3-1) beat No. 4 Lowndes 23-20, forcing a three-way tie for first place in Region 1 with Valdosta (9-1, 3-1). Lowndes (9-1, 3-1) had beaten Valdosta last week.
The result might keep all three South Georgia region rivals in the top eight of the GHSA’s 7A Post Season Rankings standings, guaranteeing them home playoff games through the first two rounds of the 32-team draw.
Valdosta likely will be the No. 1 seed in 7A. The GHSA will announce the playoff draws Saturday.
In Region 7 of the highest classification, No. 7 North Gwinnett (9-1, 5-1) beat Parkview (7-3, 4-2) 57-55.
That gave No. 6 Brookwood (9-1, 5-1) the region title based on a head-to-head win over North Gwinnett last month. It is Brookwood’s first region title since 2019. Brookwood and North Gwinnett are expected to have top-eight seeds.
No. 8 Westlake beat Douglas County 35-28, likely ending Douglas County’s season. Douglas County (3-7) forfeited three September victories for using a player later deemed ineligible. Douglas County was ranked No. 4 in preseason and hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2019.
In Class 6A, Tucker (9-1, 5-1) beat No. 4 Mays 28-0, dealing Mays its first loss and leaving Region 5 in a three-way tie at the top with Lithonia (6-4, 5-1). Tucker likely clinched a top-eight seed while Mays is now on the top-eight bubble, according to Maxwell Ratings projections of the final PSR standings and seeds.
No. 4 Milton beat Roswell 33-26 in an arch-rivalry game that decided Region 7. Milton is assured of a top-eight seed while Roswell is on the borderline for a top-16 seed.
In Class 5A, unranked Ware County beat No. 5 Benedictine 31-17 to win Region 1. It’s Ware’s first region since 2022, when the Gators won a Class 5A championship.
In Class 4A, No. 2 Peach County beat No. 3 Troup 52-38 in a game between 9-0 teams from Region 2. Peach County has won 16 region titles since 2003, third-most in the GHSA behind Buford (20) and Calhoun (19).
No. 1 Appling County beat No. 3 Pierce County 35-21 in Class 3A. Appling County is 10-0 for the first time since 1999 and will enter the playoffs No. 1 in the AJC rankings for the first time in history.
Appling beat No. 2 Toombs County last week, and those teams are expected to the top two seeds in the playoffs with Pierce on the bubble for a top-eight seed.
Callaway upset No. 4 Northeast 28-24 in Class 3A to win Region 2. Northeast had beaten Callaway in a similar region-title game in the final regular-season game of 2026.
Carver of Columbus beat No. 10 Worth County 42-14 in Class 3A to win Region 1. Carver (6-4, 4-0) has won 26 straight region games and four straight region titles. Carver won the Class 2A state championship last year. Worth County won Class A Division I.
The final regular-season week typically reveals teams that clinched playoff berths, but for the first time in GHSA history, region finish does not guarantee playoff berths, meaning teams on the top-32 borderline must find out their fate Saturday.
Teams that won Friday that the Maxwell Ratings projected would clinch playoff berths with victories were Centennial, Dutchtown, Glascock County, Lambert, Loganville, New Hampstead, Norcross, North Murray, South Forsyth, Warner Robins and Washington.