Colquitt County ended Lowndes’ bid for an unbeaten regular season with a 23-20 victory on the final Friday before the GHSA football playoffs. The result left three South Georgia rivals sharing first place in their region and added to a closing night that featured several wins over Top 10 opponents across the classifications.
Ninth-ranked Colquitt County improved to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in Class 7A’s Region 1 by defeating fourth-ranked Lowndes. Lowndes fell to 9-1 and finished with the same region record as Colquitt County and Valdosta. Valdosta also stood at 9-1 overall. The three-way tie followed Lowndes’ victory over Valdosta the previous week.
Despite the loss for Lowndes, the outcome could help all three rivals remain among the top eight teams in the GHSA’s Class 7A postseason rankings. That would guarantee each home playoff games through the opening two rounds of the 32-team bracket. The playoff draws were due to be announced Saturday.
Elsewhere in Class 7A, Brookwood claimed its first region championship since 2019 with help from North Gwinnett’s victory over Parkview. Brookwood’s win against North Gwinnett the previous month supplied the head-to-head advantage that decided the title. Both Brookwood and North Gwinnett were expected to receive top-eight playoff seeds.
In Class 6A, Milton defeated fourth-ranked Roswell 33-26 in a rivalry game that did not determine a region championship. Milton was assured of a top-eight seed, while Roswell was near the cutoff for a top-16 position. In Class 5A, Tucker beat No. 10 Mays 28-0, handing Mays its first loss and creating a three-way tie for first with Lithonia in Region 5.
Another Class 5A result gave unranked Ware County the Region 1 championship. The Gators defeated fifth-ranked Benedictine 31-17 to secure their first region title since 2022. In Class 4A, third-ranked Peach County rallied past second-ranked Troup 52-38 in a matchup between teams that entered with 9-0 records.
Appling County defeated Pierce County 35-21 in Class 3A and completed a 10-0 regular season for the first time since 1999. Appling was set to enter the playoffs atop the AJC rankings for the first time in school history. Callaway also won a Class 3A region championship, beating fourth-ranked Northeast 28-24.
For teams near the playoff cutoff, the regular-season finale did not settle every question. Region championships secured playoff berths, but other teams needed a place in the top 32. Those schools faced a wait until Saturday to learn whether their seasons would continue.
