The game was close after one quarter, but Zay Billingsley’s 18-yard return of an intercepted screen pass gave Carver a 17-7 lead with 11:17 left in the second quarter set the 52-14 rout into motion in the Class 2A championship game Tuesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Mike Polke caught a touchdown pass, intercepted a pass and returned a kickoff for a touchdown, all in the first half for No. 1-ranked Toombs County in a 38-18 victory over Northeast in the Class A Division I championship game Tuesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The title is the first for Toombs County.

Abbey Bensman threw two first-half touchdown passes to lead Pope to a 19-6 victory over Pace Academy and its second consecutive state championship. Pope became the third team in two days to repeat as flag champions, joining Monday’s winners Southeast Bulloch (fourth straight) and Greenbrier (two).

Quarterback Harrison Faulkner scored on a 2-yard run with 3:58 left to break a 7-7 tie at the end of a 78-yard, 13-play drive to give North Oconee a 14-7 victory over Marist in the Class 4A championship game Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was the first football state title in school history for the Titans.

The Class A Division II championship game, closer than the score suggested, turned in Bowdon’s favor in the final two minutes of the first half when Brooks County suffered a poor snap to its punter from its backup center. Bowdon, trailing 14-7, recovered on the Brooks County 13-yard line and scored in five plays.

Kenzie Horton threw two touchdown passes and the Greenbrier defense held North Oconee to 47 total yards (minus-14 rushing) Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the Wolfpack won a state championship for the second consecutive season.

Southeast Bulloch tied the game with 1:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and won it 13-6 in overtime on a 10-yard run by Emma Cate Barron to capture its fourth consecutive state championship in the small-school division Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Four Georgia football teams can win state championships for the first time, two can win for the third time in a row, and two others can finish undefeated with top-10 national rankings this week as eight championship games are played over three days starting Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Northeast and Toombs County of Class A Division I are making their first appearances in the finals and will meet Tuesday in the only title game this season that guarantees a first-time state champion. Burke County and Carver of Columbus, the Class 2A finalists, are traditionally strong programs, but neither has won a state title in more than a decade.

Marist and North Oconee of Class 4A will meet Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the only state championship game this season matching undefeated teams. It will be a contrast in styles, pitting Marist's option running game against North Oconee’s pass-fueled attack. Jefferson and Calhoun will face off in the Class 3A final Wednesday.

Carrollton and Milton will put their top-10 national rankings on the line when GHSA champions are crowned next week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Carrollton will face Grayson in the Class 6A game on Dec. 18, and Milton will take on Hughes in the Class 5A game on Dec. 17.

The 16 head coaches in the state finals have won 1,704 games in Georgia, lost only 466, and have a winning percentage of .785. Ten have played for state titles as head coaches, and eight are former champions with claims to 20 titles overall. It’s likely cyclical, but that’s a big contrast to last season, when the 16 coaches had only 993 wins and five total state titles.

The state football finals are back for another year at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will host championship games in all eight classifications and the flag football finals in four divisions on Dec. 16-18. Here’s a recap of last week’s 16 football semifinals and the significance of the results for both the winning and losing teams.

The field is down to two teams in each classification of the GHSA playoffs. Here are the scores from the 16 semifinal games played Friday night. If you have corrections, please contact us.

Georgia’s four hottest football teams, each ranked in the top 25 nationally, will go head-to head in two games tonight when the playoffs resume with 16 semifinals. Carrollton, the consensus No. 7 team from nine national polls, is playing at No. 9 Buford in Class 6A, while No. 25 Lee County is playing at No. 4 Milton.

Keith Maloof, who led Norcross football to 210 wins and two state championships in 26 seasons, retired Wednesday. He is the all-time winningest coach in Gwinnett County. Corey Richardson, a Norcross assistant for 23 seasons, will be Maloof’s successor, the school announced. Maloof, 62, became Norcross’ coach in 1999.

Three games this week will match teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in their classifications, and one will be in Class A Division I, where Toombs County visits Dublin for a trip to the championship game against Fitzgerald or Northeast. Burke County takes on Rockmart and Appling County faces Carver of Columbus in Class 2A semifinals.

Four region champions will go head to head in the Class 4A semifinals Friday night. Top-ranked Marist will be at home to face Creekside, while Blessed Trinity will travel to North Oconee. In Class 3A, the top two ranked teams have been eliminated, and the teams that beat them (LaGrange and Calhoun) are still alive.

North Cobb Christian and Calhoun upset No. 1-ranked opponents in the quarterfinals last week, and North Cobb Christian made further news as one of four teams making the semifinals for the first time. The other first-time semifinalists are Toombs County and Northeast in Class A Division I and Hebron Christian in 3A-A private.

The Georgia high school football playoffs are down to 64 teams playing for eight state championships. The quarterfinals were the round of wreckage a year ago, when Mill Creek, Buford, Colquitt County and Carrollton – all ranked in the top 25 of USA Today’s and MaxPreps’ national polls at the time – were taken out.