Cedar Grove's controversial loss in the 2022 Class 3A final ultimately led to the adoption of instant replay in championship games. Now the Saints are back in the finals and will get another shot at a title when they meet Savannah Christian at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. In Class 2A, Pierce County seeks its second title in four years when in faces Rockmart at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Creekside and Coffee will meet in the Class 5A final Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the only championship game this year between No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams. Coffee is ranked No. 1 this season for the first time. There will be a first-time champion in Class 4A, where Stockbridge and Perry will be making their first appearances in the state finals.

Class 7A Walton of Cobb County and Milton of Fulton will battle at Mercedes-Benz Stadium next Wednesday in the first championship game in the highest classification without a Gwinnett County or South Georgia team since 1985. In Class 6A on Tuesday, Woodward Academy and Thomas County Central are both seeking their first state tiles in more than 20 seasons.

The 16 head coaches in the state finals have won 993 games in Georgia, lost only 347, and have a winning percentage of .741. But most are new to the finals, at least as head coaches. Only Prince Avenue’s Greg Vandagriff, Cedar Grove’s John Adams and Pierce County’s Ryan Herring have won state titles. Others have won as assistants, and Coffee’s Mike Coe has won five in another state.

The state football finals are returning to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will host championship games in all eight classifications and the flag football finals in three divisions on Dec. 11-13. Here’s a recap of last week’s 16 semifinals and the significance of the results for both the winning and losing teams.

Here are the scores from the fourth week of the playoffs. If you have corrections, please contact us. Check out our Scores & Schedules page for all scores from the 2023 season and a schedule of the GHSA championship games.

The longest winning streak in state history and the longest active streak in the country came to end Thursday night when Valwood defeated John Milledge Academy 42-21 in the GIAA Class 3A championship game at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium in Macon. John Milledge (12-1) had won 62 consecutive games and four straight state championships.