The last two spots in the GHSA championship games, to be played Monday through Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will be filled Thursday when Gainesville travels to Rome and Roswell visits Thomas County Central in the Class 5A semifinals. The games were originally scheduled to be played last Friday but were delayed in the aftermath of Gainesville’s second-round skirmish against Brunswick.

Carver (Columbus) and Bowdon will aim to extend their championship reigns for another year when they play in the state finals next week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Carver, seeking its second consecutive title, will meet Worth County at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Class A Division I. Bowdon, shooting for its fourth straight championship, will take on Lincoln County at 3:30 p.m. Monday in A Division II.

In eight days, it will be over, the 2025 football season in the books. Things will look differently then, considering that eight championship games and two semifinals are still on the schedule, but here are our picks as the 10 most intriguing stories of 2025 season so far. They’re roughly ordered from fairly gripping to spell-binding.

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 five divisions on Dec. 15-17. Here’s a recap of last week’s football semifinals - and one quarterfinal - and the significance of the results for both the winning and losing teams.

The high school football playoffs resume tonight with 14 semifinals and the long-awaited Gainesville-Hughes game. Gainesville-Hughes is the quarterfinal the GHSA postponed last week while sorting out the matter of 38 suspended Gainesville players. The semifinals won't be upstaged by one famous quarterfinal, though. The semifinal winners are going to the Benz, the Falcons’ home field.

Carrollton and Buford gained No. 1 national football rankings this week after Carrollton's 34-14 victory over previous No. 1 Grayson in the Class 6A quarterfinals sent the Rams tumbling in the polls. Carrollton moved to No. 1 in the MaxPreps poll from its previous No. 11 spot. Buford rose to No. 1 in the USA Today rankings from its previous No. 3 spot after defeating Douglas County 30-15 last week in the other Class 6A semifinal.

Defending state champions Bowdon and Hebron Christian will be back in action Friday night in the GHSA football semifinals. Bowdon, seeking its fourth consecutive state title, will travel to Clinch County in a Class A Division II game. Hebron Christian of Class 3A-A Private will face Greater Atlanta Christian in the first meeting between the Gwinnett County private schools.

Burke County and Carver of Columbus will meet Friday in the Class 2A semifinals in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, won by Carver 52-14. Carver advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season with a 38-10 victory last week against Thomson, the regular-season champion in Burke County’s region.  

Gainesville will play Hughes in the Class 5A football quarterfinals Friday at near full strength as the Georgia High School Association decided Monday not to fight a restraining order that kept it from suspending 34 Gainesville players. The turning point in the deadlock took place Sunday, according to GHSA executive director Tim Scott.

Carrollton and Marist defeated defending champions Grayson and North Oconee, ending the state’s two longest winning streaks, while Sumter County and West Laurens advanced to their first semifinals in history with playoff victories last week. Worth County and Pepperell reached semifinals for the first time since the 1990s.