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.
Playoff games between highly ranked opponents often come down to a few critical plays. Gainesville’s Darryn Williams was in many of them last week in his team’s 40-32 victory over No. 1-ranked Hughes in the Class 5A quarterfinals. The junior linebacker made 10 solo tackles, forced two fumbles and returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown.
North Oconee quarterback Catherine Cooper is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. The senior led North Oconee to playoff victories over Effingham County 39-0 and Trinity Christian 49-6 last week while completing 45 of 53 passes for 424 yards and nine touchdowns in the two games.
Dominating good teams such as Rabun County and making deep playoff runs were parts of the plan when Brandon Haywood became Pepperell's coach in 2024. He just didn't know it would be so soon. So last week’s 34-0 victory in the quarterfinals and the resulting advancement to the semifinals – the Dragons' first final four since 1998 – almost caught him by surprise.
Tuesday’s question: Four 2024 state champions are still in contention. Which are the four? (Answer Wednesday)
Answer to Monday’s question: The first-year coaches in the finals are Jarvis Jones of Carver of Columbus and Jason Cameron of Calvary Day.
