Mill Creek, Hughes and Ware County, fresh off their first state championships, are No. 1 when it counts – in final rankings. Sandy Creek is a state champion for the first time in 10 years, Thomson for the first time in 20 years and Bowdon for the first time in 30 years. Benedictine defended its title, and Prince Avenue Christian won for the second time in three seasons.

Cam Robinson rushed for 252 yards and three touchdowns and Caleb Downs ran for three touchdowns and had a team-high six total tackles to lead Mill Creek to a 70-35 Class 7A championship game victory over Carrollton Saturday night at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium in the highest-scoring state final in GHSA history.

Ware County scored on four of its five first-half possessions, including two touchdowns in a two-minute span midway through the first quarter on its way to a 24-6 halftime lead, and cruised to a 38-13 victory over two-time defending champion Warner Robins in the Class 5A championship game Saturday at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

Sandy Creek’s Travis Franklin scored on a 1-yard run with 50 seconds remaining to give the Patriots a 21-17 victory over defending champion Cedar Grove in the Class 3A championship game Saturday afternoon at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

Top-ranked Hughes scored two touchdowns in a 14-second span late in the second quarter to create some separation from Gainesville and then held on for a 35-28 victory in the Class 6A championship game Saturday night at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

Benedictine stuffed Cedartown on four consecutive running plays inside 2-yard line in the last minute of the game, including a fourth-and-goal from the 1 on the final play, to preserve a 14-13 victory in the Class 4A championship game Friday at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

Thomson’s Jontavis Curry had two of his four touchdown runs in the final nine minutes of the game after Fitzgerald had taken its only lead, rallying the Bulldogs to a 32-27 victory in the Class 2A championship game Friday at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

Prince Avenue Christian trailed 20-7 in the first half and 27-17 midway in the third quarter but scored touchdowns on five straight second-half drives that totaled 356 yards on 20 plays, and Swainsboro couldn't keep pace. Aaron Philo set state-finals records with 477 yards passing and six touchdowns.

Bowdon scored touchdowns on its first six full drives and used the seventh to ice the game with a 4-minute, 9-second drive to the Schley County 17 with 13 seconds left. Schley's final chance never got past midfield.

Four defending champions and four teams that never have won state titles are among the16 playing in the GHSA finals this week at Center Parc Stadium. No real underdogs remain. Every finalist was ranked in the top five after the regular season except Warner Robins, which ironically is Class 5A’s two-time defending champion.

The championship games will be played in all eight GHSA classifications Thursday through Saturday at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium. Here’s a preview of the games in 7A (Carrollton vs. Mill Creek), 6A (Hughes vs. Gainesville), 5A (Ware County vs. Warner Robins) and 4A (Cedartown vs. Benedictine).

The championship games will be played in all eight GHSA classifications Thursday through Saturday at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium. Here’s a preview of the games in 3A (Sandy Creek vs. Cedar Grove), 2A (Fitzgerald vs. Thomson), A Division I (Prince Avenue Christian vs. Swainsboro) and A Division II (Bowdon vs. Schley County).