The start of the 2025 GHSA Football Season is nine weeks from today and the schedule is packed for Class A Div. II with just four of its teams on byes that week. Region 1’s Pelham and Randolph-Clay, Region 3’s Metter and Region 6’s Central-Talbotton are the only teams that will have to wait until the week of Aug. 22 and each have their season openers listed below. Class A Div. II is unique to the smaller classifications because of the absence of private schools in its regions. As a result, the classification is similar to Class 4A-6A and seeds teams in the postseason based entirely on the region records and does not use the Postseason Rating System that debuted last year to seed Class A-3A and the newly formed A-3A Private.
In Region 1, Spring Creek, Baconton Charter, Calhoun County, Pataula Charter and Southwest Georgia STEM will play a full 10-game slate, but will not compete in the region standings. There are still seven teams in the region and teams will only have a few weeks to prepare for the start of region competition. Last year, Early County and Mitchell County each finished 5-1 in region play, but Early County earned the title with the head-to-head tie-breaker. Seminole County at 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the region was the team on the outside looking in and the Indians will be highly motivated after having its three-year playoff streak snapped last season.
Region 2 features last year’s state runner-up Brooks County—which opens its season at rival Thomasville in an intriguing cross-classification matchup. What makes showdowns like Thomasville versus Brooks County significant this fall is more than just the history shared between the programs and their status as state title contenders. This game–and others like it that pin Class A Div. II against the other classification—will all be factored into the PSR and will shape seeding in those classifications. So the game will be an opportunity for Thomasville to earn an early win that would help them in the Class 2A ratings. Aside from the incentives for the non Class A Div. II schools, the non-region schedule is going to be critical for Region 2, which includes Atkinson County, Charlton County, Clinch County, Irwin County, Lanier County and Turner County. This past season, Irwin County defeated Brooks County 17-14 in the season finale and Clinch County defeated Irwin County—leaving Brooks, Irwin and Clinch in a three-way tie at 4-1. Region 2 placed three teams in the quarterfinals and sent Brooks County and Irwin County into the semifinals. Ultimately, Irwin County fell to state champion Bowdon 42-28 in the semifinals and Brooks County was defeated 34-14 in the finals.
Metter returns as the Region 3 champion last season, but the bigger development last year was region runner-up Jenkins County’s late run that resulted in the school’s first-ever quarterfinal appearance and its first-ever back-to-back 10-win seasons. This year, Metter and Jenkins County will have an increased spotlight on their matchup and Jenkins County will look to avenge a 20-9 defeat from a year ago.
Telfair County swept Region 4 last year with a 6-0 record and three teams ended up 4-2 with Wilcox county, Wheeler County and Hawkinsville rounding out this deep region. For Telfair County, last year was the Trojans’ first region title since 1993 and the team has a chance to reach a fourth postseason for the first time in the school’s 58-year history. Johnson County swept Region 5 last year and was the only team out of it to advance past the first round of the state playoffs. Additionally, Johnson County has won three-straight region titles and can capture a fourth-consecutive for the first time this season.
Macon County earned the Region 6 title last year after rebounding from a 27-18 loss to Marion County in the heart of its region schedule. After that loss, the Bulldogs outscored Central-Talbotton (19-0) and Taylor County (20-3) by a combined 39-3 and were the only team out of Region 6 to advance past the first round.
The storyline in Region 7 is clear with Bowdon carrying three-straight state titles into the 2025 season. Additionally, the Red Devils have the highest-rated prospect in all of Class A Div. II with 6-foot-6 tight end Kaiden Prothro. The four-star senior is the No. 2 rated tight end in the nation for the Class of 2026 in the latest 247 ratings and is a mismatch every snap—being described by recruiting expert Hudson Standish as a “redzone cheat code”. Manchester has matched up well with Bowdon throughout this run to three-straight state titles and took the region crown last year before falling in a 17-14 heartbreaker to Brooks County in the semifinals.
In Region 8, Lincoln County is coming off a tremendous 11-1 season and run to the quarterfinals where the Red Devils fell to Manchester 20-17. Leading Lincoln County last year was Defensive Player of the Year CJ Crite, who signed to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats this fall. Region 8 was matched up with the talented Region 7 in the first round last year and Lincoln County was the lone team to advance with its 49-20 win over Region 7 No. 4 seed Charlton County
Class A Div. II Week 1 Schedule
REGION 1
Baconton Charter at Montgomery County
Calhoun County vs. Greenville
Early County at Westover (Hugh Mills Stadium)
Miller County at Columbus (OS 8/16)
Mitchell County at Lanier County
Pataula Charter vs. Windsor Academy
Pelham (BYE) vs. Thomasville 8/22
Randolph-Clay (BYE) vs. Cottonwood, Alabama 8/22
Seminole County at Schley County
Southwest Georgia STEM vs. Abbeville Christian
Spring Creek at FAMU DRS (Scrimmage)
Terrell County vs. Calvary Christian
REGION 2
Atkinson County at Georgia Military College
Brooks County at Thomasville
Charlton County at Brantley County
Clinch County at Bacon County
Irwin County vs. Fitzgerald
Lanier County vs. Mitchell County
Turner County at Worth County
REGION 3
Bryan County vs. Johnson-Savannah
Claxton vs. Tattnall County
Emanuel County Institute vs. Wilcox County
Jenkins County vs. Glascock County
McIntosh County Academy vs. Islands
Metter (BYE) at Tattnall County 8/22
Portal vs. Bulloch Academy (Georgia Southern 8/16)
Savannah vs. Frederica Academy
Screven County at Jefferson County
REGION 4
Dooly County at Toombs County (Booster Stadium)
Hawkinsville vs. Marion County
Montgomery County vs. Baconton Charter
Telfair County at Lamar County
Treutlen at Twiggs County
Wheeler County at Wilkinson County
Wilcox County at Emanuel County Institute
REGION 5
Georgia Military College vs. Atkinson County
Glascock County at Jenkins County
Hancock Central at Glenn Hills
Johnson County vs. East Laurens
Twiggs County vs. Treutlen
Wilkinson County vs. Wheeler County
REGION 6
Central-Talbotton (BYE) vs. Southwest Georgia STEM 8/22
Chattahoochee County vs. Mt. Zion-Carroll
Crawford County at Pike County
Macon County vs. Southwest
Marion County at Hawkinsville
Schley County vs. Seminole County
Taylor County at Jasper County
REGION 7
Bowdon at Fellowship Christian
Greenville at Calhoun County
Manchester at Harris County
Mt. Zion-Carroll at Chattahoochee County
Trion at Gordon Lee
REGION 8
Greene County at Putnam County
Lake Oconee Academy at Mt. Paran
Lincoln County vs. Augusta Christian (Larry Campbell Stadium)
Towns County vs. Murray County
Warren County vs. Morgan County
Washington-Wilkes at Hephzibah
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