The high school football season around the country is wrapping up and with that comes honors for coaches and players from the 2025 season. One state that that always produces some of the best talent and teams from around the country is Georgia high school football.

The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) state finals just ended last night and we decided to get right to it when it comes to end of the year honors.

We continue into the Peach State of Georgia as Rivals looked through the season and selected award nominees from this past season. Who were the best players for the 2025 season, though?

Rivals give you the Georgia high school football honorees for the 2025 season.

Player of the Year: Christian Lawrence, RB, Thomas County Central

We think Wednesday night’s state-record performance in a 62-21 win over Gainesville for the Class 5A state championship was the cherry and whip cream on top when it came to debating Lawrence as the state’s player of the year. The Wake Forest signee rushed for 380 yards on 39 carries and scored five touchdowns, breaking a Georgia state championship rushing record on the night, previously held by Omari Arnold of Brooks County (2021) of 320 yards for a single championship game. The Wake Forest signee has been a terror for opposing defenses throughout the 2025 season, as Lawrence finished rushing for 2,198 yards (9.6 yards per carry) on 229 carries and scored 28 touchdowns. Lawrence has also added 401 receiving yards on 23 receptions and seven scores while adding 275 kick return yards. The future Demon Deacon left no doubt to his Player of the Year candidacy with a final spectacular performance to end his high school playing career.

Offensive Player of the Year: Amari Latimer, RB, Sandy Creek

The West Virginia signee was one of the major reasons Sandy Creek was able to finish the 2025 season lifting the program’s fifth Georgia High School Association (GHSA) state championship. On the season, the running back carried the rock 228 times for 2,313 yards (10.1 yards per carry) and 42 touchdowns on the ground. The future Mountaineer finished the season compiling 2,665 all-purpose yards and 44 total touchdowns this season. Coming off a season where Latimer rushed for 1,113 yards and scoring 19 times in 2024, the running back shattered his numbers of a year ago. Latimer ends his high school playing career having rushed for 4,826 yards and scoring 76 times, capping it with winning a state title in the process. We think that’s a Offensive Player of the Year-caliber kind of season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jaeden Taylor, LB, Columbus Carver

Was there big name players we could’ve easily put here? Sure, but in looking at the totality of what Taylor did throughout the 2025 season as Columbus Carver won the Class 2A state championship, it was hard to overlook what the sophomore linebacker did. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound backer, who embodies the play his head coach Jarvis Jones showed when he played at Carver, put up monster numbers for one of the state’s best defenses, regardless of classification. Taylor led the team with 151 total tackles, 36 went for a loss, seven sacks, 10 forced fumbles, seven batted away passes, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Filling up the stat sheet the way he did as Carver clinched winning back-to-back state championships was something special and full circle. It’s just coincidental that Taylor plays the position similarly to his head coach.

Coach of the Year: Maurice Dixon, Creekside

Was there a team more dominant throughout the entire course of the season than Maurice Dixon’s group? The Creekside Seminoles shut out seven opponents throughout the course of the season, holding five others to a touchdown or less en route to winning the Class 4A state championship over Benedictine Military School. What really set the tone for the season was Dixon leading his team to a 70-28 throttling of DeSoto (TX), which is now playing for Texas’ UIL Class 6A, Division II state championship, to start the campaign. Creekside finished the Georgia high school football season scoring 845 points, which goes down as the GHSA’s most ever for points scored in a single campaign. The accolades go on and on for this group, putting Dixon and the Seminoles into the record books. There’s a number of coaches you can make the argument for, but Dixon did so bouncing back from a 10-3 season in 2024 to hoisting a state title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and ending at a perfect 15-0.

How to Follow Georgia High School Football

For Georgia high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Peach State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across the state of Georgia.

ATLANTA, Ga.- Thomas County Central cruised to their seventh state championship in program history and did so behind the spectacular play of their Wake Forest signee running back.

Christian Lawrence, a Wake Forest signee, rushed for 380 yards on 39 carries and scored five touchdowns, breaking a Georgia state championship rushing record on the night, in the Yellow Jackets 62-21 win over Gainesville for the GHSA Class 5A state championship on Wednesday night. Lawrence shattered the previous mark held by Omari Arnold of Brooks County (2021) of 320 yards for a single championship game.

The senior tailback rushed for what was then a school-record 349 yards in last week’s 49-28 victory over Roswell in the Class 5A state semifinals.

Lawrence over the last two weeks has been on an absolute tear for the Yellow Jackets in making the case that he’s the state’s Player of the Year. The running back in the last two games against Gainesville and Roswell has rushed for 729 yards and scored nine touchdowns.

The Wake Forest signee has been a terror for opposing defenses throughout the 2025 season, as Lawrence finished rushing for 2,198 yards (9.6 yards per carry) on 229 carries and scored 28 touchdowns. Lawrence has also added 401 receiving yards on 23 receptions and seven scores while adding 275 kick return yards.

The Yellow Jackets’ victory capped the GHSA’s week of state championships hosted in downtown Atlanta, giving the program its seventh title with the six others won in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2023.

How to Follow Georgia High School Football

For Georgia high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Peach State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across the state of Georgia.

DAPHNE, Ala. (WKRG) — It did not take long for Barrett Trotter to make a lasting impact at Bayside Academy. In just his third season as the Admirals head coach, Trotter led the team to program records on the field and in the standings.

Congratulations to Bayside Academy head coach Barrett Trotter — WKRG’s 2025 JBT Power Coach of the Year!

Bayside Academy set a new school record with 13 wins and a berth in the Class 3A state championship game. The team finished 6-0 in Region 1 and claimed the program’s second region title (2011).

The Admirals also lit up the scoreboard in record-setting fashion. The team notched a single-season high 586 points (39.1 points per game). But it wasn’t just the offense with a great season – the Bayside Academy defense held opponents to seven points or less eight times. Trotter believes all of their success on the field started with their work ethic long before they played under the Friday night lights.

“Their attitude every day of practice is incredible,” Trotter said. “They enjoyed the grind, they embraced it, they worked really, really hard and they had fun together doing it. We had a great season, but the great season wasn’t just wins and losses. It was every day at practice. It was morning meetings. It was all those little things that make the football environment really special.”

JBT Power was this year’s proud sponsor of the Coach of the Week segment. Gregg Wood was on hand to commemorate the special occasion of the Coach of the Year Award as an extension of their dedication to the local community.

“It’s awesome and it’s why we started doing it in the first place,” Wood said. “Whether it’s been (honoring) our mascots, or our bands and now the coaches, it’s so important for these kids to be involved in activities in the school and to recognize the people that lead them.”

The Admirals’ only two losses came to 4A power St. Michael and 3A state champion Mars Hill Bible. Although Trotter will take home the hardware, he know it is a true team award.

“I’m excited for our kids and the work they put in and our coaching staff,” Trotter said. “For me to be able to receive this award for all of them and for Bayside, I think is great.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.

ATLANTA, Ga.-Thomas County Central entered the night in search of state championship No. 7 after what became a slightly delayed Class 5A state semifinal, which was played just last week.

On a short turnaround, the Yellow Jackets didn’t let any of that faze them against Gainesville on Wednesday night. Thomas County Central received an all-time performance from running back Christian Lawrence as they rolled past Gainesville, 62-21, for the GHSA’s Class 5A state championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Lawrence, a Wake Forest signee, rushed for 380 yards on 39 carries and scored five touchdowns, setting a Georgia state record on the night.

The Yellow Jackets’ victory capped the GHSA’s week of state championships hosted in downtown Atlanta, giving the program its seventh title with the six others won in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2023.

Thomas County Central struck first on the scoreboard as Jaylen Johnson connected on a scoring pass to wide receiver Gary Pringle in the first quarter. Johnson wasn’t done scoring in the opening quarter as the signal caller barreled his way in for an 8-yard score to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 14-0.

Gainesville finally get on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Kharim Hughley (Clemson commitment) connected with Cameron James (Furman signee) on a screen pass that the wide receiver took 37 yards to cut the deficit in half.

The Yellow Jackets would regain control going into halftime, adding one more touchdown via a Lawrence run to head into intermission ahead 21-7.

Thomas County Central would open the second half with possession and capped it off with a Lawrence touchdown run to put the Yellow Jackets ahead with a commanding 28-7 lead.

It had looked like Gainesville would respond when Legend Wilmont took the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards to the endzone, but officials convened and said an inadvertent whistle was blown, forcing a re-kick and taking points off the board for the Red Elephants.

How to Follow Georgia High School Football

For Georgia high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Peach State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across the state of Georgia.