Georgia high school football realigns for next two years

georgia high school association
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The Georgia High School Association has set the structure for its 456 football programs for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

One of the most interesting changes is in 7A where three-time defending state champ Buford will be moving-up from 6A. The Wolves, who own 14 overall state championships, have won a state title in every classification they’ve played in.

Buford will be in Region 8, which also includes defending 7A champ Collins Hill. Last year, Buford finished No. 21 in the High School Football America 100 national rankings, powered by NFL Play Football, and Collins Hill finished No. 26.

Mill Creek, which finished No. 117 in the national rankings, will also be in the six team region.

Also moving-up to 7A will be Carrollton and Westlake.

At the other end of the spectrum, the GHSA has gotten rid of the 1A Private classification, placing all of those schools among public schools. The state had been playing separate 1A Private and Public state championships since 2012.

Speaking of the private schools, Blessed Trinity, Marist, St. Pius and Woodward Academy are all moving-up to 6A.

Under the new alignment, the GHSA split 1A into two divisions.

Below are the regional alignments for all eight classes.

7A

Region 1

Camden County

Colquitt County

Lowndes

Richmond Hill

Valdosta

Region 2

Campbell

Carrollton

East Coweta

Pebblebrook

Westlake

Region 3

Harrison

Hillgrove

Marietta

McEachern

North Paulding

Region 4

Archer

Brookwood

Grayson

Newton

Parkview

South Gwinnett

Region 5

Cherokee

Kennesaw Mountain

North Cobb

Osborne

Walton

Wheeler

Region 6

Denmark

Forsyth Central

Lambert

Milton

South Forsyth

West Forsyth

Region 7

Berkmar

Discovery

Duluth

Meadowcreek

Norcross

North Gwinnett

Peachtree Ridge

Region 8

Buford

Central Gwinnett

Collins Hill

Dacula

Mill Creek

Mountain View

6A

Region 1

Houston County

Lee County

Northside, Warner Robins

Thomas County Central

Tift County

Veterans

Region 2

Brunswick

Effingham County

Evans

Glynn Academy

Grovetown

Lakeside, Evans

South Effingham

Region 3

Alcovy

Forest Park

Jonesboro

Lovejoy

Morrow

Mundy’s Mill

Rockdale County

Woodward Academy

Region 4

Dunwoody

Lakeside, DeKalb

Marist

North Atlanta

Riverwood

South Cobb

St. Pius X

Region 5

Alexander

Douglas County

East Paulding

Hughes

New Manchester

Newnan

Paulding County

South Paulding

Region 6

Allatoona

Creekview

Etowah

River Ridge

Rome

Sequoyah

Woodstock

Region 7

Alpharetta

Blessed Trinity

Innovation Academy*

Johns Creek

Lassiter

Pope

Roswell

Sprayberry

Region 8

Apalachee

Gainesville

Habersham Central

Jackson County

Lanier

North Forsyth

Shiloh

5A

Region 1

Bradwell Institute

Coffee

Greenbrier

Jenkins

Statesboro

Ware County

Region 2

Dutchtown

Eagle’s Landing

Jones County

Locust Grove

Ola

Union Grove

Warner Robins

Region 3

Drew

Harris County

McIntosh

Northgate

Northside, Columbus

Region 4

Arabia Mountain

Chamblee

Cross Keys

Decatur

Lithonia

M. L. King

Tucker

Region 5

Banneker

Chapel Hill

Creekside

Jackson, Atlanta

Lithia Springs

Mays

Midtown

Tri-Cities

Villa Rica

Region 6

Cambridge

Centennial

Chattahoochee

Greater Atlanta Christian

Kell

North Springs

Northview

Region 7

Calhoun

Cartersville

Cass

Dalton

Hiram

Woodland, Cartersville

Region 8

Clarke Central

Eastside

Flowery Branch

Heritage, Conyers

Jefferson

Loganville

Winder-Barrow

4A

Region 1

Bainbridge

Cairo

Hardaway

Shaw

Westover

Region 2

Baldwin

Griffin

Howard

Perry

Spalding

West Laurens

Westside, Macon

Region 3

Benedictine

Burke County

Islands

New Hampstead

Southeast Bulloch

Wayne County

Region 4

Fayette County

LaGrange

North Clayton

Riverdale

Starr’s Mill

Trinity Christian

Troup County

Whitewater

Region 5

Hampton

Lovett

Luella

McDonough

Mt. Zion, Jonesboro

Pace Academy

Stockbridge

Woodland, Stockbridge

Region 6

Clarkston

Druid Hills

Hapeville

Holy Innocents’

Miller Grove

Southwest DeKalb

Stephenson

Stone Mountain

Westminster

Region 7

Cedartown

Central, Carroll

Heritage, Catoosa

Northwest Whitfield

Sonoraville

Southeast Whitfield

Region 8

Cedar Shoals

Cherokee Bluff

Chestatee

East Forsyth

East Hall

Johnson, Gainesville

Madison County

North Hall

North Oconee

Seckinger

Walnut Grove

3A

Region 1

Carver, Columbus

Columbus

Crisp County

Dougherty

Monroe

Thomasville

Region 2

Jackson

Mary Persons

Peach County

Pike County

Upson-Lee

Region 3

Beach

Calvary Day School

Groves

Johnson, Savannah

Liberty County

Long County

Savannah Christian

Savannah Country Day

Region 4

Cross Creek

Harlem

Hephzibah

Morgan County

Richmond Academy

Salem

Region 5

Carver, Atlanta

Cedar Grove

Douglass, Atlanta

Sandy Creek

Region 6

Adairsville

Bremen

Coahulla Creek

Gordon Lee

LaFayette

Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe

Ridgeland

Ringgold

Region 7

Dawson County

Gilmer

Lumpkin County

Pickens

Wesleyan

West Hall

White County

Region 8

Franklin County

Hart County

Hebron Christian Academy

Monroe Area

Oconee County

Stephens County

2A

Region 1

Berrien

Cook

Dodge County

Fitzgerald

Jeff Davis

Sumter County

Worth County

Region 2

ACE Charter

Central, Macon

Jordan

Kendrick

Northeast Rutland

Southwest

Spencer

Region 3

Appling County

Brantley County

Pierce County

Tattnall County

Toombs County

Vidalia

Windsor Forest

Region 4

Butler

Glenn Hills

Josey

Laney

Putnam County

Thomson

Washington County

Westside, Augusta

Region 5

Callaway

Columbia

Eagle’s Landing Christian

Landmark Christian

McNair

Redan

Towers

Region 6

B.E.S.T Academy

KIPP Atlanta Collegiate

Mt. Paran Christian

North Cobb Christian

South Atlanta

Therrell

Walker

Washington

Region 7

Fannin County

Gordon Central

Haralson County

Model

Murray County

North Murray

Rockmart

Region 8

Athens Academy

Banks County

East Jackson

Fellowship Christian

Providence Christian

Union County

1A Division 1 Public

Region 1

Bacon County

Brooks County

Irwin County

Pelham

Region 2

Bleckley County

Dublin

East Laurens

Jefferson County

Swainsboro

Region 3

Bryan County

Claxton

Metter

Savannah

Screven County

Region 4

Crawford County

Heard County

Lamar County

Temple

Region 5

Jasper County

Oglethorpe County

Prince Avenue Christian

Social Circle

Region 6

King’s Ridge

Mount Vernon

Mt. Pisgah Christian

St. Francis

Whitefield Academy

Region 7

Armuchee

Chattooga

Coosa

Dade County

Darlington

Pepperell

Trion

Region 8

Athens Christian

Commerce

Elbert County

Rabun County

1A Division 2 Public

Region 1

Baconton

Calhoun County

Early County

Miller County

Mitchell County

Pataula Charter

Randolph-Clay

Seminole County

Stewart County

Terrell County

Region 2

Atkinson County

Charlton County

Clinch County

Lanier County

Turner County

Region 3

Emanuel County Institute

Jenkins County

McIntosh County Academy

Montgomery County

Portal

Region 4

Dooly County

Hawkinsville

Telfair County

Treutlen

Wheeler County

Wilcox County

Region 5

Georgia Military College

Glascock County

Hancock Central

Johnson County

Twiggs County

Wilkinson County

Region 6

Central, Talbotton

Chattahoochee County

Greenville

Macon County

Manchester

Marion County

Schley County

Taylor County

Region 7

Bowdon

Christian Heritage

Mt. Zion, Carroll

Region 8

Aquinas

Greene County

Lake Oconee Academy

Lincoln County

Towns County

Warren County

Washington-Wilkes

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.