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Georgia high school football championships set attendance record

Collin-headshotby:Collin Ginnan01/06/25

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Luke Nickel copy
Milton QB Luke Nickel (Chad Simmons/On3)

After an exciting year of high school football around the state of Georgia, fans showed up in staggering numbers to see the culmination of the 2024 season on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The GHSA has revealed that last month’s state title games broke previous attendance records, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Across three days, 51,588 paid fans and 56,051 total attendees saw eight programs hoist a trophy. Those numbers are up 5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

“I’m super excited about that,” GHSA executive director Tim Scott told AJC. “It’s a credit to the state, and we had some good matchups this year. I hope it keeps growing.”

Georgia high school football championship games results

6A: Loganville Grayson def. Carrollton 38-24
5A: Milton def. Fairburn Langston Hughes 56-35
4A: Bogart North Oconee def. Atlanta Marist School 14-7
3A: Calhoun def. Jefferson 20-7
2A: Columbus Carver def. Burke County 52-14
Class A DI: Lyons Toombs County def. Macon Northeast 38-18
Class A DII: Bowdon def. Quitman Brooks County 34-14
Class Private A-3A: Hebron Christian Academy def. Prince Avenue Christian 56-28

High-scoring affairs headlined the Georgia high school football state title games in the two biggest classifications. On Dec. 17, Milton ran away late from Langston Hughes in the 5A championship to win 56-35 — the Eagles’ 25th consecutive victory.

Milton quarterback and Miami signee Luke Nickel finished 21-of-22 passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns. West Georgia signee TJ Lester led the team in receiving with 201 yards and three trips to the end zone.

The next day, Grayson took down Carrollton 38-24 in the 6A title game. The stout Rams defense managed to sack Colorado quarterback signee Julian Lewis four times, forcing two late interceptions and a fumble.

In the 3A state championship game, Calhoun pulled off an upset of Jefferson, 20-7, after missing the GHSA playoffs in 2023 for the first time in over two decades. It was the fourth title in school history for Calhoun, which had also recently won in 2014 and 2017.