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 […]
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.
Category: General Sports
