GIAA football: Season starts early, who might end it at Georgia Southern in 2026?
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
New bosses, replacing stars, defending championships, and adjust to a new horizon are questions that Central Georgia GIAA schools will start to answer or clarify on Friday.
The season starts for the stateās primary private school association a week earlier than for the GHSA, ostensibly because the GIAA wanted to be done with the season before thanksgiving.
The 2026 state finals are again at Georgia Southern, set for Nov. 20 and 21, three and a half weeks before the GHSA championships on Dec. 15-16.
The GIAA has made notable adjustments again.
It is retaining the format of combining classifications in regions (for football, it uses the term ādistrictsā but regions in other sports) and then splitting it up in the playoffs.
But now, the field is an eight-team field for Class 4A, 3A, and 2A. In Class 4A and 3A, eight of 13 teams (61.5 percent) advance, with eight of 12 in AA (66.7 percent).
Alas, in Class A, all four teams will make the postseason with Covenant dropping football for 2026. Windsor is one of the four teams in the Class A playoff field.
Last year, Piedmont was No. 9 in AAA, the only Central Georgia team that wouldāve been affected by this change.
Central Fellowship has a new head coach for the first time in more than a decade, but gets one of Central Georgiaās veteran football minds with Ted Belflower. He takes over a program thatās had success, but now for the first time in a long time has nobody named Walls around.
Mount de Sales brought Robert Slocum out of retirement and from the office of the GIAA. Slocum played at Mount de Sales and was the Cavsā head coach from 1991-2013. Mount de Sales has had only nine non-losing seasons this century.
The rookie head coach and the veteran head coach open the season against each other at Mike Garvin Stadium.
A year ago, Stratford was the top 4A seed, with FPD No. 3. John Milledge topped 3A while Westfield was No. 3.
Defending champ Brentwood was No. 1 in AA, followed by No. 5 Trinity Christian, No. 6 Central Fellowship, No. 7 Gatewood, and No. 8 Windsor.
But this year, Central Fellowship has moved up to 3A (with John Milledge and Westfield) for the playoffs and Windsor is down to A, and Piedmont is back in AA (with Brentwood, Gatewood, and TCS).
So, the road to an 11th game got tougher for Central Fellowship and easier for Piedmont.
Stratford and FPD have some replacing to do that will make things interesting early on.
Oddities: Both lost key players to injuries deep into the season, and their successors did fine.
Stratford running back Tyler Stephens went down with a knee injury early in the 49-3 win over Mount de Sales, ending his season with 1,325 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground.
Freshman Aaron Jefferson was getting quality snaps at running back on a part-time basis to go with his duties in the middle on defense at linebacker, and he was already proven with 188 yards on 29 carries in five games.
He finished that MdS win with 119 yards on 12 carries, and ran for 131, 86, 69, and 105 yards as the Eagles took the 4A state title.
Stratford was the opponent when FPD quarterback Major Simmons lowered his shoulder on the sideline in the red zone at the end of the third quarter, ending his season, as it turned out.
Freshman Cash Walker made his quarterback debut, and finished off the 21-10 win without the use of the pass. That changed, and he helped the increasingly injured Vikings the rest of the way, completing 75 percent of his passes with six touchdowns against two interceptions.
The two losses came to 3A state champ John Milledge and 4A runner-up Brookstone.
The Eagles return the majority of their experienced skill players as well as veterans throughout the offense and defense, putting a fairly clear target on their championship back.
FPD got a head start on the post-Simmons era, and balance a new set of skill players on offense with an experienced offensive line and a good mix on defense.
After the stunning 2-10 year in 2024, John Milledge returned to the reloading level with an 11-2 2025 that ended with a state championship for the sixth time in a decade.
Senior tight end/linebacker Asa Wall is one of the highest-rated private-school prospects this century, and has committed to Georgia, his dad and head coachās alma mater.
But the Trojans have experience all over.
Duke Hurt and Jamel Cooper are veteran running backs, and along with Wall can catch the ball. Bryce Miller and Cooper McNair lead a junior/senior offensive line.
Wall, junior Abe Gainous, and junior Colby Jacobs lead a defense that played a lot of players in 2026.
So, again, the Trojans are atop the 3A mountain. Westfield has experience back at the skill spots along with a good mix on defense, especially up front
Thatās where Brentwood is in Class AA, going for a threepeat.
We interrupt this to note that John Milledge and Brentwood go at it in the opener in Sandersville. Back to our story.
The War Eagles also start the season atop their classificationās mountain, with athlete Tristan Robinson, quarterback/safety Baylor Cobb,
Brentwood will have new faces up front on offense, but with about eight of the top 10 tacklers back ā and a load of linebackers ā returning, patience with any offensive questions wonāt be too hard.
Gatewood is unlikely to have its third straight losing season for the first time since 2002-04. The Gators have some skill back and a nice mix on defense.