GHSA football championships: A look at the top prospects vying for state titles

Buford faces Carrollton for the state championship on Tuesday in the Georgia High School Association’s largest classification. That will decide which 6A powerhouse becomes the team to beat for the mythical high school national championship.

There’s no need to play 60 minutes to decide which game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will draw the most recruiting attention.

Buford-Carrollton will be a recruiting benchmark, featuring 27 prospects ranked at 3 stars or higher by Rivals and its Industry Ranking. The rosters go even deeper, with another 17 players from both teams who have recruiting profiles on Rivals. That’s 44 documented college prospects for one state championship game.

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There are no official records for a statistic like that, but it is very rare air, given how easy it is to track offers for freshmen and sophomores these days with national services. Carrollton freshman quarterback CJ Cypher is a good example of that. He doesn’t have a star ranking yet, per se, but he already has offers from Auburn, FSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Miami, among others.

Buford-Carrollton also features four future Georgia Bulldogs. Carrollton has three-star offensive lineman Zykie Helton and four-star wide receiver Ryan Mosley. The Wolves counter with four-star safety Tyriq Green (an AJC Super 11 selection) and four-star offensive lineman Graham Houston.

That contest, set for 8 p.m. on Tuesday, will also feature eight seniors who have already signed with programs competing in the 12-team College Football Playoff later this month.

Georgia signee and AJC Super 11 selection Kaiden Prothro is ranked by Rivals as a five-star recruit. The Bowdon standout claimed his fourth straight GHSA Class A state title on Monday. He’s one of three five-stars in town this week, along with Gainesville linebacker Xavier Griffin and Benedictine EDGE LaDamion Guyton.

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Guyton, a Texas Tech signee, is the highest-rated prospect at the GHSA finals. He reclassified from the 2027 cycle earlier this year and is rated No. 12 overall for 2026.

His Cadets had the most recruits to watch on Monday. Benedictine also has three-star quarterback Stephen Cannon (also signed with Texas Tech), speedy four-star Notre Dame WR signee Bubba Frazier and three-star Clemson defensive line signee Kameron Cody, among others.

That lineup set up for an interesting clash with Creekside. The state-record-setting offense was led by senior QB Caden Benson, who does not have a star ranking, but he’s all anyone could ask for in a high school quarterback. He’s listed at 5-foot-11, but had thrown for 37 touchdowns and tallied another 10 rushing scores this fall before the state title game.

His Seminoles have four players who are ranked by Rivals.

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The Class 5A final, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, will also go very deep on recruited prospects. Gainesville, with its 11 ranked recruits, will face a Thomas County Central team with nine of its own.

The Red Elephants are led by a pair of Alabama signees in Griffin and four-star DL Jamarion Matthews. Four-star junior QB Kharim Hughley is one of the highest-rated juniors in the finals. The Clemson commit ranks as the nation’s No. 15 QB for 2027. He’s thrown for 2,467 yards and 33 scores heading into the game.

Thomas County Central will counter Gainesville with three-star EDGE Cam Brooks (FSU), three-star WR Jaydon Dunbar (Pitt), four-star junior WR Jabari Watkins (Nebraska commit), three-star running back Christian Lawrence (Wake Forest) and three-star offensive lineman Deontavis Cooper (Tulane) from its roster.

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GHSA state championships: Recruiting snapshot by the numbers

5-star prospects (any service): 3
Top 100 overall prospects (any class): 7
AJC Super 11 selections: 3 (Tyriq Green, Xavier Griffin, Kaiden Prothro)
Power 4 signees: 34
SEC signees: 15
Teams with at least five ranked recruits: 6A Buford (19); 5A Gainesville (11); 2A Carver-Columbus (9); 5A Thomas County Central (9); 6A Carrollton (8); 4A Benedictine (7); 5A Sandy Creek (5)