The Feel Good Stories of the year from Georgia high school football

Jackson County completes a record season; North Hall wins first division title since 2012; and much more

Jackson County completed an undefeated season and set the school record for wins in a season . / Jackson County Football

Every high school football season is filled with tremendous highs and lows, and everything in between. With the 2024 postseason nearly upon us, we compiled the following collection of the Feel Good Stories of the Year from Georgia high school football.

Jackson County ties school record for wins  

What a season it has been for the Jackson County Panthers. 

The Panthers have been playing high school football since 1980, and outside of a couple of seasons, it has been a major struggle. Coming into 2024, the program has had just five winning seasons, and the last came way back in 2012 when they went 6-5. Prior to that, the Panthers hadn’t had a winning season since 1992. 

But things have been different in 2024. 

Jackson County, which is the 5th fastest growing county in the United States, has started to turn the corner when it comes to generating enough athletes to be competitive in Georgia high school football, and that’s showing in 2024. 

The Panthers completed their regular season defeating Habersham Central 34-20, and that gave them eight wins, matching a school record set back in 1992. Even more fitting, it came against Benji Harrison, the current head coach at Habersham who was the last coach to lead the Panthers to a winning season in 2012. 

They’re headed to the playoffs for just the sixth time in program history, and they’ll be hosting their first ever playoff game after finishing as region runner-ups behind Clarke Central, the only team to beat them in Region 8-AAAAA play this season. 

The Panthers are led by second-year head coach Korey Mobbs, who is no stranger to winning. 

He amassed a 58-22 record over seven seasons at Lanier High School in Gwinnett County, winning two region championships and making the playoffs in six of his seven years. 

The next thing on the Panthers’ to-do list is to win their first playoff game in program history, and that will be no easy task this year despite their great playoff seeding. Thanks to predetermined brackets, the Panthers are matched up with Region 1-5A, arguably the best region in the state regardless of classification. 

The Panthers will play host to Coffee High School, who won the Class 5A state championship last year and finished third in their region behind Lee County, the No. 4 team in the state, and Thomas County Central, last year’s Class 6A state champion and current No. 8 ranked team in the state. 

And while Coffee isn’t one of the favorites to win another Class 5A state championship this season, it’s for sure to be the best team the Panthers have faced this season. 

Whether the Panthers win or lose to the Trojans, the 2024 season has been nothing shy of fantastic for a program itching for a breakthrough. 

North Hall wins first region championship in 12 years 

For a program that had an extremely good run from 2004-2012, North Hall has been working hard to get back to those days. 

That nine-year stretch featured two runs to the Class AAA semifinals, and two runs to the Class AAA quarterfinals. They won four region championships during that stretch, but haven’t won one since 2012. 

That changed this season when the Trojans captured the Region 6-AAA championship, defeating the likes of Lumpkin County and Greater Atlanta Christian to do so. 

Head coach Sean Pender is in his third year at the helm, and the Trojans have only gotten better since he came on board in 2022. They were 3-7 in Year 1, 7-4 in Year 2 and now 8-2 in Year 3. 

Westover has best regular season in program history

The Westover Patriots had improved ever so slightly between 2020-23, a four-year stretch that featured three different head coaches at the helm. 

But in 2024, the Patriots took it up a notch under another head coach. In Corey Joyner’s first year at the helm, the Patriots improved from a 5-win team in 2023, to a 9-win team in 2024, good enough for their best regular season in program history dating back to 1968. 

Joyner is no stranger to winning, either. 

The veteran head coach had a tremendous four-year run at Carver-Columbus, winning 47 and reaching the Class AAAA state championship game last season before losing to Benedictine. 

Despite going 9-1 during the regular season, the Patriots fell just short of winning their first region championship since 2013. Their one loss came against Peach County, who walked away with the Region 1-AAA title this season. 

But the Patriots have bigger goals in 2024. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2013, and with a home playoff game set to take place on Nov. 15, they will have a great opportunity to do just that. 

Sprayberry wins first region championship since 2008

When it comes to Sprayberry High School football, there hasn’t been a lot to cheer about over the years. 

The program entered the 2024 season with no region championships in the past 16 years, and just one playoff win during that stretch. That playoff win came in 2020, and it was the program’s first since 1982. 

But 2024 has been different for the Yellow Jackets. 

After starting off Region 6-AAAAA with a loss to Pope, they didn’t lose again, ripping off their final six region games to win their first region title since 2008. Their nine regular season wins sets a school record, and it’s their most in a regular season since 1982. 

Much like Jackson County, who also put together a historic 2024 regular season, the Yellow Jackets won’t have it easy come playoff time. They’re matched up with Gainesville out of Region 7, which is not your average No.3 seed. 

While it might be a one-and-done situation for the Yellow Jackets in the postseason, their 2024 campaign is hopefully a sign of great things to come for the program moving forward under head coach Brett Vavra. 

New Manchester gets major turnaround in Year 2 of Olton Downs 

Look out. Here come the New Manchester Jaguars. 

It has been tough sledding for the Jaguars in recent years. Outside of a 6-4 season in 2020 in which they won a playoff game for the first time in program history, the Jaguars weren’t a good team from 2021-2023. 

They were just 9-21 during that stretch, including an 0-10 season in 2022. 

In need of a rebuild, in stepped Olten Downs, who in his first year leading the program in 2023, got the Jaguars pointed back in the right direction. They increased their win total from zero to four, and gave the team and community something to build off of going into 2024. 

Whatever momentum Downs and the Jaguars built in 2023 was carried over into 2024 and then some. Playing out of a very competitive Region 5-AAAAA, the Jaguars went 8-2 on the season with their only losses coming to Rome and East Paulding. 

It’s their best regular season in program history, and it was good enough to earn the region’s No. 3 seed for the upcoming Class AAAAA state playoffs. 

The Jaguars are set to face off against Lakeside-Evans in the first round, which all things considered is a good matchup. They avoid the classification's toughest regions and will give themselves a great shot to pull off an upset on the road in Round 1. 

Regardless if they win or lose, the Jaguars are a program on the rise. 

Sumter County has big turnaround season

Where did Sumter County come from in 2024? 

Heading into 2024, the Panthers weren’t a team that scared many in recent years. They hadn’t put together a winning season since 2011, despite winning a playoff game in 2019, and had won just eight games over four seasons from 2020-2023. 

But under the direction of head coach Will Rogers, the Panthers have started to win. 

In his first season at the helm in 2023, the Panthers improved from a 1-win team to a 5-win team, snapping a stretch of three consecutive losing seasons. 

In 2024, they  blew past that 5-win mark winning nine games, their most in a regular season in program history dating back 20 years. 

They’ve been ranked amongst various publications for teams competing out of Class AA for many parts of the season, and they’re set to host just their second home playoff game in seven years. 

The Ola Mustangs have been knocking on the door for several years now. 

They entered 2024 having made the playoffs every year since 2019, but had yet to break through with a playoff win for the first time in program history. 

For a program that’s been around 2006, the Mustangs had also never won a region championship. They came very close in 2020, falling just short to Jones County, who beat them out for the Region 4-AAAAA championship by just three points, 38-35. 

And it appeared after a great 2024 regular season that the Mustangs would fall just short again, this time to Stockbridge, who had clinched the Region 2-AAAA title with an undefeated record in region play. 

That was until they were stripped of that title for playing an ineligible player and were forced to vacate all nine of their wins. That in turn awarded the Mustangs with the region championship, and also gave them a perfect 10-0 regular season thanks to the forfeit. 

And while that’s probably not how the Mustangs wanted to earn their program’s first region title, it’s one they will certainly take. They will now turn their attention to crossing off another box in 2024 - winning a playoff game. 

They will play host to Flowery Branch, who finished their regular season with a 4-6 record, and it’s a game the Mustangs will easily be favored in. 

It has been a special season for the Mustangs, and it’s all come under the direction of first-year head coach Dustin Adkins, who had never been at the helm of a high school varsity program prior to this season. 

Pretty good way to start your coaching career with a 10-0 record, winning the program’s first region title, and hopefully soon helping lead the program to its first ever playoff win.