The Georgia High School Football Daily recently published the state’s biggest winners in the 21st century. So that got us thinking at Friday Game Night, who are the biggest winners in the northeast Georgia area over that same span?
In the 20th century, going back to the first credited GHSA state title season (1947) and including GISA (now the GIAA), only Stephens County (1958), Buford (1978), and Commerce (1981) had been able to snag titles as far as teams from this part of the state.
But over the past 25 seasons, Commerce (2000), Riverside Prep (2005, GISA), Gainesville (2012), Jefferson (2012), Lanier Christian (2024, GAPPS), and Buford (13 titles) have been able to hoist championship trophies. That’s nearly one per season (18 total) for our area teams since 2000. Not too shabby!
As to the winningest programs in the area, most of the results will not surprise you. But this is also about finding out if there has been a true shift of power in the area and around the state and which of our area teams have broken through on the statewide stage.
Buford is the winningest program in the area -- and the state -- with 331 since 2000. But the truly interesting part is that the Wolves averaged a modest 6.2 wins/year over their first 55 years. Since then, they have averaged 13.24 wins/year, more than double.
Jefferson has the second-most wins with 224. The Dragons also have upped their game, averaging 8.96 wins/year since 2000 compared to just 5.8 wins/year over their first 54 seasons.They have averaged 9.5 wins/year since 2010.
Gainesville is third with 219 wins, and is the third-winningest program in the state’s history with 791. And much like the first two, the Red Elephants have stepped it up this century, averaging 8.76 wins/year compared to just 6.5 wins/year over their first 87 seasons. Bruce Miller got it started and now Josh Niblett is trying to add on.
Commerce, another long-standing program, is fourth with 201 wins. The Tigers have been a model of consistency. They had 214 wins the previous 25 seasons.
No. 5 on the list is no surprise if you’re a recent fan of high school football. But looking at the history of this program, the 21st century has been phenomenal. North Hall has piled up 174 wins since 2000, an average of 6.9 wins/year. The Trojans had just 116 total wins over their first 42 seasons, just 2.7 wins/year over that stretch. Thank you Bob Christmas, David Bishop, and now Sean Pender is adding to that.
Rabun County comes in at No. 6 on the list, piling up 164 wins so far this century. But 136 of those have been since 2010, an average of 9.0 wins/season, powered by former coaches Lee Shaw and Jaybo Shaw.
Flowery Branch is 7th with 161 wins, but 103 of those were between 2002 and 2009. Union County is 8th at 136 wins, and much like Rabun County, the Panthers turned it up after 2010 with 97 wins.
Dawson County is 9th with 131 wins and North Forsyth rounds out the top 10 with 124 wins since 2000.
So, who are the teams on the rise during the 2020s? Buford still tops the list with 61 wins over the past five seasons. But 2nd on that list would be Rabun County, who has racked up 50 wins (10/season) so far.
Third this decade is Gainesville with 44 wins, edging out Jefferson with 43, and Commerce is fifth with 42. Cherokee Bluff is sixth with 39 wins as Tommy Jones has quickly built the Bears into a perennial winner and playoff stalwart.
What will the second half of the decade hold in store? Who knows. But we’ll be keeping track.
