Thanksgiving off for GHSA semifinal teams, and a week break before finals; new overtime format approved

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The Georgia High School Association football schedule has yet another change to deal with.

          The good news for those still alive in November’s high school football playoffs is that teams will not play on Thanksgiving week, and can watch Georgia and Georgia Tech play on Black Friday, a day after Thanksgiving.

          Then comes the semifinal, on Dec. 6-7, with another week off. Again, the state championships are weekday affairs, from Dec. 16-18, Monday through Wednesday.

          The schedule is on target, so to speak, for the first three rounds, but there’ll be no high school playoff games on Nov. 29-30.

          Hines shared the update an interview last Friday with the AJC/Georgia High School Football Daily, a day after it became official that Georgia and Georgia Tech would be playing on Black Friday.

          There was no announcement beforehand from the GHSA on the change, nor on a new football overtime system Hines talked about.

          Hines said that schedule change had nothing to do with the playoffs taking Thanksgiving week off. It’s reportedly connected to the SEC Championship game being played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 7, a weekend after Thanksgiving.

          This year’s finals are a week later than last year.

          On the GHSA’s website, though, its “Beginning and Ending Dates” for 2024-25 was last updated on March 27, and has the semis on Nov. 29 and finals on Dec. 9-11, as of Tuesday morning. Another monthly calendar feature lists the semifinals as “tentative” on Nov. 29, with nothing listed in December yet.

          Hines told the AJC/GHSFD that this year’s schedule tweak is a one-time situation.

          The 2023 finals, also on a Monday-Wednesday, set an attendance record of 50,662. The game returned to Mercedes-Benz Stadium after four years at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium, a run plagued by rough weather.

          The schedule: Nov. 8-9, first round; Nov 15, second round; Nov. 22, third round; Dec. 6, semifinals; Dec. 7, SEC Championship; Dec. 16-18, championships.

          According to ticket websites SeatGeek.com, there is nothing at the stadium between the SEC championship and the Dec. 22 Falcons game against the New York Giants.

          The stadium’s website only lists events through mid October.

          Hines also told the AJC/GHSFD of a new overtime procedure.

          After the first two normal overtime possessions, the third possession become a single two-point conversion try from the 3-yard line until there’s a winner. It’s a change from teams having to go for two after the third overtime.

          All games now must have a winner determined. Teams in non-region games in the past were able to simply call a game a tie rather than continue playing.

The decisions came from the GHSA office, which has such discretion for postseason moves.

          Hines final official day as executive director is June 30, with Tim Scott taking over on July 1.