The high school football season has reached its final week as 10 teams are playing for five state championships Friday and Saturday at the Georgia Dome. Here are some facts and figures you might not know about this year’s games:
AAAAA: Grayson (14-0) vs. Walton (14-0)
-Neither Grayson nor Walton has won a state title in football. This is the first time since Dunwoody defeated South Gwinnett in 1993 that the winner of the highest classification will be a first-time champion.
-It has happened only eight other times that two undefeated, untied teams have played for the championship in the highest classification. The most recent took place in 2001, when Parkview defeated Northside-Warner Robins 12-7.
-Walton is the first Cobb County team since Harrison in 2000 to play in a championship game and can become the first since Marietta in 1967 to win a state title. No team from the Cobb school system has won a state title in football, as Marietta is a city school.
-A team from Gwinnett County or South Georgia has won the highest classification each season since 1996. Grayson can become the eighth from Gwinnett. (Peachtree Ridge of Gwinnett shared the title with Roswell of Fulton County in 2006.)
-This game matches the leading rusher against the leading rush defense in AAAAA. Walton's Tyren Jones has rushed for 2,299 yards, and never less than 85 when he's had at least five carries. Grayson is allowing 36.7 yards rushing, and never more than 101 in one game.
AAAA: Lovejoy (14-0) vs. Tucker (14-0)
-Lovejoy is the first Clayton County school to play in a state championship game since Mount Zion in 1999. The only Clayton schools to win state championships are 1987 Morrow and 1951 Forest Park.
-Tucker is seeking to become the 17th team from DeKalb County to win a state championship. The most recent was Tucker in 2008.
-Lovejoy coach Al Hughes is a graduate of a Clayton County school, Jonesboro, and has worked as a coach in Clayton County for 35 years. He's never been part of a state championship game.
-Tucker's Franklin Stephens can become the first African-American to win two GHSA state titles as a head coach. Stephens' alma mater, Burke County, is in the AAA finals.
-This game matches Class AAAA's No. 1 offense in Tucker (45.3 points per game) against AAAA's No. 1 scoring defense in Lovejoy (3.6).
AAA: Peach (12-2) vs. Burke County (13-1)
-Class AAA sent all eight of its champions to the quarterfinals this year for the first time since 1990, when the GHSA first allowed non-champions to qualify. But it's the only class that can't have an undefeated champion.
-Burke County has never won a state title, although Waynesboro High won Class C in 1957. Waynesboro merged with Sardis Girard Alexander in 1987 to form Burke County High.
-Burke County's Eric Parker won a state championship as a player in 1983 at Mitchell-Baker. Only four men are known to have won state titles in Georgia as a player and coach. They are Charlie Winslette (Putnam County player, West Rome and Greene-Taliaferro coach), Dale Williams (1957 Valdosta player, 1977 and 1981 Waycross coach), Joe Wilson (1951 Valdosta player, 1980 Lowndes coach) and Phil Lindsey (1965 Bradwell Institute player, 1991 Lakeside-DeKalb coach). Calhoun's Hal Lamb also can join this list with a victory this week.
-Peach County is trying to win its fourth state title in seven seasons. Only seven schools have done that. They are Buford, Lincoln County, Morgan County, Parkview, Thomas County Central, West Rome and Valdosta.
-Burke County needs 45 points to set the state record for points in a season. Dublin scored 682 in 2006. Burke has 638. In beating Gainesville 63-28 last week, Burke put up the second-most points ever in a semifinal. The most was 66 by Southeast Bulloch in 1962.
AA: Buford (14-0) vs. Calhoun (14-0)
-Calhoun and Buford have met in the state championship game of Class AA each of the past three seasons, with Buford winning 45-21, 13-10 and 31-24. No other schools have played each other in a state final more than two seasons in a row. The only schools to play each other more times overall in state finals are Valdosta and Clarke Central (five). Valdosta also played Athens, Clarke Central's predecessor school, three times.
-Buford has the state's longest active winning streak at 27 games. Calhoun has won 53 straight games when not playing Buford. Calhoun, which last won a state championship in 1952, has won 53 straight games when not playing Buford.
-Buford coach Jess Simpson can become the sixth head coach with five GHSA state championships. He would join Wright Bazemore of Valdosta (13), Larry Campbell of Lincoln County (11), Nick Hyder of Valdosta (7), Charlie Grisham of Carrollton (five) and Ed Pilcher of Thomas County Central (five).
-Buford will set a state record by winning a fifth straight state championship. West Rome won four straight from 1982 to 1985.
-Calhoun is trying to avoid tying a state record of losing in four finals in four years. Adairsville, a northwest Georgia school that is 10 miles south of Calhoun, did it from 1969 to 1972.
Class A: Savannah Christian (14-0) vs. Landmark Christian (12-2)
-The winner of this game will become the 15th private school team to win a GHSA football state championship. The most recent was Wesleyan in 2008. This is the third all-private state championship game in history. The others were Marist-Woodward Academy in 1980 and Lovett-Savannah Country Day in 1970.
-Landmark is the fourth No. 4 seed to reach a state final since No. 4 seeds were allowed in the playoffs starting in 1996. The others are 1997 Irwin County, 2006 Peachtree Ridge and 2010 Savannah Christian. Only Peachtree Ridge among those won a state title.
- Savannah Christian is trying to become the first Savannah school to win a GHSA state championship since Savannah Country Day in 1969. Landmark Christian is trying to become the first school from south Fulton County to win a GHSA state title since Palmetto in 1983.
-Landmark is the third team to win four straight playoff games on an opponent's home field, first since Savannah Christian last year. Landmark also won at Wesleyan in the final game of the regular season in a play-in game from Region 5-A and hasn't played a home game since Oct. 14.
-Savannah Christian won seven state championships while playing in the Georgia Independent School Association from 1972 to 1987. No former GISA school has won a football state championship in the GHSA.