Thomas County Central demolishes Gainesville, 62-21: updates, highlights from Georgia's Class 5A state championship game

Kendall Webb

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Thomas County Central demolishes Gainesville, 62-21: updates, highlights from Georgia's Class 5A state championship game image

Gainesville will try to knock off undefeated Thomas County Central Wednesday night for Georgia's GHSA Class 5A state championship.

ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec. 17 — Christian "Deuce" Lawrence ran for 380 yards and five touchdowns Wednesday night to lead his No. 26 Thomas County Central [Thomasville, GA] Yellow Jackets to a 62-21 win over the Gainesville [GA] Red Elephants.

Lawrence set a new Georgia state record for a high school football championship game in the Peach State while leading his Yellow Jackets to the GHSA Class 5A state title.

Thomas County Central finished the season 15-0, ending it in style as all of Georgia's top three state championships went undefeated wire to wire. The Buford [GA] Wolves also finished 15-0 while claiming the Class 6A title on Tuesday night while the Creekside [Fairburn, GA] Seminoles matched the record of the two upper division champions while claiming the Class 4A title on Monday night.

Gainesville, meanwhile, finished its 2025 campaign at 12-3.

WATCH ON THE NFHS NETWORK: No. 26 Thomas County Central [Thomasville, GA] Yellow Jackets vs. Gainesville [GA] Red Elephants

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Refresh for updates

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End of the fourth quarter — Thomas County Central 62, Gainesville 21

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 62, GAINESVILLE 21

Lawrence up to 380 rushing yards, and he adds his fifth touchdown of the night.

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 55, GAINESVILLE 21

Lawrence does it again. He's up to 367 yards rushing with four touchdowns tonight.

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The game announcers have confirmed that Lawrence has set a new Georgia high school football state championship game record with 347 rushing yards (so far). He's still adding to it, and the old record was 320.

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 48, GAINESVILLE 21

Gainesville is still playing hard, and following the touchdown, they covered the onside kick. It's all going to be too little too late, but credit the Red Elephants for continuing to play hard.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 48, GAINESVILLE 14

Christian "Deuce" Lawrence is having a game for the ages in Georgia state championship history. He's got 318 yards rushing tonight, and the Yellow Jackets are making this look easy.

 

 

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End of third quarter — Thomas County Central 41, Gainesville 14

We're getting close to a running clock as the Yellow Jackets carry this big lead into the fourth quarter.

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 41, GAINESVILLE 14

Unfortunately for Gainesville, they're unable to get a stop, and Thomas Couny scores on a long touchdown run.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 34, GAINESVILLE 14

Gainesville breathes life into its season, but they are still on the ropes. They need some stops.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 34, GAINESVILLE 7

The Yellow Jackets have mostly overwhelmed the Red Herd tonight, and this is close to being out of reach.

 

 

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A crazy play on the ensuing kickoff. Everybody stopped due to an inadvertent whistle on the kick return, but when the rest of the officials didn't stop the play, the returner started running again and ran all the way to the end zone for an apparent touchdown. After huddling, the officials acknowledged the whistle, and then the two teams set up to replay the kickoff.

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 28, GAINESVILLE 7

The third quarter is less than 90 seconds old, and already the Yellow Jackets have extended their lead on Pringle's second touchdown reception of the night. This is the last thing Gainesville needed to open this half.

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End of second quarter — Thomas County Central 21, Gainesville 7

Thomas County Central has mostly dominated in one half of football. The Red Herd will have to figure some things out at the half if they want to knock off this powerful Yellow Jackets' squad from Thomasville, Georgia.

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 21, GAINESVILLE 7

The Yellow Jackets go back up by two touchdowns again. Gainesville is going to have to score some points tonight to keep pace with the undefeated Jackets, and they're back on offense with 6:32 to play in the first half.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 14, GAINESVILLE 7

Gainesville is finally on the board in Atlanta.

 

 

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End of first quarter — Thomas County Central 14, Gainesville 0

So far, it's all Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

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Just under three minutes to play in the first quarter. It's been all Thomas County Central so far.

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Gainesville tries to take a deep shot, but Thomas County Central's Kobe Carnage picks it off at the Yellow Jackets' 6-yard line. The Red Elephants are having trouble getting anything going on offense.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 14, GAINESVILLE 0

After another quick stop, Thomas County Central puts seven more on the board on a quarterback keeper by Johnson. Gainesville needs an answer on this next drive.

 

 

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THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 7, GAINESVILLE 0

Jaylen Johnson finds Gary Pringle on a touchdown pass to put the Yellow Jackets out front early.

 

 

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Gainesville with a quick three-and-out. Thomas County's offense takes the field for the first time.

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They're finally under way in Atlanta!

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Hang with us folks as we are sneaking up closer to game time. The Georgia GHSA Class 3A title game is still in process so it will be a while. We'll update you as we get closer to kick off.

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Coming soon!

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Gainesville vs. Thomas County Central start time

  • Date: Wednesday, Dec. 17
  • Start time: 8 p.m. EST local

The game between Benedictine and Creekside is being played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

How can I watch Gainesville vs. Thomas County Central today?

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