The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) football playoffs don’t officially begin for another three weeks, but the postseason is unofficially underway.
Newberry head coach Ed Johnson was quoted as saying, “Every week is a playoff game,” heading into last night’s rivalry game against Williston. The Panthers entered the game, a 15-14 loss, on the bubble in Class 2A-Region 2.
In the latest FHSAA rankings, which are released every Tuesday, the Panthers were ranked eighth in the region. The rankings are based on overall record and strength of schedule to determine playoff seeding.
The top eight teams in each region receive a bid to the state playoffs (Classes 1A-7A), but four are district champions, which leaves just four at-large berths.
Bradford (Starke), which is ranked fourth in the state in Class 2A, is the top seed in the region. They are 3-0 in 2A-District 5 heading into tonight’s home game against Santa Fe (Alachua).
The visiting Raiders are 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the district. Although Newberry is now 4-5 following the loss to Williston, the Panthers finished 3-1 in the district.
That means a Santa Fe victory would force a three-way tie in the district standings.
According to the FHSAA, if three schools are tied for first place in the final district standings and one of the three schools defeated the other two in regular season competition, then that school shall advance to the regional tournament as the district champion.
However, if three or more schools are tied for first place in the final district standings and the tie cannot be broken based on the results of regular season competition, then a district tiebreaker shall be based on the FHSAA MaxPreps Rankings throughout the entire regular season to include week 11 games.
Santa Fe lost to Newberry, which lost at Bradford. Based on the second tiebreaker, the Tornadoes (8-1 overall) would win the district with a win or a loss, while a victory would win the district title outright.
Here is where it gets a little tricky.
The Villages (8-1, 1-1), Cocoa (3-4, 1-0), and Astronaut (5-3, 0-1) all compete in District 6 and all three are currently ranked in the top seven in the region.
Cocoa plays at Astronaut (Titusville) tonight with a chance to win the district outright.
If Astronaut were to pull the upset, it could potentially steal a bid from Newberry, which was only 0.138 rating points behind and had a better strength of schedule (4.77) than the War Eagles (-0.1).
The District 8 title is up for grabs as Calvary Christian (Clearwater) hosts Tampa Catholic.
Calvary Christian (5-3, 1-0) is ranked third in the region, while Tampa Catholic is ranked ninth behind Newberry. Berkeley Prep (Tampa), which is also in the three-team district and finished 1-1, is ranked fifth in the region and will get an at-large bid.
Newberry fans will need to root for a Calvary Christian victory, so Tampa Catholic (1-7, 0-1) doesn’t steal a bid.
Another key game tonight in 2A-Region 2 is Avon Park (5-3, 2-0) at Lake Placid (3-4, 2-0) for the District 7 title. Avon Park is 10th and Lake Placid is 12th, but that’s a guaranteed bid to the winner.
So, there is still a chance, but the only hope for the Panthers to make the postseason is to beat Trinity Catholic (Ocala) at home next Friday on Senior Night.
Then there’s Santa Fe.
After tonight’s game at Bradford, which will help their strength of schedule win or lose, the Raiders (6-2) will travel to Class 3A Weeki Wachee (7-1) next week.
A postseason bid for Santa Fe and/or Newberry won’t be determined until after next week’s games, but we will have more clarity after tonight’s key games.
The Rural classification is cut and dry. The top 16 teams make the regional tournament.
Hawthorne (6-1) is ranked second, followed by No. 3 Chiefland (8-1), seventh-ranked Williston (8-1), No. 13 Branford (6-2), and No. 14 Trenton (5-3). The seedings may change, but all five of those area teams are likely in.
Fort White (4-4) is just outside the top 16 at No. 17 and needs a win or two, and possibly some help.
Buchholz won the Class 6A-Disrict 3 title last night with a 50-16 win against Bartram Trail (St. Johns) on Thursday night.
The Bobcats (8-1), who have won seven in a row, are currently the top seed in 6A-Region 1, and if the season ended today, they would be the top overall seed in 6A. They have 21.666 rating points, which is 0.804 points ahead of 6A No. 2 Armwood (Seffner), which competes in Region 2.
Buchholz, which is the No. 4 overall team in Florida regardless of classification, travels to No. 26 Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach) next Friday for the regular-season finale.
Eastside (6-2), which won the 3A-District 5 title a couple of weeks ago with a 27-21 win in overtime against South Sumter (Bushnell), is in a good position to host a first-round playoff game if it can win tonight against North Marion (Citra) and next week’s finale against rival GHS.
The Rams (6-2) are currently the No. 4 seed in 3A-Region 2.
Columbia (Lake City) finished second in 4A-District 3 behind St. Augustine (8-0). However, the Tigers (7-1) have wrapped a playoff bid and are currently the No. 3 seed in 4A-Region 1.
And how about this head scratcher?
P.K. Yonge, which is winless this season at 0-8, can clinch a playoff appearance with a win at Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3-4). The winner wins the district title in this two-team 1A-District 4.