- The 2026 high school football season started last Friday with Sunshine State Athletic Association games and FHSAA's Kickoff Classics counting toward records from this Friday.
- New developments for the 2026 season include the Open Division Championship, Independent League Championship, and the end of Rural and 7A classifications.
- High school football will be covered live with two weekly broadcasts on 106.9 FM and Mainstreet Daily News audio streams, starting with games featuring Santa Fe at Newberry and Buchholz at Vanguard.
The wait is over.
The high school football season is officially underway. It began last Friday with regular-season games for Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA) member schools.
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) played its Kickoff Classics last Friday, so this Friday’s games will count in the win/loss column.
There are lots of storylines heading into the 2026 football season, including the new Open Division Championship and the Independent League Championship, plus no more Rural or 7A classifications.
Will Hawthorne, now in Class 1A, make it to a seventh straight state championship game? Can Buchholz, which heads into the season with a talented junior class, get to a sixth straight state semifinal?
Can either of those teams compete for an overall state championship? Who are the top players in the area? Which first-year coach will have the most success?
Those are some of the questions we will explore on our high school football preview show at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville. It’s the first episode of “The Prep Zone Sports Show’ for the 2026-27 school year.
Join Mainstreet Daily News sports director Mike Ridaught and co-host Marty Pallman for a special 1.5-hour episode from 6-7:30 p.m.
Their guests for this episode include former Gator football player Hank Rone, “color” analyst for high school football every Friday night on 106.9 FM “I am Country,” Mainstreet sports broadcast analyst Mac McCray, and Joshua Wilson of FloridaHSFootball.com.
You can listen to the show ‘live’ and ‘archived’ online at ThePrepZone.com & Mainstreet Daily News.
Once again, we’ll have two high school football broadcasts every week throughout the season. We embark on our seventh year on 106.9 FM “I am Country” and our sixth year streaming games (audio only) on Mainstreet Daily News (MDN).
Our 2026 football broadcast schedule, which will officially be released on Friday, includes four FHSAA playoff teams from a year ago.
Our audio stream is Santa Fe (Alachua) at Newberry, an Alachua County rivalry and showdown of 2025 FHSAA Class 2A state playoff teams. Last year the visiting Raiders (7-4) won their first four games of the season to double their total from the previous four seasons combined. The host Panthers (5-6) have won five in a row in the series.
Join Cam Parker (Play-by-play) and former University of Wisconsin football player/coach Mac McCray (Color) beginning at 7:15 p.m. on MDN. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Also on Friday, it’s an Alachua County vs. Marion County showdown as Buchholz travels to Booster Stadium to play Vanguard (Ocala).
The visiting Bobcats (12-2) advanced to their fifth straight state semifinal last year and head into the season with a talented junior class and playoff ambitions. The host Knights finished 9-3 last season, including a 15-13 loss last year against Buchholz at Citizens Field, and advanced to the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Buchholz has won five in a row in the series after Vanguard won four games in a row and seven of the previous eight.
Join Mainstreet Daily News Sports Director Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play) and former Gator football player Hank Rone (Color) for all the action.
Coverage begins at 7 p.m. on 106.9 FM “I am Country,” followed by the kickoff at 7:30 p.m. In addition to radio, audio coverage of the game is available at IamCountryGainesville.com