High school football playoffs begin this week

On Sunday, the Florida High School Athletic Association announced the seedings and pairings for this year’s football state playoffs, which begins this week.

A total of 12 area teams advanced to the postseason— Class 7A Buchholz (Gainesville), 6A Gainesville, 6A Columbia (Lake City), 4A Keystone Heights, 3A P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), and 1A schools Chiefland, Hawthorne, Union County (Lake Butler), Fort White, Trenton, Bradford (Starke) and Newberry.

Buchholz won the 7A-District 2 title and earned the No. 1 seed in Class 7A-Region 1.

Become A Member

Mainstreet does not have a paywall, but pavement-pounding journalism is not free. Join your neighbors who make this vital work possible.

The Bobcats (9-1), who won at 8A playoff bound Bartram Trail (St. Johns), 28-13, on Friday, will host No. 8 Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6-4) this Thursday night at Citizens Field in the first round. The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at MainStreetDailyNews.com.

Gainesville defeated St. Augustine on the road to win the Class 6A-District 4 title on Oct. 29. The Hurricanes (8-2), who beat rival Eastside,28-10, this past Friday night, will host Lincoln (Tallahassee) (8-2) in the first round of the 6A state playoffs this Friday night. The game will be broadcast on 106.9 FM “I am Country.”

Columbia, which won the 6A-District 3 title, will also be at home. The Tigers (6-4) will host Riverside (Jacksonville), formerly Robert E. Lee, in a rematch of the Tigers’ come-from-behind 28-26 district win on Oct. 8. It was the only loss of the season for the Generals (9-1).

P.K. Yonge handed Keystone Heights its first loss of the season this past Friday. The Blue Wave’s 33-14 win locked down the No. 4 seed in Class 3A-Region 1.

P.K. Yonge (7-3) will host No. 5 seed Crescent City (7-3), while Keystone Heights (9-1), which earned the No. 3 seed in 4A-Region 2, will host No. 6 Umatilla (6-4) on Friday.

The Class 1A playoffs are loaded with seven local teams earning postseason berths.

In Class 1A-Region 3, top seed Chiefland, which lost at Region 2 No. 1 seed Blountstown, 24-13, this past Friday in the SSAC playoffs, will receive a bye. It was the first loss of the season for the Indians (9-1), who will host the winner of this Friday’s game between No. 4 Lafayette (Mayo) (7-3) and No. 5 Fort White (5-4) in the regional semifinals on Nov. 19.

Union County (Lake Butler) completed an unbeaten regular season with a 54-0 win at Cocoa Beach last Friday. The Tigers (10-0), who earned the No. 3 seed in 1A-Region 3, will host No. 6 seed Trenton (4-5) this Friday night.

Hawthorne, which had its game against 5A playoff bound North Marion (Citra) canceled due to weather this past Friday, is the top seed in 1A-Region 4. The Hornets (7-0), who are ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1A, will play the winner of No. 4 Wildwood/No. 5 Fort Meade game on Nov. 19.

Newberry, which lost to 4A playoff bound South Sumter (Bushnell) this past Friday, earned the No. 6 seed in the region. The Panthers (5-5) will travel to No. 3 Bradford (Starke) (5-5) for the regional quarterfinals. The winner will travel to No. 2 seed Pahokee on Nov. 19 for the regional semifinals.

Football playoffs – Regional Quarterfinals (Friday, Nov. 12, unless noted)

7A-Region 1 Quarterfinals – Thursday, Nov. 11

No. 8 Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6-4) at No. 1 Buchholz (Gainesville) (9-1), 7 p.m.

6A-Region 1 Quarterfinals

No. 5 Riverside (Jacksonville) (9-1) at No. 4 Columbia (Lake City) (6-4), 7:30 p.m.

No. 6 Lincoln (Tallahassee) (8-2) at No. 3 Gainesville (8-2), 7:30 p.m.

4A-Region 2 Quarterfinals

No. 6 Umatilla (6-4) at No. 3 Keystone Heights (9-1), 7:30 p.m.

3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals

No. 5 Crescent City (7-3) at No. 4 P.K Yonge (Gainesville) (7-3), 7:30 p.m.

1A-Region 3 Quarterfinals

No. 1 Chiefland (9-1) – Bye

No. 5 Fort White (5-4) at No. 4 Lafayette (Mayo) (7-3), 7:30 p.m.

No. 6 Trenton (4-5) at No. 3 Union County (Lake Butler) (10-0), 7:30 p.m.

1A-Region 4 Quarterfinals

No. 1 Hawthorne (7-0) – Bye

No. 6 Newberry (5-5) at No. 3 Bradford (Starke) (5-5), 7 p.m.

Tags:none
Enjoying our local sports coverage? Get Mike Ridaught's twice weekly sports newsletter in your inbox.
Sports Newsletter Form
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments