The Florida High School Athletic Association’s tentative reclassification plan for the 2026 and 2027 football seasons, unveiled Monday afternoon, brings back the storied Edgewater-vs.-Evans rivalry, which has been dormant since 2015.
Trojans coach Karlos Odum likes the sound of playing Edgewater, which is just four miles away from the Evans campus. The Eagles were one of the first opponents Evans faced when it opened in 1959. The schools shared the Evans stadium for a number of years when it was dubbed Double E Stadium until Edgewater opened its on-campus stadium.
“I would love to play them. That doesn’t bother me at all,” Odum said Monday..
What he doesn’t like about the realignment is that both teams are in Class 5A Region 1, which stretches into the Panhandle. He wants no part of that after traveling seven hours to play Pace, located outside Pensacola, in a 6A region quarterfinal this year. The Trojans lost 20-6 and paid a steep price for charter buses, hotels and feeding players.
“It cost us $20,000 and that’s money we don’t have,” Odum said. “I want to get out of Region 1.”
Oviedo, which beat Evans for a 6A district title this season, also now goes to 5A but in a different district and region.
The FHSAA allows schools until 1 p.m. on Dec. 15 to appeal for changes in their classification or district. Geography is a primary factory in that process.
The Region 1 travel issue is a problem for teams on both ends of the equation and is difficult to solve. There are 24 teams in that 5A region as it stands, which is balanced with Region 2 (23 teams) and Region 3 (24 teams).
Edgewater, which was a 5A final four team in the 1A through 7A formula, is in essence making a move up in the realignment.
The FHSAA’s board of directors approved the plan to reduce the number of classifications from the current eight — 1A through 7A on top of the Rural division — to seven. Now 6A is the class for the state’s largest schools by enrollment.
FHSAA board approves 7-class football plan with a twist for independents
There will continue to be eight state championship games with the addition of an eight-team Open Division. As adopted, the eight highest ranked teams will be pulled out of their classifications to play in the Open bracket, designed for superpowers like St. Thomas Aquinas, Hollywood Chaminade and other South Florida teams that have dominated the sport in an era where impact transfers skew the balance of power.
The revised FHSAA format includes changes for a number of Orlando area schools.
Jones stays in 4A, as does the Tigers opponent in Saturday’s state final, reigning state champ American Heritage-Plantation.
Orlando neighbors Bishop Moore and Jones are in the same classification for the first time since 2019 — but are not in the same district.
Bishop Moore, a 3A semifinalist this fall, moves up to a 4A-6 district that includes Winter Springs and four Volusia County teams.
Jones also adds road trips if it remains in 4A-7. That district includes Brandon of Hillsborough County along with three Polk County teams and Sebring.
Coleman, defense lead Jones back to 4A state title game
The First Academy, which was ruled ineligible for the 2024 and 2025 Class 1A playoffs due to rules violations found by the FHSAA, is back in the postseason picture. The Royals add another juggernaut program to 2A classification that includes Hollywood Chaminade and Bolles, who can add to their collections of state championships this week.
Chaminade plays for the 1A title Thursday.
Cardinal Mooney, which plays Bolles for the 2A title on Wednesday, also stays 2A.
Kissimmee Osceola, a consistent winner, moves from 6A into a 5A district with Polk County powerhouse Lakeland, which vies for its 10th state championship this week.
“That doesn’t bother us at all. We’ve been in the district with them before,” Kowboys coach Eric Pinellas said. “We’re looking forward to that challenge.”
Pinellas is happy with the FHSAA’s move to create districts with five teams or more when possible.
“In the past I’ve had to find as many as eight district games. That’s tough for us.”
Teams going up to the large class include Mainland, which will be in a district with cross country rival DeLand — a 7A state seminal team this fall.
Here is where this year’s state final teams fall:
The 7A finalists, Lake Mary and Vero Beach, stay in the large-school class, now labeled 6A.
West Broward, a 6A finalist this year, stays there after it plays for a state title against West Boca Raton, which is heading to 5A for next season.
St. Thomas Aquinas, the 16-time state champ playing Lakeland for the 5A title Thursday, stays 5A with the Dreadnaughts.
Miami Northwestern will bump up to 4A after it plays Raines for the 3A championship. The Vikings stay 3A.
What remains to be seen is whether some of the many teams that went independent in order to avoid mandatory district games will come back into the state series. That could include Windermere High, which went 10-0 the past two seasons within the new Orange County Public Schools independent league.
Windermere was placed in a very manageable four-team 6A district and could well move back into the state playoff landscape.
Five OCPS schools registered for independents again this year: Colonial, Cypress Creek, Innovation, Lake Buena Vista and Orlando University.
The new classification arrangement is expected to be mirrored for other team bracket sports (basketball, baseball, softball, girls volleyball, soccer). Those districts will be announced in the spring.
Football was the first priority because it is the only sport that mandates regular season district games and schools must have that information to finalize schedules before or shortly after the Christmas break.
Here are the tentative alignments:
6A District 2
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Forest
Mainland
Spruce Creek
6A District 3
Apopka
Lake Brantley
Lake Mary
Seminole (Sanford)
University (Orange City)
6A District 4
Boone
Hagerty
Ocoee
Timber Creek
Winter Park
6A District 5
Harmony
Lake Nona
St. Cloud
Tohopekaliga
6A District 6
Dr. Phillips
Freedom
Olympia
West Orange
6A District 7
Celebration
East Ridge
Horizon
Windermere
5A District 4
Edgewater
Evans
Lake Minneola
Oak Ridge
South Lake
Wekiva
5A District 5
East River
Lake Howell
Lyman
Melbourne
Oviedo
Viera
5A District 6
Auburndale
Bartow
Gateway
Lake Gibson
Lakeland
Osceola
4A District 5
Gainesville
Lecanto
Leesburg
Mount Dora
Springstead
Vanguard (Ocala)
4A District 6
Bishop Moore
Deltona
New Smyrna Beach
Pine Ridge
Seabreeze
Winter Springs
4A District 7
Brandon
Jones
Kathleen
Lake Region
Lake Wales
Sebring
3A District 5
Eustis
South Sumter
Tavares
Villages Charter
3A District 7
Avon Park
DeSoto County
Hardee
Lake Placid
Liberty (Kissimmee)
Mulberry
Tenoroc
2A District 5
Cocoa Beach
Discovery Academy
Trinity Prep
Umatilla
The First Academy
1A District 3
Faith Christian
Father Lopez
Orlando Christian Prep
Master’s Academy
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com
