The Florida High School Athletic Association released its final football realignment assignments for the 2026 and 2027 seasons Wednesday, and the most significant Orlando-area surprise was seeing tradition-rich Edgewater move up to the highest classification.
Edgewater was in Class 5A, underneath 7A and 6A, for the past two years and was initially booked for 5A in the FHSAA’s tentative plan unveiled on Dec. 8. But the Eagles requested to move up to the top classification — which is now 6A — and the request was approved.
Edgewater fits into 6A, District 5 with four familiar Metro Conference rivals: Dr. Phillips, Ocoee, Olympia and West Orange. The Eagles scored a 35-6 regular season win against DP (9-4), which advanced to a region final. West Orange (10-2) reached a region semifinal game.
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“We’re excited. It’s gonna be another level of competition and we’re trying to help our strength of schedule increase,” said Edgewater coach Patrick Browning, who guided the Eagles to a 12-1 record in his first season in Orlando. “I think this is gonna help with that and I think it’s gonna help to keep our kids motivated, take a new path and work even harder in the offseason.”
Orlando’s The First Academy, which had been banned from state playoffs for the past two seasons, can return to the playoffs as a Class 2A team in the realignment. The Royals, formerly in 1A, will join a powerhouse lineup of 2A members including 1A state champ Cardinal Newman, along with Chaminade-Madonna, Cocoa and Bolles, which have all won numerous state titles in the past.
TFA will be in 2A, District 5 with Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Discovery and Umatilla.
Evans, like Edgewater, had also requested to move up, but the request was denied and head coach Karlos Odum is not happy.
The Trojans will remain in 5A-4 with Lake Minneola, South Lake and Wekiva, but without Edgewater and Oak Ridge, which will remain an independent, outside of playoff system.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Odum said. “They move Edgewater to 6A and I’m trying to figure out, how does that happen? We all asked for the same thing. None of it makes sense to me. How does one school qualify for it and we’re not qualified for it. That’s the big question. I guess we’ll be waiting to get that answer.”
Edgewater’s request to move up was done so with the hopes of improving the Eagles’ strength of schedule, a determining factor in FHSAA power rankings. The difference in strength of schedule for Edgewater among this past season’s district teams and its future district opponents is six games in the win column, looking at the 2025 season. Edgewater’s 5A district opponents this year had a combined 21-23 record. Their new district opponents went 27-19.
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“We’re wanting to be at the top of the food chain and competing against the best each week,” Browning said. “We want to maximize the system, the way it’s set up, to give ourselves the best chance to get the best possible playoff seeding.”
Edgewater was 10-0 in the 2025 regular season and was the overall No. 1 seed in 5A. That gave the Eagles homefield advantage in a region final, which they lost against Lakeland 27-14.
Critics of Edgewater’s move will suggest Edgewater is running away from state powers Lakeland (11 FHSAA titles) and St. Thomas Aquinas, which owns the state record with 17 championships and has won seven in a row.
Browning scoffed at the idea.
“Tell the state to change the way they do the power rankings and we won’t feel the need to move up a classification,” Browning said. “But until that changes and everything is based on strength of schedule, we wanted to have the best chance to have a strong strength of schedule.
“Anybody who watched the game against Lakeland knows it was one or two plays away from being a different outcome. We’re not scared of anybody. We’re trying to put ourselves, long term, in the best position to try to compete for championships.”
Another surprise has 6A District 7 with just three teams in Celebration, East Ridge and Horizon, which bumps up to the highest class for its fifth football season. That begs the question: Why wasn’t one of the five teams in Edgewater’s District 5 moved in to make the two districts balanced with four teams each?
Class 4A District 7, originally scheduled as a six-team district, was changed to a far-flung five-team lineup with Jones High of Orlando, Brandon, Lakeland Kathleen, Lake Region and Lake Wales. The original plan had Sebring penciled in.
Sebring has moved up to 5A.
Jones has run into difficulty traveling to Polk County schools in the past due to Friday night traffic along one of the most congested stretches of I-4. This season, Jones traveled to Lake Wales for a district game scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. The Tigers bus arrived at 6:50.
“The concern is both the travel and the expenses,” Jones coach Elijah Williams said. “At Lake Wales this year … they were lined up for kickoff when our bus arrived. I had to run on the field and stop the game. I told them, ‘Flag us or whatever. I understand you want to start on time, but we just got here.’ It took us two hours to get there in that traffic.”
The trip to Brandon will be Jones’ longest trip, 77 miles one way.
Road trips have long been a challenge for Orange County schools as school buses must complete their after-school student drop-offs before making football trips.
Plantation American Heritage, which beat Jones in this year’s 4A state final, stays with the Tigers in 4A. That class now has another power in Miami Northwestern, which was No. 1 in its class before losing the 3A final to Raines.
Bishop Moore, which lost a 3A state semifinal against Northwestern in Miami, moves up to 4A, but not into the same district as Jones. The Hornets’ district has Winter Springs and three Volusia County schools: Deltona, New Smyrna Beach and Seabreeze
Lake Mary, coming off the 7A state championship, stays in the top class (6A). The Rams district foes will be Seminole, Lake Brantley and Apopka. All five of the teams Lake Mary beat in its playoff run remain in its class: Hagerty, Spruce Creek, DeLand, Venice and Vero Beach.
DeLand, which lost to Lake Mary in the state semifinals, now joins county rival Mainland in a six-team, 6A district.
Kissimmee Osceola joins Lakeland in a six-team 5A district. Oviedo and Lake Howell are also in a six-team 5A district.
Eight Orange County Public Schools are again going the independent route. Those are Colonial, Cypress Creek, East River, Innovation, Lake Buena Vista, Oak Ridge, University and Windermere, which went 10-0 as as an independent in each of the past two seasons.
Those teams won’t be eligible for the state championship series but next year could be contenders to participate in the Florida Invitational Tournament program, which the FHSAA launched this season. That was not an option for the OCPS independents this year.
Windermere coach Riki Smith has expressed a desire for his players to be able to experience playoff football.
OCPS district athletic director Lonnie Flores was not available for comment at the time of the FHSAA’s realignment release Wednesday.
There are 16 districts in the top four classifications, 3A through 6A, with 32 playoff berths available. Class 1A and 2A have fewer schools and just 11 districts. It remains to be seen how many playoff slots the two smaller divisions will have.
Realigned Orlando Area Football Districts
6A District 2
DeLand
Mainland
Spruce Creek
Orange City University
6A District 3
Apopka
Lake Brantley
Lake Mary
Sanford Seminole
6A District 4
Boone
Hagerty
Timber Creek
Winter Park
6A District 5
Gateway
Harmony
Lake Nona
St. Cloud
Tohopekaliga
6A District 6
Dr. Phillips
Edgewater
Ocoee
Olympia
West Orange
6A District 7
Celebration
East Ridge
Horizon
5A District 4
Evans
Lake Minneola
South Lake
Wekiva
5A District 5
Lake Howell
Lyman
Melbourne
Oviedo
Viera
5A District 6
Auburndale
Bartow
Lake Gibson
Lakeland
Osceola
Sebring
4A District 5
Gainesville
Lake Weir
Lecanto
Leesburg
Mount Dora
Ocala Vanguard
4A District 6
Bishop Moore
Deltona
New Smyrna Beach
Seabreeze
Winter Springs
4A District 7
Brandon
Jones
Kathleen
Lake Region
Lake Wales
3A District 6
Eustis
South Sumter
Tavares
Villages Charter
3A District 7
Avon Park
Hardee
Lake Placid
Kissimmee Liberty
Mulberry
Tenoroc
2A District 5
Cocoa
Cocoa Beach
Discovery Academy
The First Academy
Umatilla
1A District 3
Faith Christian
Father Lopez
Orlando Christian Prep
Master’s Academy
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays. Buddy Collings contributed to this report.
