New high school football classifications result in major shifts for South Florida teams
Time for some shaking up of Florida high school football.
The Florida High School Athletic Association on Friday released the classification and district structure for the 2019 and 2020 football seasons and there is are noticeable changes for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
The biggest of them all: The juggernaut trio of Carol City, Northwestern and Central — which has combined for the last seven Class 6A state titles out of District 16-6A — has been separated.
With the two-year cycle separating schools into their respective eight classes by student enrollment and then organizing regions and districts based on geography, Central remains in 16-6A with returning districtmate Norland and newcomers Belen Jesuit, Southridge and South Miami. Northwestern is now paired with Key West, Miami Springs, Jackson and Killian in 16-5A. Carol City is part of the 12-team Region 4-4A (Classes 1A-4A don’t have districts).
This means teams have been moved around, with many top teams dropping to lower classes.
Among them: Northwestern (back-to-back Class 6A champion) is now in Class 5A; Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (defending Class 5A champion) is now in 4A; Carol City (2016 Class 6A champion) is now in 4A; Southridge (2017 Class 8A champion) is now in 6A.
One other notable difference: While there are still 16 districts for the larger classes (5A-8A), each of the 16 district is now comprised of between four and six teams. No more nine-team or three-team districts this time around.
Here’s how the districts that contain South Florida teams will look for the next two seasons:
CLASS 8A (population 2,406-4,799)
▪ District 12: Deerfield Beach, Monarch, Spanish River Boca Raton
▪ District 13: Coral Glades, Coral Springs, Coral Springs Taravella, Parkland Stoneman Douglas
▪ District 14: Sunrise Piper, Pembroke Pines Flanagan, Pembroke Pines West Broward, Davie Western, Weston Cypress Bay
▪ District 15: Coral Park, Miami High Braddock, Coral Gables, Columbus
▪ District 16: Southwest, Palmetto, South Dade, Coral Reef
CLASS 7A (population 2,009-2,404)
▪ District 13: Pompano Beach Blanche Ely, Olympic Heights, West Boca Raton, Delray Beach Atlantic
▪ District 14: Plantation, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale, Davie Nova, South Plantation
▪ District 15: American, Hollywood McArthur, Hallandale South Broward, Miramar Everglades, Cooper City, Miramar
▪ District 16: Mater Academy, Homestead, Hialeah, Doral, North Miami, Miami Beach
CLASS 6A (Population 1,663-1,993)
▪ District 15: Oakland Park Northeast, Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson, Archbishop McCarthy, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
▪ District 16: Central, Belen Jesuit, Norland, Southridge, South Miami
CLASS 5A (Population 1,169-1,648)
▪ District 14: Jensen Beach, Coconut Creek, Boynton Beach, Suncoast
▪ District 15: Hallandale, Stranahan, North Miami Beach, Plantation American Heritage
▪ District 16: Key West, Miami Springs, Northwestern, Jackson, Killian
Class 4A (population 752-1,153)
▪ Region 4: Davie University School, Pine Crest, LaSalle, Monsignor Pace, Delray American Heritage, Coral Springs Charter, Booker T. Washington, Gulliver Prep, Carol City, North Broward Prep, Somerset Academy, Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons
Class 3A (population 384-749)
▪ Region 4: Palm Glades Prep, Boca Raton St. John Paul II, Palmer Trinity, Pinecrest Prep, Westminster Christian, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, Everglades Prep, Somerset Charter Silver Palms, Boca Raton St. Andrews, Calvary Christian, Edison
Class 2A (population 56-376)
▪ Region 4A: Glades Day, Champagnat, Miami Christian, First Baptist, Evangelical Christian, St. John Neuman, Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy, Southwest Florida Christian, Moore Haven, Community School, Marathon.
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