New alignment: FHSAA announces new football classification
The FHSAA released new alignments for 2024 and 2025 football, and Brevard County high school programs will mostly find themselves in significantly different situations than they were under the metro-suburban system.
Only one Brevard-only district exists, that being District 8-3A with Eau Gallie, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Satellite and Titusville.
Alignment for other fall sports will be announced in 2024.
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Scroll to the bottom for a complete listing of districts with local teams.
Here are some takeaways from the new alignment:
Two teams on islands
Both Heritage and Rockledge will be leaving the area for several district games. Neither has another Brevard team in its region. The Panthers' draw includes Martin County and South Fork, both of which are about 85 miles from the Palm Bay school. Rockledge will make trips of 75 miles and more to Deltona, Pine Ridge and Seabreeze in District 6-4A.
Both are the only Brevard schools in their football classifications.
Tough regional draws
Outside of Cocoa High, Brevard teams have had difficulty advancing past regional games in football in most years. That won't change, and some schools will face some of the best Florida has to offer.
Again, one of those is Heritage. The Panthers find themselves in a Class 5A region with St. Thomas Aquinas. The Raiders have won five consecutive state titles.
Rockledge will compete in a district with Orlando Jones, which was ranked throughout the 2023 season by the USA Today Florida Network. Holy Trinity and MCC will remain in a district with Ocala Trinity Catholic, the state runner-up that eliminated both from the postseason this year.
Not to mention tough district draws
Cocoa had to get past South Sumter to win its last two state titles, and now the Tigers and Astronaut will have the team from Bushnell in District 6-2A. That won't be easy, but Melbourne and Viera now find themselves in District 5-6A with Kissimmee Osceola, a team regularly ranked in its top 10 and usually a contender for a deep postseason run.
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Back to strong district competition
Brevard's two private schools involved in district play are MCC and Holy Trinity, and the two haven't had much to compare themselves to for q while, going from several years without district alignment to two years in a district with Halifax Academy and Father Lopez.
That's over. The two will be joined by First Academy, Foundation Academy and Orlando Christian Prep in District 6-1A. All three have had competitive teams in recent years, including 10-2 OCP this past season.
Smaller postseason contingent ahead?
The result of that could be fewer teams from here in the FHSAA regional playoffs. Eight to 10 has become fairly normal for the area recently. As few as five is looking like a possibility for 2024. Granted, the fact that power ratings are involved could help some teams that may no longer contend for district titles, but more travel and tougher opposition could offset that in some cases.
District 5-6A football
Melbourne
Viera
Orlando Freedom
Kissimmee Osceola
St. Cloud
District 13-5A football
Heritage
Ft. Pierce Westwood
Martin County
South Fork
District 6-4A football
Rockledge
Deltona
New Smyrna Beach
Pine Ridge
Seabreeze
District 8-3A football
Eau Gallie
Merritt Island
Palm Bay
Satellite
Titusville
District 6-2A football
Astronaut
Cocoa
South Sumter
Umatilla
District 6-1A football
Holy Trinity
MCC
First Academy
Foundation
Orlando Christian Prep
Independent
Bayside
Cocoa Beach
Space Coast
8-man football
Merritt Island Christian
Calvary Academy
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: FHSAA 2024-25 high school football classification alignment
