FHSAA football playoff brackets released; 8 Volusia-Flagler teams qualify
The Florida high school football playoff field is set, and eight teams from the Volusia-Flagler area were invited to the postseason party Sunday morning.
Four of those squads were paired off in an all-Volusia half of the Region 3-4S bracket, district rematches pitting New Smyrna Beach against University and Spruce Creek against DeLand.
University (9-1), the No. 2 seed in the region, completed its most successful campaign in program history, but third-seeded DeLand (8-2) won the district title outright with a 14-3 head-to-head victory over the Titans on Oct. 21.
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"I was surprised. It looked like Vero (Beach) jumped a couple spots," DeLand coach Rick Darlington said. "It's basically a district tournament. There's a lot of ways that it could have bounced. … We looked at all the scenarios, but this is one we didn't think of — an all-Volusia bracket."
Spruce Creek (7-3) secured its standing as a wild card with back-to-back wins over New Smyrna Beach (6-4) and Hagerty to close the campaign. The Barracudas held onto the No. 7 seed despite falling 45-41 in a back-and-forth battle at Leon on Friday, and losing its final three contests.
During the regular season, University hammered New Smyrna Beach 41-7, and DeLand rallied for a 28-27 victory at Spruce Creek.
Mainland, despite its Week 11 defeat to Lake Mary, held onto the No. 1 seed in Region 3-3S. The Buccaneers will have home field advantage for the opening three rounds of the playoffs, at minimum, beginning with Friday's matchup with Satellite. The visiting Scorpions, who lost each of their final three games to Brevard County rivals, won earlier this year at Daytona Stadium — 22-13 against Seabreeze.
Matanzas will join Mainland in the FHSAA's Class 3S playoff field, albeit in the northernmost region. The Pirates (7-3) guaranteed their spot with a win over Winter Springs, coupled with Menendez's season-ending loss to Yulee, and will travel to Tallahassee as the No. 7 seed to meet Lincoln.
"We felt pretty good that if we won that were in with a 7-3 body of work," Matanzas coach Matt Forrest said. "We know we're going to be big underdogs. We're going to go up there and put the best product on the field that we can.
"We're happy we're in. You look at the region, there are no pushovers. … Once you get to this level, everybody is good. Whether we were the 4-seed or the 8-seed, it was going to be tough."
District champion for the first time in school history, Atlantic (5-5) earned the No. 8 seed in Region 2-2S and a first-round trip to Bradford. The Tornadoes are the defending region champion, with a 10-0 mark this fall and a 22-2 record since the start of 2022.
"Getting to the playoffs means everything to the program. People look at Atlantic High School like you can't win there and that there are no opportunities there," Sharks coach Squatty Bell said.
"The 2S field is one of the toughest brackets. Whenever you mix up with Cocoa, Florida High, Yulee and Bradford, who's lost one (regular season) game in two years, I challenge anyone to come on down and try to cake-walk through that field. … I like our chances. We're finally healthy. We're going to take it rep by rep, and try to make it an ugly game."
Finally, in Class 1S, Halifax Academy will make just its second playoff appearance since beginning 11-man football in 2014. The Knights (7-2), who set a single-season wins record, will have a rematch with District 4-1S champion Melbourne Central Catholic.
MCC defeated Halifax 56-0 on Oct. 27, and the two teams will meet again on Nov. 17. Only four teams qualify in each region for Class 1S, essentially giving each entrant an additional bye week.
FHSAA playoff games
Nov. 10
Atlantic (5-5) at Bradford (10-0)
Matanzas (7-3) at Lincoln (8-2)
New Smyrna Beach (6-4) at University (9-1)
Satellite (5-5) at Mainland (9-1)
Spruce Creek (7-3) at DeLand (8-2)
Nov. 17
Halifax (7-2) at Melbourne Central Catholic (8-2)
All games scheduled for 7:30 p.m. kickoffs
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school football: 8 Volusia-Flagler teams make FHSAA playoffs
