How the GHSA's new playoff format could affect Savannah area football programs

The Georgia High School Association is restructuring how its playoffs work for the next two years starting next fall, and the decision will have a big impact on private school teams in the Savannah area.

The GHSA Executive Committee passed the 3A/A Private Division Plan by a vote of 53-18-4 on Monday. The new format will keep public and private schools competing during region play in the regular season, but separate private schools from public schools in the playoffs with private schools from Class A-3A playing for one championship in all sports, with seeding based on a power rating that has yet to be established. Public schools will compete for state titles separately in all the lower divisions.

The GHSA realignment will also eliminate the state's highest classification — Class 7A, as Class 6A will now be the highest enrollment tier, with the top 14 % of the states biggest schools in that class.

There will now be public school state championships contested in Class 3A, 2A, 1A Division I and 1A Division II, with one Private School title contested between teams in 1A-3A. Another proposal passed Monday ensured that no private schools will compete in Class 1A Division II.

Bigger private schools will still compete in the postseason against public schools in Classes 4A-6A.

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In the last GHSA Reclassification two years ago, three Savannah private schools — Calvary Day, Savannah Christian and Savannah Country Day — made the move from the now defunct Class A Private to Class 3A. Savannah's other GHSA private school, Benedictine, remained in Class 4A, where it has won back-to-back state football titles.

GHSA will use a power rating to seed state-playoff brackets in classes 3A, 2A and A and in the new 3A-A private division. In November, the GHSA will divide its 457 schools into the seven classifications (counting Class A Division I and Class A Division II as two) based on enrollment numbers.

Savannah Country Day athletic director and girls basketball coach Kenny Conroy said the SCD school board is studying the new GHSA regulations and considering a number of scenarios.

"We're going to read it over and look at all of our options," Conroy said. "We might stay in the GHSA, or think about joining the GIAA (Georgia Independent Athletic Association) or SCISA (South Carolina Independent Sports Association). We'll look at our enrollment numbers and see where we fall and then make that decision."

Savannah Christian football coach Baker Woodward said there is a lot of uncertainty about how everything is going to play out.

"With the private schools still competing with publics in region play, we could have privates winning a lot of those regions and then relying on the Power Ranking to figure out the playoff seedings — and that seems like it's going to be a lot of work," Woodward said. "We just moved up from Class A Private to 3A and were competing against a lot of bigger schools, but now we're going through all of this again. And we'll be in the same boat again in two years when they reclassify again."

Coach Mark Stroud, in his 15th season with Calvary Day, and 32nd season overall as a head coach in Georgia, said he is ready to roll with whatever happens in the new system.

"It's just one of those things I don't get too caught up in because there's nothing I can do about it," said Stroud, whose team is 6-0 on the season and currently ranked No. 2 among Class 3A teams by the AJC behind public school power Cedar Grove. "It seems like we (private schools) don't have enough of a voice to make a difference on the front end and as long as we're part of the GHSA, we're bound to follow what they decide. I feel like we just have to deal with the hand that we're dealt."

Groves athletic director and boys basketball coach Kevin Evans is a public school product working at his alma mater.

"For me, I think the new format will help the public schools compete when it comes to the playoffs, they can compete with each other," Evans said. "The private schools have a bit of an advantage with their ability to draw students from all over. And if you look deeper than just football and basketball, you see that they are also dominating in sports like baseball, soccer and volleyball when it comes to winning championships."

One question looming is where Benedictine will fall in the new enrollment classification. The GHSA uses a 3.0 multiplier for out of zone students in private schools. But this year, the GHSA will exempt out-of-zone students from the multiplier if they have attended their school since fifth grade. Since BC is solely a high school for grades 9-12, the exemption would extend to its feeder schools.

Cadet athletic director Jack Holland said he isn't quite sure yet where BC will fall in the new alignment.

"When the numbers come out later this month we're going to do the best with what we've got," Holland said. "I'm not sure where we'll land and don't want to speculate yet."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: How the GHSA's new playoff format could play out with Savannah schools