ORLANDO – The Florida High School Athletic Association released their 2018 football playoff brackets this morning via a statewide Drive to Orlando show out of Orlando today.
For the most part there were not a lot of surprises locally as 20 area football teams heard their names called during the show as players and coaches learned their playoff fate or opponent this morning.
After dropping consecutive district games to Columbia and Lee, Fletcher knew their playoff hopes rested on a win over Mandarin Friday night and the Senators won a wild overtime thriller to secure their spot. The Senators were rewarded with the eighth and final spot in the Region I-7A playoffs and a rematch with Columbia.
Others were not so lucky as Sandalwood (7-3) and Bartram Trail (7-3) saw their seasons come to an end despite both winning rivalry games Friday night over Atlantic Coast and Nease.
CLASS 8A
Class 8A, Region 1 pic.twitter.com/K8xowpWM9k
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region I-8A power rankings
1. Wekiva (43.90) District Champion
2. Winter Park (41.30) District Champion
3. Mandarin (41.00) District Champion
4. Oviedo (39.50) District champion
5. Apopka (41.70) Wild card
6. Deland (40.80) Wild card
7. Palm Coast (40.10) Wild card
8. West Orange (39.60) Wild card
Missing cut
Seminole (39.40)
Lake Mary (39.00)
Sandalwood (39.00)
Lake Brantley (36.30)
Mandarin (6-4) won the District 1-8A title two weeks ago with a come from behind win over Flagler Palm Coast and was rewarded with the third seed overall in Region I-8A getting a first round rematch with Deland (8-2), who it came from behind to knock off back in Week 4.
Palm Coast (7-3) was idle this week and was nervously waiting to see if they had done enough to earn one of the four wild card berths for the region. Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long as the bracket was quickly revealed and Palm Coast is traveling to second seed Winter Park (9-1).
Sandalwood (7-3) despite losses to Mandarin (6-4), Raines (9-1) and Palm Coast (7-3) is sitting home after not earning one of the four wild card spots, after finishing 0.60 behind eighth seeded West Orange.
CLASS 7A
Class 7A, Region 1
8 Fletcher at 1 Columbia
5 Lee at 4 Hagerty
7 Edgewater at 2 Buchholz
6 Oakleaf at 3 Lincoln— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region 1-7A rankings
1 Columbia (45.60) District Champion
2 Buchholz (41.10) District Champion
3 Lincoln (39.40) District Champion
4 Hagerty (35.50) District Champion
5 Lee (41.89) Wild card
6 Oakleaf (40.10) Wild card
7 Edgewater (39.00) Wild card
8 Fletcher (39.00) Wild card
Missing out
Bartram Trail (38.30)
Chiles (38.20)
Fleming Island (37.00)
First Coast (36.67)
No surprise here as Columbia (9-1) was awarded the top seed in Region 1-7A, the Tigers get a rematch with Fletcher (7-3) in the first round on Friday.
A three-way tie between Buchholz, Oakleaf and Bartram Trail for the District 3-7A title after all finished 3-1 in the district was broke this morning with Buchholz finishing ahead of the other two in the final power rankings.
Oakleaf however was rewarded for such a difficult schedule that featured state powers Raines, Trinity and Vanguard and earned the sixth seed.
Lee (8-1) was given the fifth seed, while Fletcher earned the final berth and eighth seed, just ahead of Bartram Trail (7-3), who finished in the ninth spot 0.70 behind Fletcher.
CLASS 6A
Class 6A, Region 1 pic.twitter.com/uHydcJXM7y
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Class 6A Power Rankings
1 Navarre (43.10) District Champion
2 Pine Forest (40.50) District Champion
3 Crestview (38.33) District Champion
4 St. Augustine (35.80) District Champion
5 Escambia (40.60) Wild card
6 Niceville (40.60) Wild card
7 Gulf Breeze (37.80) Wild card
8 Pace (37.30) Wild card
Missing out
Ed White (34.30)
Nease (31.80)
St. Augustine, Ed White and Nease all finished in a three-way tie for the District 4-6A title, that tie was broken this morning in the final power rankings. The Yellow Jackets (5-5) finished with the highest point average 1.5 points over Ed White and 4 points ahead of Nease.
CLASS 5A
Class 5A, Region 1 pic.twitter.com/SmdUWZqmDy
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region I-5A
1 Trinity (45.10) District Champion
2 Godby (44.40) District Champion
3 West Florida (39.63) District Champion
4 Ribault (37.60) District Champion
5 Wakulla (40.40) Wild card
6 Bolles (39.60) Wild card
7 Ponte Vedra (39.30) Wild card
8 Suwannee (37.90) Wild card
Missing out
Rickards (36.20)
Mosley (35.33)
Pensacola (35.33)
Bishop Kenny (35.30)
No surprises here as Trinity claims the No. 1 overall seed, Bolles extends its playoff streak to 26 consecutive years earning the sixth seed and Ponte Vedra claims the seven seed. Suwannee was a bit of surprise but knocked off Taylor County Friday night and got some help from other teams to sneak in as the eight seed.
Class 5A, Region 2 pic.twitter.com/twiQKkVPx7
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region II-5A
1 Nature Coast (40.20) District Champion
2 Zephyrhills (40.20) District Champion
3 North Marion (40.20) District Champion
4 Baker County (36.50) District Champion
5 Hernando (39.50) Wild card
6 Menendez (39.10) Wild card
7 Crystal River (39.00) Wild card
8 Eastside (37.60) Wild card
Missing out
Ridgeview (36.00)
Orange Park (35.50)
Clay (35.00)
Palatka (34.10)
Baker County is the fourth seed despite a recent slump, Menendez is the sixth seed and Ridgeview and Orange Park just miss the cut by 1-2 points.
CLASS 4A
Class 4A, Region 1 pic.twitter.com/aY39Vsdg6G
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region I-4A standings
1 Raines (42.80)
2 West Nassau (37.00)
3 South Walton (34.40)
4 Marianna (32.89)
5 Rutherford (31.50)
6 Gadsden County (30.67)
Missing out
Jackson (30.67)
Raines (9-1) and West Nassau (8-2) claimed the top two seeds and the first round byes as the road to Orlando will have to go through both of them.
The shocker here was Jackson (4-5) missing out of the playoffs thanks to some unfortunate circumstances and allowing a 0-9 team to get in (see separate story).
Class 4A, Region 2 pic.twitter.com/fDWkwM0TOX
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region II-4A standings
1 Villages (39.90)
2 Santa Fe (39.00)
3 Dunnellon (38.90)
4 PK Yonge (38.80)
5 Bradford (37.90)
6 South Sumter (37.90)
Missing out
Keystone Heights (34.80)
Two weeks ago, Bradford was sitting in the second or third spot destined to host a playoff game, a loss to Middleburg Friday changed all that pushing them down to the five seed and out of position to host a playoff game.
CLASS 3A
Well folks here it is. We will host Taylor County Friday night at 7:30pm for our 1st ever home playoff football game. #Playoffs #RoadToState pic.twitter.com/KagFvbOXlA
— Baldwin Football(FL) (@indianbaldwinfb) November 4, 2018
Class 3A Rankings
1 Florida High (41.22)
2 St. Joseph (40.67)
3 Baldwin (39.00)
4 Fort White (38.40)
5 Pensacola Catholic (37.30)
6 Taylor County (37.10)
Missing out
Episcopal (35.10)
Things went as expected as St. Joseph (9-0) held on to the second seed and first round bye, while Baldwin (9-1) earned the three seed and Fort White (8-2) the four seed.
CLASS 2A
Class 2A, Region 1 pic.twitter.com/DMhqofyOoM
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region I-2A rankings
1 North Florida Christian (39.78)
2 Maclay (39.00)
3 University Christian (38.80)
4 Aucilla Christian (38.11)
5 FAMU (36.25)
6 Rocky Bayou (33.50)
Missing out
Eagles View (32.23)
All roads to Orlando will travel to Tallahassee as NFC and Maclay were the top seeds in the region, while University Christian was given a third seed.
CLASS 1A
Class 1A, Region 3 pic.twitter.com/VSmR2jTApF
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region 3-1A rankings
1 Madison County (43.20)
2 Chiefland (39.40)
3 Dixie County (38.90)
4 Lafayette (37.67)
5 Union County (35.00)
6 Branford (34.80)
Missing out
Hilliard (32.90)
Hamilton County (32.00)
Union County earned the five seed despite having the week off last week and the Tigers will travel to four seeded Lafayette in the first round.
Class 1A, Region 4 pic.twitter.com/AKnwYDCZJF
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) November 4, 2018
Region 4-1A rankings
1 Hawthorne (39.80)
2 Pahokee (38.90)
3 Frostproof (37.00)
4 Crescent City (36.40)
5 Fort Meade (36.00)
6 Wildwood (34.80)
Missing out
Williston (34.40)
Bronson (29.30)
Crescent City is back in the playoffs a year after being left out despite a 7-2 season, the Raiders are the four seed and will host Fort Meade in the first round of the playoffs.
