District rematches highlight first round
West Orange is back in the high school football postseason a year after finishing second in its district and missing out on the playoffs under the FHSAA power-ranking point system that was installed in 2017.
“It was a huge relief,” West Orange coach Bob Head said after receiving confirmation that his team is alive. “We’ve been stressing all week not knowing if we would be in with just a win [Friday] over Ocoee or if we would need some help.”
The FHSAA revealed postseason brackets for the state’s eight classifications Sunday morning. Among the qualifiers are 18 teams from the Sentinel coverage area throughout Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake and southwest Volusia counties.
Opening-round regional play will take place Friday at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $8.
A trio of intriguing district rematches involving area teams sets the stage in the first round, highlighted by West Orange at Sentinel Super 16 No. 1 Wekiva in Class 8A, Region 1.
The Warriors (7-3) handed Wekiva (9-1) its only loss after rallying late in the fourth quarter for a 30-29 win at home on Sept. 28. The winner advances to face either Apopka (7-3) or District 2 champion Oviedo (8-2) in a region semifinal.
“It’ll be good for our kids,” Wekiva coach Rich Bedesem said of getting another crack at West Orange. “They’re very balanced on offense and it’ll challenge our defense, but hopefully we’ll play better than we did last time.”
Wekiva defeated Apopka to create a three-way tie atop the District 4 standings. The FHSAA power rankings settled the tie and the Mustangs were awarded their second straight title this weekend.
DeLand (8-2) travels to Jacksonville Mandarin (6-4) in 8A while Jones (9-1), which dropped from the No. 2 seed to No. 3 in the final rankings, hosts Bishop Moore (6-4) in Class 5A, Region 4. DeLand lost to Mandarin 24-21 on Sept. 14 and Jones routed Bishop Moore 50-14 on Sept. 28.
Winter Park (9-1) hosts Flagler Palm Coast (7-3) to round out the 8A, Region 1 pairings.
Defending 8A state champion Dr. Phillips (5-5) pulled a home matchup against Port St. Lucie Centennial (7-2) as a district winner in Region 2. Osceola (9-1), the No. 2 seed in the region, hosts Bradenton Manatee (6-4) while Gateway (5-5) is on the road against top-seeded Vero Beach (10-0).
Edgewater (9-1), the No. 7 seed in Class 7A, Region 1, is at Gainesville Buchholz (7-3) for a region quarterfinal rematch of a game won by the Eagles 31-21 in 2017. Hagerty (6-4) hosts Jacksonville Lee (8-1) in 7A-1 and Harmony (9-1) is home against Lakeland Kathleen (5-5) in 7A-2.
Groveland South Lake (6-4) enters the playoffs seeded seventh in Class 6A, Region 2. The Eagles are on the road at Seffner Armwood (9-1).
Eight teams per region make the playoffs in Classes 8A-5A, with four district champions awarded home games in the first round. The remaining four wildcard teams were selected and seeded based on the playoff power rankings.
Six teams in Classes 1A through 4A were selected for the playoffs based entirely on the power rankings, which factor in wins and losses along with the record and recent playoff history of a team’s opponents. The top two seeds will have a bye in the first round.
The First Academy (8-1) and Foundation Academy (8-2) open with byes after finishing the regular season seeded No. 2 in Class 3A-2 and 2A-2, respectively.
Deltona Trinity (6-4) opens 2A-2 play at Oak Hall (6-3).
Five rounds of playoffs will culminate with statechampionship games for all eight classes at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, Dec. 6-8.
Seminole (8-2) and Lake Mary (5-5) in Class 8A and Liberty (8-2) and Lake Nona (6-4) in 7A were among area teams that missed out on the playoffs after entering the final week of the regular season within reach.
The Seminoles suffered close losses to 8A playoff teams DeLand and Oviedo, the latter of which was their lone setback in the district. Seminole missed out on the postseason despite owning one more win than seventhseeded Flagler Palm Coast and winning the head-tohead matchup 21-0 on Sept. 7.
“I have not been a big proponent of the new playoff system,” Seminole coach Don Stark said after Friday’s win over Bishop Moore. “Before you could say everything was settled on the field, and now you can’t say that.”