FHSAA will use one 12-minute quarter in last-ditch effort to decide football districts
The Florida High School Athletic Association is planning a return to normalcy when it comes to postseason play for fall sports, which means prioritizing district football games to decide automatic qualifiers in each of its four large classifications.
The FHSAA rating percentage index will be used to award at-large playoff berths in Class 8A, 7A, 6A and 5A and all postseason participants — six per region — in Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. Four district champs and four at-large teams qualify for the playoffs in each large-class region.
The RPI factors a team’s winning percentage (35%), the winning percentage of its opponents (35%) and the winning percentage of its opponent’s opponents (30%).
Mandatory district play was eliminated last year due to scheduling uncertainty because of the COVID19 pandemic. Every football team that opted into the state series was randomly slotted into playoff brackets in 2020, no matter how many games they played.
This year, teams must complete a minimum of eight games to be considered a playoff qualifier, as outlined in the FHSAA football manual. If postponed district contests are not completed by Oct. 26, the FHSAA will organize alternate contests on Nov. 1, that includes only one 12-minute quarter between teams to help decide a champion.
“In the event two or more schools within the district are unable to play the required district contests in the district play date due to unforeseen and unavoidable situations, which are deemed acceptable by the [FHSAA] executive director, the district champion shall be determined by the FHSAA RPI Ranking throughout the regular season [including] Week 11 games,” according to the FHSAA.
The FHSAA stated Friday in a memo to member schools that “all regular-season contests missed due to team quarantines will be postponed and schools will be encouraged to make them up if possible. Forfeits will not be awarded if a team is quarantined.”
Cancellations and postponements due to COVID have already run rampant across the state entering Week 1 games this week.
DeLand, which lost 38-6 in a preseason game last week at Apopka, was forced to postpone its Friday home opener vs. Daytona Beach Mainland to a date to be determined because of COVID.
St. Cloud’s road game at rival Kissimmee Osceola was postponed until Sept. 27, “due to COVID-19 protocols and contact tracing,” according to St. Cloud athletics’ Twitter account. The Bulldogs lost 46-30 last week at Celebration.
Deltona Pine Ridge and Cornerstone Charter Academy, both of which were unable to play last week due to COVID infections within coaching staffs, will again be sidelined Friday. Pine Ridge was scheduled to play at Flagler Palm Coast and CCA was to host Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic in season openers.
Evans, Edgewater and Kissimmee Gateway had to pull out of preseason games last week, while varsity players at Mount Dora missed practice time early this preseason due to COVID.