- January 15, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
The road to the state playoffs in high school football just got a little clearer as the Florida High School Athletic Association finalized its new districts for 2015 through 2018 last week.
Last December, the FHSAA released an initial proposal for the new districts, redrawn every four years to nurture competitive balance and account for changing student body populations. Schools were given a time period to appeal their placement, and three of the five schools covered by the West Orange Times & Observer that compete in district competition had a member added or subtracted from their tentative districts.
Class 8A District 4 formerly was home to both West Orange and Olympia, but Olympia has moved to Class 8A District 5 to be with another rival, Dr. Phillips. Class 8A District 4’s original redraw had five schools, up from four the past four years, with Wekiva and West Port (Ocala) joining the Warriors, Apopka and Evans.
The finalized district returned to four schools, with West Port being bumped down to Class 7A — undoubtedly a welcome change for administrators at the other four schools, all located in west or northwest Orange County, and none too keen on making the hour-plus trip to Ocala.
Though 8A-4 certainly looks different now, the district race should look much as it did in 2014. Evans, which struggled last season, likely will continue to be in a rebuilding mode, and Wekiva is making the jump from 7A to 8A, which could be an adjustment. This likely will set up another showdown between West Orange and the reigning state champion Blue Darters for the district crown.
Class 8A District 5 remained unchanged from its original redraw in December. The Titans moved over to join the rival Panthers and were joined as newcomers in the district by Oak Ridge — a program that has been making some noise in Class 7A for the past two seasons. Cypress Creek, which always has struggled to be competitive, and Freedom remained, and Boone and Colonial departed for Class 8A District 3.
Geographically, the new 8A-5 is more or less a south/southwest Orlando district and makes sense, with Cypress Creek being the most out of the way (a half-hour trip for Olympia, which is both farthest west and north).
Class 8A District 5 figures to be a showdown between DP — which has owned the district — and Oak Ridge, which has been very good in recent seasons. Freedom and Olympia figure to be wildcards, with the Titans still searching for a new head coach after deciding not to bring back Tom Paolucci. Barring something unforeseen, Cypress Creek will struggle to win a district contest in 2015.
Another school searching for a new coach is Ocoee, but the Knights at least have a little bit of clarity now regarding the neighborhood they’ll be living in for the next four seasons — and how that might affect the decision of coaching candidates to set up shop on campus.
Class 7A District 4 had been seven schools the past few seasons, but the original redraw had the district whittled down to a more reasonable five schools. Also, the original redraw did not include Wekiva, Oak Ridge or Winter Springs — the district’s top teams the past few seasons — all of whom moved up to respective new districts in Class 8A. This made for a suddenly wide-open district.
With the finalized redraw now known, the district is back up to seven schools, with Edgewater being bumped up from Class 6A and West Port being bumped down from Class 8A. This will make for some interesting travel arrangements as, thanks to the sparsely populated nature of Class 7A schools in Central Florida, the new Class 7A District 4 now spans four counties — Marion, Lake, Orange and Seminole.
Joining the Knights, Edgewater and West Port will be newcomers Lake Minneola (up from 6A) and Hagerty (down from 8A), as well as returners Lake Howell and East Ridge.
The addition of Edgewater, in particular, could be troublesome for Ocoee, after the Eagles had an impressive 2014 campaign — highlighted by a win over Apopka. Hagerty boasts a strong power-run game with a massive offensive line, meaning that the battle for the two playoff spots in this sprawling district will be fierce.
An unexpected change came to Class 2 District 4, which houses Foundation Academy. Agape Christian is in trouble with the FHSAA, dropping them out of the three-team district, with Belle Isle’s Cornerstone Charter filling in.
Victory Christian (Lakeland), which won the FHSAA Class 2A State Championship last season, is clearly the favorite to repeat as district champion. Foundation, which advanced to the playoffs a season ago thanks to its win over Agape, is in good shape to finish as runner-up — at the least — and Cornerstone comes in having compiled 2-8 record a season ago as an independent.
Class 8A District 4
Apopka
Evans
Wekiva
West Orange
Class 8A District 5
Cypress Creek
Dr. Phillips
Freedom
Oak Ridge
Olympia
Class 7A District 4
East Ridge
Edgewater
Hagerty
Lake Howell
Lake Minneola
Ocoee
West Port (Ocala)
Class 2A District 4
Cornerstone Charter
Foundation Academy
Victory Christian (Lakeland)
Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].
