The Florida High School Athletic Association unveiled its football playoff bracket Sunday morning, revealing the playoff routes for nearly three dozen schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Four Broward teams earned top spots in the football rankings Sunday morning: No. 2 nationally ranked Chaminade-Madonna, No. 11 St. Thomas Aquinas, and No. 21 American Heritage and Monarch will host the playoffs starting this week.
Thirty-five teams from Broward and Palm Beach will continue to play on the gridiron in hopes of reaching state championships.
For the second year in a row, two-time state champion Chaminade-Madonna (10-0) and ranked No. 2 in the nation, gets a rematch with Avant Garde Academy (5-5) in the top half of the Region. 3-1M Support on November 17 at 7 pm
The Lions, who haven’t given up a point in the last three weeks, beat their local rival 64-0 three weeks ago. Avant Garde has not won a game since then, losing three in a row. Chaminade-Madonna has won 23 consecutive regular season games and has outscored opponents 477-130.
Cardinal Newman (8-1) will host Benjamin (8-2) for the second consecutive season in the first round of the Region 3-1M playoffs. The teams met two weeks ago and the Crusaders won 17-14.
Two late-season losses caused Pahokee (5-5) to drop from a Region 4-1R bye to host Dixie County (Cross City) on Nov. 18.
American Heritage (7-1) will host North Broward Prep (5-5) in the Region 3-2M opener. Second-seeded Cardinal Gibbons (7-3) will host Stranahan (5-5). Stranahan re-signs with Cardinal Gibbons, the second-seeded team in Region 3-2M. The Chiefs (7-3) outscored the Dragons 44-24 two weeks ago. Sixth-seeded Calvary Christian (7-3) will travel to St. Andrew’s (9-1). Fourth-seeded King’s Academy (8-2) will host Somerset Canyons Academy (7-3), whom they defeated earlier in the season 40-10.
In a rematch of Friday night’s Soul Bowl, Dillard (5-5) will travel back to Blanche Ely (8-2) in the Region 3-3M regional quarterfinals. The Tigers beat Dillard 33-28 on Friday night.
St. Thomas Aquinas (9-1) will open the playoffs in Region 3-3M when it hosts Plantation (6-4) in the first regional quarterfinal game.
In the Region 3-4M bracket, Monarch (8-2) earns the top seed and will face Stoneman Douglas (4-6) in a rematch of the Knights’ 26-7 win on Sept. 22.
Spanish River (7-3), which suffered losing seasons in 18 of its last 19 years, and West Boca Raton (2011) ended long playoff droughts this season.
Jupiter (9-1), winners of their first district title since 2004, made the biggest jump in the past two weeks, going from sixth in the region to No. 3 and a home game against Boca Raton (6-4).
Teams that missed the postseason include Palm Beach Lakes, Park Vista, Wellington, Coral Springs and Forest Hill (3-4M), Everglades 4-3M (3-3M) and American Heritage-Delray (3-2M).
Most of the state’s top-ranked teams will host regional first-round matchups, except in the case where a district champion faces an at-large team. In that case, the district champion (or lower seed) will host regardless of the seed. In the event that two district champions play each other, the highest-ranked district champion will still be the host. That didn’t affect the local teams.
The state championships for all classes will be held Dec. 7-9 at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee.
Playoff schedules, first round schedules to be confirmed.
Region 4-1R
Dixie County (Cross City) (5) in Pahokee (4)
Region 3-1M
Vanguard (4) in Chaminade-Madonna (1)
Benjamin (3) in Cardinal Newman (2)
Region 3-2M
North Broward High School (8) at American Heritage (1)
Somerset Canyons Academy (5) at King’s Academy (4)
Stranahan (7) at Cardinal Gibbons (2)
Calvary Christian Academy (6) San Andrés (3)
Region 3-3M
Plantation (8) in Saint Thomas Aquinas (1)
Dillard (5) in Blanche Ely (4)
West Boca Raton (7) at Atlantic (2)
Piper (6) in Coconut Creek 3)
Region 3-4M
Stoneman Douglas (8) at Monarch (1)
Spanish River (7) in Palm Beach Central (2)
Boca Raton (6) on Jupiter (3)
Palm Beach Gardens (5) in Santaluces (4)
Region 4-4M
West Broward (5) in South Dade (4)
Cypress Bay (6) in West (3)
Region 4-4M
McArthur (8) at Homestead (1)
Jesuit Bethlehem (7) in South Broward (2)
American (6) in Miramar (3)
