FHSAA releases football playoff brackets. Where did Gainesville-area teams land?

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A day three months in the making arrived Friday, Nov. 6, for Gainesville-area teams.

That’s right, the FHSAA released its Florida high school football playoff brackets Friday.

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In total, nine teams heard their name called. Four hail from Class 1A, including three from 1A-Region 2.

Fort White is the No. 3 seed in Class 1A-Region 1 with Madison County and Blountstown holding down the top two spots.

In 1A-Region 2, Hawthorne couldn’t do enough to pass Jacksonville-Trinity Christian for the top seed. The Crusaders had four losses compared to the Hornets' zero but earned a much higher strength-of-schedule score.

If the favorites win, HHS will need to go on the road for the first time in the playoffs since 2023.

Williston at No. 5 and Chiefland at No. 7 round out the rest of the bracket.

In Class 2A-Region 2, Bradford earned a spot in one of the most competitive regions in Florida as district champions. The Tornadoes are the No. 6 seed but will host in the first round with that mark.

Newberry, which ended the regular season with three straight wins, missed the postseason as Orlando-First Academy – on the Open Division bubble – was instead the top seed in the region.

Class 3A-Region 1 saw Palatka, with just one non-district FHSAA win, in line to host a playoff game. Jacksonville-Raines reached the Open Division. That made Tallahassee-Godby the No. 1 seed. The Cougars, though, did not win the district title, so the Panthers will get a home playoff game.

Class 3A-Region 2 sees a rematch of a dramatic regular-season game. Santa Fe lost at home to Dunnellon in the district title game, and as such, the Raiders now need to travel to the Tigers for the postseason. However, SF is more than capable of gaining revenge.

Columbia is the Gainesville area’s only team that will, for sure, host throughout the postseason. The Tigers, at 10-0, are Class 4A-Region 1’s No. 1 seed with St. Augustine as the No. 2. CHS is looking to reach states for the first time since 2022.

Like Hawthorne, Buchholz is in the strange spot of potentially needing to travel in the postseason. Jacksonville-Mandarin claimed Class 5A-Region 1’s top spot, with the Bobcats coming in second. Mark Whittemore and co. haven’t had to travel since 2022. Last season, the Mustangs and ‘Cats played a doozy for the region title – won by BHS at Citizens Field.

Finally, Oak Hall is the No. 4 seed in the Independent North Pool B bracket. The Independent is meant for FHSAA squads to have a chance at the postseason without being in a district.

In the Class 1A-3A Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT) bracket, Suwannee is the top dog, and Eastside is at No. 2. The FIT is for those who missed the normal postseason and is split between Class 1A-3A and Class 4A-6A.

Here are the complete Gainesville-area FHSAA Florida high school football playoff matchups:

Class 1A-Region 1

  1. Madison County
  2. Blountstown
  3. Fort White
  4. Bonifay-Holmes County
  5. Perry-Taylor County
  6. Baker
  7. Marianna
  8. Chipley

Class 1A-Region 2

  1. Jacksonville-Trinity Christian
  2. Hawthorne
  3. Jacksonville-University Christian
  4. Melbourne Central Catholic
  5. Williston
  6. Wildwood
  7. Chiefland
  8. Daytona Beach-Father Lopez

Class 2A-Region 2

  1. Orlando-First Academy
  2. Clearwater Central Catholic
  3. Tampa-Berkeley Prep
  4. Tampa Catholic
  5. Cocoa
  6. Bradford
  7. St. Petersburg-Lakewood
  8. Clearwater-Calvary Christian

Class 3A-Region 1

  1. Tallahassee-Godby
  2. Glen St. Mary-Baker County
  3. Crawfordville-Wakulla
  4. Jacksonville-Bishop Kenny
  5. Pine Forest-Pensacola
  6. Panama City-Bay
  7. Santa Rosa Beach-South Walton
  8. Palatka

Class 3A-Region 2

  1. Merritt Island
  2. Melbourne-Eau Gallie
  3. The Villages
  4. Santa Fe
  5. Dunnellon
  6. Bushnell-South Sumter
  7. Titusville
  8. Lakeland-Tenoroc

Class 4A-Region 1

  1. Columbia
  2. St. Augustine
  3. Jacksonville-Ed White
  4. Fort Walton Beach-Choctawhatchee
  5. Lynn Haven-Mosley
  6. Tallahassee-Rickards
  7. Tallahassee-Lincoln
  8. Green Cove Springs-Clay

Class 5A-Region 1

  1. Jacksonville-Mandarin
  2. Buchholz
  3. Ponte Vedra-Nease
  4. Orlando-Evans
  5. St. Johns-Bartram Trail
  6. Pace
  7. Ponte Vedra
  8. Orange Park-Oakleaf

Independent Pool B North

  1. Mount Dora Christian
  2. Jay
  3. Hilliard
  4. Oak Hall
  5. Bozeman
  6. Providence
  7. Geneva
  8. Oviedo-The Masters Academy

FIT 1A-3A

  1. Suwannee
  2. Eastside
  3. Belleview
  4. Bayshore
  5. North Marion
  6. Wellen Park
  7. FAMU
  8. Cypress Lake

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter, Facebook Noah Ram - Reporter and TikTok @ramreporter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA releases football playoff brackets. Where did Gainesville-area teams land?

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