The Florida High School Athletic Association revealed its football playoff bracket Sunday morning, revealing the playoff paths for almost three-dozen schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Four Broward teams grabbed the top seeds in the football bracket release on Sunday morning: The nation’s No. 2-ranked Chaminade-Madonna, No. 11-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas, 21st-ranked American Heritage and Monarch will all host playoff contests starting this week.
Thirty-five teams from Broward and Palm Beach will continue their play on the gridiron with hopes of reaching the state championships..
For the second year in a row, two-time defending 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 bracket on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
The Lions, who have not given up a point in the past three weeks, topped its neighborhood rival 64-0 three weeks ago. Avant Garde has not won a game since then, dropping three straight. Chaminade-Madonna has won 23 straight regular season games and have outscored the opposition 477-130.
Cardinal Newman (8-1) will host Benjamin (8-2) for a second straight season in the first round of the Region 3-1M playoffs. The teams faced each other two weeks ago and the Crusaders came out on top 17-14.
Two late-season losses saw Pahokee (5-5) fall from a bye in Region 4-1R to hosting Dixie County (Cross City) on Nov. 18.
American Heritage (7-1) will host North Broward Prep (5-5) in the Region 3-2M opener. Cardinal Gibbons (7-3), seeded second, will host Stranahan (5-5). Stranahan gets a do over with Cardinal Gibbons, second-seeded team in Region 3-2M. The Chiefs (7-3) topped 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 quarterfinal. The Tigers topped Dillard 33-28 on Friday night.
St. Thomas Aquinas (9-1) will open the playoffs in Region 3-3M as they host Plantation (6-4) in the regional quarterfinal opener.
In the Region 3-4M bracket, Monarch (8-2) draws the top seed and will face Stoneman Douglas (4-6) in a rematch of a 26-7 win for the Knights on Sept. 22.
Spanish River (7-3), which endured losing season seasons in 18 of their past 19 years and West Boca Raton (2013) each 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 moving from sixth in the region to No. 3 and a home game against Boca Raton (6-4).
Teams that missed out on 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 top-seeded teams around the state will host first-round regional matchups, except in the case where a district champion is facing an at-large team. In that case, the district champion (or the lower seed) will host regardless of seeding. In the case of two district champions playing each other, the higher-seeded district champion would still host. That did not affect the local teams.
The State Championships for all Classes will be held from Dec. 7-9 at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee.
Playoff schedules, first-round times TBA.
Region 4-1R
Dixie County (Cross City) (5) at Pahokee (4)
Region 3-1M
Avant Garde (4) at Chaminade-Madonna (1)
Benjamin (3) at Cardinal Newman (2)
Region 3-2M
North Broward Prep (8) at American Heritage (1)
Somerset Canyons Academy (5) at King’s Academy (4)
Stranahan (7) at Cardinal Gibbons (2)
Calvary Christian Academy (6) St. Andrew’s (3)
Region 3-3M
Plantation (8) at St. Thomas Aquinas (1)
Dillard (5) at Blanche Ely (4)
West Boca Raton (7) at Atlantic (2)
Piper (6) at Coconut Creek 3)
Region 3-4M
Stoneman Douglas (8) at Monarch (1)
Spanish River (7) at Palm Beach Central (2)
Boca Raton (6) at Jupiter (3)
Palm Beach Gardens (5) at Santaluces (4)
Region 4-4M
West Broward (5) at South Dade (4)
Cypress Bay (6) at Western (3)
Region 4-4M
McArthur (8) at Homestead (1)
Belen Jesuit (7) at South Broward (2)
American (6) at Miramar (3)