Spartans join Class 7A’s ‘Region of Doom’

High school football is a Southern tradition, and Alabama is one of its leading celebrants. It’s been that way for generations.

But this season finds Alabama high school football undergoing its biggest change in 30 years. 

The Alabama High School Athletic Association, by unanimous vote of its central board, has added a seventh class for the largest 32 schools in the state. This creates entirely new regional and class alignments and affects rivalries, travel and, most importantly, whether your school will make the playoffs.

In the Over the Mountain area, the so-called “Region of Doom” returns in a slightly different form in highly competitive Class 7A, Region 3. Mountain Brook is grouped with back-to-back Class 6A state champ Hoover — rated by some preseason sources as a national championship favorite — along with Spain Park, Vestavia Hills, Thompson, Oak Mountain, Tuscaloosa County and Hewitt-Trussville. Six of those eight made the 2013 Class 6A playoffs, including Mountain Brook; three were region champions. But only four of these teams will make the 16-field 7A playoff bracket in 2014.

This is the first major classification change the AHSAA has adopted since 1984, when the governing body increased from four classes to six. The remaining six classes were divided as equally as possible with 60 schools in 6A, 61 in 5A, 60 in 4A, 60 in 3A, 58 in 2A and 58 making up Class 1A.

This change affects all sports, but it’s King Football that has garnered the most attention. 

“The seven-classification system will allow more student-athletes to participate in championship events, and more will experience firsthand what it means to play in some of the best venues in our state,” Central Board President Lamar Brooks said. “With the addition of an extra championship game, revenues should increase, which will mean much-needed additional money for all schools through the AHSAA revenue sharing program.”

AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said the seven-class system allows the organization to group schools more closely in enrollment, reduces the need for nine-team regions in football and has created fewer five-team areas in sports such as basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball.

“It also will allow more schools to make the state playoffs and will crown more state champions than at any other time in the history of our organization,” he said.

Some members of the media have taken to calling Class 7A a “super class,” but 6A may be even more competitive. Class 6A is comprised of 60 schools in eight regions, and Metro Birmingham schools landed across four of those regions. Class 6A, Region 5 is home to three schools: Homewood, Briarwood Christian and John Carroll. The other schools in their region include Pelham, Minor, Jackson-Olin, Hueytown and Walker. Moving to Class 6A, Region 3 is Chelsea, who will play against Alexander City’s Benjamin Russell, Opelika, Valley of Fairfax (north of Auburn near the Georgia line), Pell City, Oxford and Chilton County.

In all classes except 7A, 32 schools will make the playoffs. The Super 6 Championships now become the Super 7. The championships alternate between Tuscaloosa and Auburn, and this year it’s Auburn’s turn. 

The AHSAA Central Board also voted to allow football teams 11 weeks to schedule 10 games. Schools may elect to play a non-region contest the week of Aug. 21-23 and then have 10 weeks to play the remaining nine regular-season games.

Schools can still agree to play a non-counting jamboree or regulation game that first week but would then have the remaining 10 weeks to schedule the maximum 10 regular-season contests. This format will give schools more flexibility to schedule non-region games.