Reclassification changes the landscape of high school football

The Fort Myers and Dunbar matchup in the first round of the high school football playoffs was a classic a year ago. That was the encore to an entertaining regular season showdown. Now, after reclassification, these two city rivals will only meet in the postseason.

“It’s a big change in our district,” Fort Myers High School football head coach Sam Sirianni Jr. said. “I mean this is the first year in a while we haven’t had Dunbar. Haven’t had South not even in our classification.”

For the past two seasons, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) has used the Metro Suburban format. This season, teams are in traditional classifications, based on enrollment. For example, Cypress Lake High School is no longer in the same district as Fort Myers or Dunbar. The Panthers are now with Charlotte, Lemon Bay and Estero in 3A District 13.

“It’s kind of the district we were in I guess three years ago,” Cypress Lake head coach Joey Mendes said. “Putting all the schools together number wise back together that should be together. So it does gives us a chance to compete in it.”

The most drastic change in Lee County football is found at Lehigh Senior High as the Lightning are the only team in 7A. That means their district games are against teams that are not in Southwest Florida.

“We’ve always had to play these teams in the playoffs,” Lehigh head coach Antwan Dixon said. “So it’s not like we’re playing anybody different it’s just a different way of getting to the playoffs.”

Dixon went on to say, “it’s just going to be the challenge to win now to make sure we get a good seed so we don’t have to travel that much in the playoffs.”