In the latest MaxPreps high school football rankings, The First Academy of Orlando finds itself sitting at No. 6 in the state. That means if the season ended today, the Royals would be part of the Florida High Schools Athletic Association’s new Open Division playoffs, pitting the state’s top eight teams in a five-week tournament to determine the state’s overall champion.
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TFA coach Jeff Conaway says he’s not sure what to think about being thrust into the Open 8 division. Qualifying for the top-eight tournament removes TFA from competition for the Class 2A state title. The Royals, if they remained the top seed in Class 2A, would be the favorite to win their first-ever football state championship.
By qualifying for the new Open 8 format, the Royals would certainly be an underdog when put up against teams like 5A St. Thomas Aquinas, 6A Miami Columbus and 5A West Boca Raton, which are the top three teams in the most recent MaxPreps rankings, and all three schools have won multiple state titles within their classes.
TFA moved up from No. 12 last week, even after losing to the state’s No. 2-ranked team IMG Academy 42-27 on Friday night. Despite the loss, the Royals moved up six spots based on IMG bolstering their strength of schedule. IMG is not part of the FHSAA, so they are not eligible for the state playoffs.
“I don’t know what I think about it. I haven’t really thought about it, but here we are,” Conaway said. “I think I can get on either side of it.”
He does, however, know how his players would react if they qualified for the Open 8.
“I think they would be thrilled. That is a huge honor,” Conaway said. “When you start talking about the seven other top teams in Florida that you would play against, just to be in the conversation is a huge accomplishment, especially for us, a 2A school that hasn’t been doing this for very long at all at this level.
“So yes, we would be excited and honored. The programs that are being mentioned in the top eight in Florida are some of the best programs in all of the country, so that’s something we would definitely be excited about.”
Conaway said he can understand how teams look at the state playoff situations and how dominance by particular programs have led the FHSAA to consider alternate ways to even the playing field within each classification.
Like, for instance, St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, is currently the No. 1 team in Florida. The Raiders have won seven consecutive state titles within their classification, which has been classes 7A, 3M and 5A during that time span.
“State’s lean toward an open division because there have been programs that have been dominating a classification,” Conaway said. “I think you have to determine is it good for a 1A, 2A, 3A school, that has never won a state championship, to be put in that situation (Open 8)?
“I would imagine, if you are a school, public or private, that has never won a state championship, those schools are probably going to lean toward staying in the classification that they are in.”
If a school qualifies for the Open 8, there is no opting out, which was confirmed by FHSAA executive director Craig Damon on Tuesday.
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“If you have never won a state title and you are in the Open Division, I would think that there would be an opportunity for them to say, ‘Hey we’re not gonna accept this offer. We’re gonna stay in our classification,’ ” Conway said, speaking of other schools. “But that’s not in the verbiage as I understand it.”
And, it’s not necessarily how TFA views the overall picture.
Conway says he’s on the fence about whether he likes the idea of being thrust into a playoff format with the state’s heavyweights, but TFA would love to be one of those heavyweights. Conaway was hired from Arkansas three seasons ago to come in and build a powerhouse football program, and an open division playoff scenario would certainly align with TFA’s goals.
“I don’t know exactly where I stand on it, honestly, based on my team and my selfish desires,” Conaway said. “Neither are bad options. If we don’t make the top eight, it’s not a bad option to go try to win a 2A state championship. If we do make the top 8, that’s not a bad option either. Let’s go see where we stand among the best in Florida.”
Perhaps it thrusts TFA into the state limelight a bit faster than anticipated, but the present is upon the Royals, so Conaway and his team will trudge forward accordingly, although he also says the competition isn’t everything.
“The ultimate goal for us is to develop champions spiritually, academically, socially and athletically,” Conaway said. “So, if we are doing our No. 1 job, to a very high standard, then yeah, I think the byproduct of that is that we are going to eventually be able to play for a state title and the way that the Open Division is set up … who knows? We may eventually be able to play for an Open Division title.
“I don’t know which happens first. Who knows? We’ll find out in about five or six weeks. We’re either in it or we’re not. We’ll have a chance to go play for a 2A state title or not.”
The way of thinking for many coaches, including DeLand coach Rick Darlington, whose team is currently ranked No. 13 in the state and No. 1 in the Sentinel’s Super 16 Coaches Poll, is that they might like to remain within their class so that their players have a better opportunity to play for a state championship.
“It’s not fair to teams like us, Edgewater and Jones, who have never won a state title. And think about how close Jones and Edgewater have been. So now, to finally have that team that can win it, and you get thrown in there with St. Thomas and Chaminade and American Heritage and Venice and Lakeland,” Darlington said prior to the start of the season.
Jones coach Elijah Williams, whose Tigers are ranked No. 21 this week, has the same sentiments.
“Our fan base wants a state title, because we ain’t never won one. So they don’t care about that,” Williams. “I believe you ain’t no state champion if you ain’t playing Broward or Dade County teams. There’s always some Miami team. To win state (within class) you gotta go through a lot of good teams.
“It’s rewarding to be in the top eight in Florida, but at the end of the day, you want to win a state championship.”
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Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.