PALM BEACH COUNTY/TREASURE COAST – The FHSAA has released its four state playoff brackets this afternoon (April 18).
For the first time in Palm Beach County history, four of our flag football teams earned the right to have No. 1 seeds in the regional rounds. This means they will have up to three home games in their respective quests to reach Tampa from May 8-10 for the Class 1A-2A-3A-4A State Final Four Series.
Here are our No. 1 seeds and their regional quarterfinal matchups:
CLASS 1A-REGION 3
No. 1 seed Somerset Academy Canyons (13-3) vs. No. 8 Atlantic (Port Orange) (10-7) in Boynton Beach
CLASS 2A-REGION 4
No. 1 seed Dr. Joaquin Garcia (14-0; second season in operation) vs. No. 8 seed Suncoast (10-4) in Lake Worth
CLASS 3A-REGION 2
No. 1 seed Seminole Ridge (12-2) vs. No. 8 seed Lakeland (5-3) in Westlake
CLASS 4A-REGION 3
No. 1 seed Wellington (13-1) vs. No. 8 seed Freedom (Orlando) (10-4) in Wellington
SKINNY: Expect all four No. 1 seeds to win all three of their regional playoff games to reach the State Final Four.
Here is what could – and should – happen:
STATE FINAL FOUR IN TAMPA: MAY 8-10
Class 1A: Somerset Academy Canyons
Class 2A: Dr. Joaquin Garcia
Class 3A: Seminole Ridge
Class 4A: Wellington
While four Palm Beach County teams combined to make history as No. 1’s, there are some other teams that could make noise in the FHSAA state playoffs as well.
For certain, we will have at least four teams advancing at least to the regional semifinal round. Here are the matchups that feature our area teams:
CLASS 1A-REGION 3
No. 6 seed John Carroll (8-6; District 10-1A winner) vs. No. 3 Oxbridge Academy (12-4; District 11-1A runner-up) in Fort Pierce
CLASS 3A-REGION 2
No. 4 seed South Fork (15-2) vs. No. 5 seed Martin County (13-3) in Stuart
CLASS 4A-REGION 3
No. 3 seed Palm Beach Gardens (10-4) vs. No. 6 seed Jupiter (13-3) in Palm Beach Gardens
CLASS 4A-REGION 4
No. 3 seed Spanish River (13-3) vs. No. 6 seed Park Vista (10-5) in Boca Raton; Rematch from District 13-4A in which Spanish River won, 14-6
We have a few more teams that qualified for the FHSAA state playoffs. These remaining teams will face off against out-of-area opponents in the regional quarterfinal round:
CLASS 2A-REGION 4
No. 5 seed Jensen Beach (11-6) at No. 4 seed Miami Norland (10-1) in Miami
CLASS 3A-REGION 4
No. 8 seed Atlantic (Delray Beach) (9-6) at No. 1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas (14-1) in Fort Lauderdale
CLASS 4A-REGION 3
No. 2 seed Fort Pierce Central (16-1) vs. No. 7 seed Davenport (13-4) in Fort Pierce
PLEASE NOTE: All regional quarterfinal games are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. as a start time. This can change at any time, pending a school’s request to get approved by the FHSAA for a different start time.
FHSAA STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE: FLAG FOOTBALL
Regional semifinal round (Classes 1A through 4A): Monday, April 28 – Start time TBA
Regional final round (Classes 1A through 4A): Thursday, May 1
FHSAA STATE FINAL FOUR: ROAD TO TAMPA
CLASS 1A STATE SEMIFINALS
Game 1: Thursday, May 8 at 4 p.m.
Game 2: Thursday, May 8 at 5:30 p.m.
CLASS 1A STATE TITLE GAME
Saturday, May 10 at 3 p.m.
CLASS 2A STATE SEMIFINALS
Game 1: Friday, May 9 at 4 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A STATE TITLE GAME
Saturday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m.
CLASS 3A STATE SEMIFINALS
Game 1: Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m.
Game 2: Thursday, May 8 at 8:30 p.m.
CLASS 3A STATE TITLE GAME
Saturday, May 10 at 4:45 p.m.
CLASS 4A STATE SEMIFINALS
Game 1: Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, May 9 at 8:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A STATE TITLE GAME
Saturday, May 10 at 8:15 p.m.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A total of 10 Palm Beach County teams and five Treasure Coast teams qualified for this year’s FHSAA state playoffs. This means we have 15 teams who have a chance to win a state title over the next three weeks ahead.
There were three teams that had an outside shot of joining the field, but did not make it in this year.
We say great seasons for the following teams that came close:
Class 3A: Fort Pierce Westwood (6-5); season officially ended when it lost 47-7 on the road to Seminole Ridge in the District 7-3A semifinal round
Class 4A: Treasure Coast (9-3); season officially ended when it lost 12-6 at home to Dwyer (2-14 final record) in the District 11-4A quarterfinal round
Class 4A: Palm Beach Central (9-6); season officially ended when it lost 40-12 on the road at Palm Beach Gardens in the District 11-4A semifinal round
Best wishes to all of our remaining Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast teams on playoff runs to remember starting next week.
Muck City Media Enterprises 
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