Seven Midlands schools moving up to Class 5A in SCHSL realignment

Seven Midlands schools are moving up to the newly formed Class 5A and will be paired in the same region, according to the South Carolina High School 2016-18 realignment proposal released Monday.

Blythewood, Dutch Fork, Irmo, Lexington, River Bluff, Spring Valley and White Knoll will be a part of Region 5-5A for all sports beginning next season if the proposal is approved. All seven schools are in Class 4A this year and split among two regions. By consolidating into one region, it will cut down on travel time among the schools during region play. The region’s longest road trip would be the 32 miles between White Knoll/Lexington and Blythewood.

“We pretty much play every one anyway, and every one is local. But I was shocked to see seven teams in the region,” Lexington athletics director and football coach Josh Stepp said. “But like I tell my players all the time, ‘Control what you control.’ We had no control over what class and region we were put in, but we will show up and play whoever we have to.”

It’s the first time the SCHSL is expanding classifications since it went to four classes in 1968. According to the proposal, there will be 42 teams each in Class 5A and 4A, 44 in Class 3A and 2A and 41 in Class A. Of the 41 schools in Class A, 34 play football.

With the unbalanced regions, it hasn’t been determined yet how many teams from each region will qualify for the playoffs.

“We tried to put it together as well and as fair as we thought we could,” SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton said. “We put together a number of factors, including geography, rivalries and what would be the best.”

The proposal is not set in stone and schools have until Sept. 16 to file an appeal. The SCHSL executive committee will listen to all appeals Sept. 17 and then make the decision on the final realignment.

Once the final realignment is determined, Singleton said they will discuss how many teams from each class or region will make the postseason. In the past, either the SCHSL executive committee would come up with the postseason format, or each class would individually determine their own format.

Airport, A.C. Flora, Dreher, Chapin, Lower Richland and Richland Northeast will be making the jump to Class 4A. Airport is the lone Midlands team in Region 4-4A with Aiken, Midland Valley North Augusta and South Aiken.

A.C. Flora, Chapin, Dreher and Lower Richland will be part of the five-team Region 5-4A along with Orangeburg-Wilkinson. Dreher is one of the smallest schools in Class 4A with 1,102 students, according to 135-day enrollment numbers.

“I figured, with our numbers, we would be 3A for sure, so it is a tough pill to swallow,” Dreher football coach Treigh Sullivan said. “From a rivalry and travel perspective, it’s not terribly bad. But from a football perspective, it will be especially tough with the eight-quarter rule” (which limits JV players who played Thursday from dressing on Friday nights).

Sullivan was unsure if Dreher would appeal to move down to Class 3A.

Richland Northeast moves to Class 4A and will be in Region 3-4A alongside Ridge View, Westwood, South Pointe and York.

Lugoff-Elgin is the lone Midlands team in Region 6-4A and will be with Hartsville, Darlington, Lakewood and Crestwood. According to the 135-day enrollment numbers, L-E is the biggest school in Class 4A with 1,614 students and just missed the cutoff for Class 5A. Conway was the smallest school in Class 5A with 1,618 students.

Columbia, Fairfield Central, Pelion, Newberry and Mid-Carolina jump to 3A. Columbia and Fairfield are in Region 5-3A, joining Camden, Chester and Indian Land. Pelion is in Region 4-3A with Brookland-Cayce, Gilbert, Swansea, Edisto and Strom Thurmond.

Gray Collegiate, which is in its second year, will go from Class A to 2A and be joined in Region 3-2A by C.A. Johnson, Eau Claire, Keenan, Fox Creek and Saluda.

Batesburg-Leesville will stay in Class 2A and is the lone Midlands team in Region 5-2A with Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Barnwell, Calhoun County and Silver Bluff.

This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 2:13 PM.