This region will be intriguing due to the fact that Ponte Vedra missed the cutoff for 2A and is in 1A, adding another tough team Episcopal School/St Augustine history. Throw in rapidly improving Pensacola Catholic, which ranks very well with LN (as does Oak Hall), and you have some extra mystery to who goes to Naples.

Right now, we are likely looking at 2 one-bid districts in 1 and 4, and a likely close battle for the #8 seed.

District 1

Pensacola Catholic is the overwhelming favorite going into the District playoffs, as they knocked off the 2nd seed South Walton twice by big margins. South Walton is the First Team Out right now but is only 3 slots behind #8 Wolfson in District 2, and the 8-team district helps them here, since they can gain two wins before the final to help improve their resume. That’s the biggest question coming out of here.

District 2

Episcopal Jacksonville versus Bolles, assuming that is the District final, is a good example of a ratings difference between FHSAA (7 vs 16) and LN’s (4 vs 23). Watch the goal differential in that one to see who was right on that. ESJ finished the season with a big win over Bolles, an upset of Bartram and a solid win over Lake Brantley, and are the defending Region champs. Bolles schedule was not as strong. Bolles did beat Wolfson comfortably, so the 2/3 semifinal game might knock Wolfson out of that 8-seed. That’s the game to pay attention to here.

District 3

Ponte Vedra and St Augustine are both highly rated, and given how the bracket might set up, the loser of the District might have to travel for the first FHSAA game as a higher seed to Pensacola Catholic or Oak Hall (likely District winning lower seeds). Ponte Vedra won the first game comfortably, and since then both schools have played tough schedules, and played them well, but Ponte Vedra has a better overall resume and should be favored here.

The fun story here is Tocoi Creek, currently holding on to the #7 seed due to their one-goal win over Wolfson. I think this is only their second season and making the playoff bracket would be a great impetus to their program. They should have another win in their first round before facing St Augustine, and that could be enough to get them in.

District 4

A relatively weak district this year, as Oak Hall took the regular season game over #2 seed Menendez 16-4, so it’s likely Oak Hall is basically playing for seeding in this one. Menendez is Fourth Team Out, so the only possible path would be winning the District.