New-look regions for local schools
Aug. 2—A new two-year reclassification cycle is in place for Georgia schools as fall sports start this month at area high schools.
The biggest change that came with this year's reclassification — announced last winter — is the abolishing of the public-private split in the Georgia High School Association's eight classifications. Private schools like Dalton's Christian Heritage School are now competing with other similarly-sized public schools.
Here's what the region shakeups resulted in for local schools:
Class A split is no more
Where Christian Heritage competed in Class A Private before, the Lions now compete in a subdivision of Class A. Class A is split into two divisions based on size rather than private or public designation. Private schools formerly in Class A Private were subjected to an enrollment count in which students from outside the school's normal attendance zone count as three students for classification purposes. Christian Heritage's number was still small enough to put the Lions in Class A Division II, the smallest classification in the state.
Christian Heritage is in Region 7-A Division II with 13 schools, but only two of those — Bowdon and Mount Zion-Carroll — compete in football. The Lions play just those two other teams in a region schedule in football and have an automatic playoff berth. In other sports, Christian Hertiage is in a sub-region of the 14-member region that includes Atlanta Classical, DeKalb School of the Arts, Excel Christian, Genesis Innovation, Georgia School for Deaf and Woody Gap.
Dalton Academy plays in Region 7-A Division I, which is in the larger of the two divisions within Class A. The Pumas don't have a football team.
Dalton's down to 5A
Dalton bumped down in classification to Class 5A this year, and the Catamounts will see reduced travel because of the move. Dalton's region in 6A the last two years consisted of Carrollton, Rome and several schools from the suburban Atlanta area.
In Class 5A this year, Dalton will have closer opponents like Calhoun, Cartersville, Cass, Hiram and Woodland in Region 7-5A.
"The biggest thing is to have games closer to home," Dalton football head coach Kit Carpenter said. "The biggest thing with high school football is the rivalries. It's town vs. town. For us to be able to play closer to home is really allowing us to get back to playing teams we have played for a number of years."
Murray schools on the move
Both Murray County and North Murray moved down to Class 2A. North Murray had been in 3A since 2012 and Murray was in Class 2A for two seasons in 2012 and 2013 before moving back up to 3A.
The two Murray schools still have to contend with Rockmart, the Region 6-3A winner in football ahead of the Indians and Mountaineers for the last two seasons, as the Yellow Jackets move into Region 7-2A with the two Murray programs. Fannin County, Gordon Central, Haralson County and Model round out the region.
Creek, Northwest, Southeast stay put in evolving regionsThe exit of the two Murray County schools from Class 3A leaves behind Coahulla Creek, which has been a region rival of the two for most of its 10 seasons of existence. Coahulla Creek sticks around in a Region 6-3A that retains Adairsville, LaFayette, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold from the previous two-year cycle. Bremen, Gordon Lee and Ridgeland are also joining the fray; Bremen from Class 2A, Gordon Lee from Class A Public and Ridgeland from Class 4A.
Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield remain in a Region 7-4A that keeps many teams from the previous two-year cycle. Pickens and Ridgeland left the region, while Cedartown, Central-Carrollton and Heritage return. Sonoraville joins the region from Class 3A, and Southeast plays in the region schedule in football after sitting out the previous two years.
