In the words of the late great Sam Cook, “A change gonna come…”
And, that’s exactly what is happening with reclassification as far as the Mississippi High School Activities Association is concerned.
The MHSAA announced several months ago that for the first time ever the state would enact a seven-classification system for competition among member schools across the state. Those new alignments were revealed Thursday.
There was quite a bit of movement for the teams in the “Southern Six” covered by 228 Sports. The new regions will include six teams in the top three classifications each, reduced from eight teams which had been the case for the past decade or so.
In the new Class 7A, six Mississippi Gulf Coast teams will comprise Region 4-7A. Old rivals and regular region opponents Biloxi, Gulfport, D’Iberville, St. Martin, Harrison Central, and Ocean Springs will round out that league.
Hancock and Pascagoula will remain in Class 6A, and each will still compete in Region 4-6A but now that loop will also include George County, Picayune, Long Beach, and West Harrison.
Also in Class 6A, one team, Pearl River Central, will move “north” if you will as PRC will join Forest Hill, Hattiesburg, Jim Hill, Terry, and West Jones in Region 3-6A. However, Jim Hill is expected to play as an independent in football for the next two years.
In a new twist, Region 4-5A will be comprised of East Central, Vancleave, Gautier, Stone, Laurel, and Wayne County.
Poplarville moves into Region 8-4A replacing Stone in that league which now consists of Moss Point, Bay High, Pass Christian, and Greene County as well.
In the smaller schools, St. Stanislaus remains in Region 8-3A along with St. Patrick and Resurrection remains in Region 4-1A but that loop now consists of only six teams instead of eight as well. Region 4-1A is comprised of East Marion, Enterprise-Lincoln, Lumberton, Resurrection, Sacred Heart, and Salem.
Also, in the new movement, the same regions that are listed below are in play for not only football but basketball and baseball as well. In the past, each region in the larger classifications was split into two different divisions in baseball and basketball. But that is no longer the case.
Here are the complete new reclassification alignments;
CLASS 7A
Region 1
DeSoto Central
Hernando
Horn Lake
Lewisburg
Oxford
Southaven
Region 2
Clinton
Germantown
Madison Central
Starkville
Tupelo
Region 3
Brandon
Meridian
Northwest Rankin
Oak Grove
Pearl
Petal
Region 4
Biloxi
D’Iberville
Gulfport
Harrison Central
Ocean Springs
St. Martin
CLASS 6A
Region 1
Center Hill
Grenada
Lake Cormorant
Olive Branch
Saltillo
South Panola
Region 2
Callaway
Columbus
Neshoba Central
Ridgeland
Vicksburg
Warren Central
Region 3
Forest Hill
Hattiesburg
Jim Hill
Pearl River Central
Terry
West Jones
Region 4
George County
Hancock
Long Beach
Pascagoula
Picayune
West Harrison
CLASS 5A
Region 1
Clarksdale
Corinth
Lafayette
New Hope
Pontotoc
West Point
Region 2
Canton
Cleveland Central
Gentry
Greenville
Holmes County Central
Yazoo City
Region 3
Brookhaven
Florence
Natchez
North Pike
Provine
South Jones
Region 4
East Central
Gautier
Laurel
Stone
Vancleave
Wayne County
CLASS 4A
Region 1
Amory
Itawamba AHS
Ripley
Shannon
Tishomingo County
Region 2
Byhalia
New Albany
North Pontotoc
Senatobia
South Pontotoc
Region 3
Caledonia
Greenwood
Houston
Kosciusko
Louisville
Region 4
Choctaw Central
Leake Central
Newton County
NE Lauderdale
West Lauderdale
Region 5
Forest
Mendenhall
Morton
Northeast Jones
Quitman
Region 6
Lanier
McComb
Raymond
Richland
Wingfield
Region 7
Columbia
Forrest Co. AHS
Lawrence County
Purvis
Sumrall
Region 8
Bay
Greene County
Moss Point
Pass Christian
Poplarville
CLASS 3A
Region 1
Alcorn Central
Belmont
Booneville
Kossuth
Mantachie
Region 2
Coahoma County
Holly Springs
Independence
North Panola
Rosa Fort
Region 3
Amanda Elzy
Humphreys County
Ruleville
Winona
Yazoo County
Region 4
Aberdeen
Choctaw County
East Webster
Mooreville
Nettleton
Region 5
Enterprise-Clarke
Kemper County
McLaurin
Noxubee County
SE Lauderdale
Region 6
Crystal Springs
Hazlehurst
Jefferson Davis County
Magee
Seminary
Region 7
Franklin County
Jefferson County
Port Gibson
South Pike
Wesson
Region 8
Perry Central
St. Patrick
St. Stanislaus
Tylertown
West Marion
CLASS 2A
Region 1
East Union
Hamilton
Hatley
Walnut
Region 2
Bruce
Calhoun City
M.S. Palmer
Water Valley
Region 3
Charleston
Leflore County
Northside
O’Bannon
Riverside
Region 4
Eupora
J.Z. George
Philadelphia
Sebastopol
Union
Region 5
Bay Springs
Clarkdale
Lake
Newton
Scott Central
Region 6
Pelahatchie
Pisgah
Puckett
Raleigh
St. Andrew’s
Region 7
Amite County
Bogue Chitto
Loyd Star
West Lincoln
Wilkinson County
Region 8
Collins
Heidelberg
Mize
North Forrest
Richton
CLASS 1A
Region 1
Baldwyn
Biggersville
Thrasher
Tupelo Christian
Region 2
Ashland
Byers
Falkner
Myrtle
Region 3
Coffeeville
Coldwater
Potts Camp
Strayhorn
Region 4
Okolona
Smithville
Vardaman
West Lowndes
Region 5
Leland
McEvans
Simmons
South Delta
West Bolivar
West Tallahatchie
Region 6
Ethel
French Camp
McAdams
Nanih Waiya
Noxapater
Velma Jackson
Region 7
Leake County
Mount Olive
Stringer
Taylorsville
Region 8
East Marion
Enterprise-Lincoln
Lumberton
Resurrection
Sacred Heart
Salem
