Changes galore in GHSA reclassification after appeals: ACE moves up, schools drop down

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Keith Hatcher did not get a welcoming present from the GHSA’s reclassification and appeals committee two days after he was announced as the new ACE head football coach.

          The school’s appeal to stay in Class A rather than jump to AA was denied Wednesday at a meeting in Thomaston.

          The GHSA has had to do major shuffling with the lower three classification with the barrage of small private-school departures –starting with the early-November announcement from Macon’s four major private schools - which were enough to eliminate Class A private and force alternative plans, including splitting Class A into divisions based on enrollments.

          A 3.0 multiplier for out of zone students was approved, and initially, the GHSA retained the plan of keeping Class A schools in Class A regardless of their multiplier enrollment figure.

          That was eliminated in the updated reclassification plans, and the multiplier was attached to all schools, regardless of class. And the GHSA had to completely rework Classes AAA, AA, and A, leading a number of changed plans for Central Georgia schools.

          Especially ACE, which has 540 students, with 240 out of zone, giving it a reclassification number of 984, putting it in the upper half of Class AA

          The 2022-23 year will be ACE’s fifth for football, among other sports.

          For the minutes of Wednesday’s meeting, all of the new regions, and the enrollment figures for the three classes, visit here. Schools can appeal to change regions, but not classifications.

          On Tuesday by way of Zoom, schools appealed to move up a class, and the appeals of Northeast and Southwest to move up from Class A to Class AA – where they had been – were approved. All such appeals were approved.

          Hatcher was announced Monday as the program’s second permanent head coach, succeeding interim head coach Sam Zanders, who led the Gryphons to a 4-4 record and the team’s first playoff bid when he replaced Jason Stephens, dismissed after the season-opening 48-0 loss to FPD.

Appeals for Jordan, Spencer, Mt. Vernon, and Pelham were approved, while those for ACE, Gordon Lee, Trion, Bacon County, Commerce, Chattahoochee County, Early County, Irwin County, Schley County, and Seminole County were denied.

Some appeals were to go down a classification, and others in Class A were to go down from Division I to 2.

          ACE moves into a AA region with Central, Northeast, Rutland, Southwest, and Columbus area schools Jordan, Kendrick, and Spencer.

          Mary Persons, Peach County, and Upson-Lee go from a nine-team region with Columbus schools to a more regionalized group with two other teams for a smaller version of the current Region 2-AAA.

          The shuffling from last months regions in Class AA and A is vast.

          Region 2-AA is redone, with Central, Northeast, Rutland and Southwest staying, and Bleckley County, Dodge County, East Laurens, and Lamar County all to Class A, and Toombs County to a different AA region. That’s ACE’s new home.

          Jasper County leaves 4-AA for Class A, and Putnam County and Washington County stay in 4-AA, with Augusta-area schools replacing other non-Central Georgia teams in the region.

          Class A is almost unrecognizable compared to just a month ago.

Below are side-to-side comparisons of the new regions with the last region update.