Photo Credit: Cole YoungHours before the kickoff of the season in Missouri, classifications and districts were announced on Friday by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. As usual, there are a few teams moving up and down, along with some districts that look a little different than they did in past years. Here’s a breakdown of what happened in each class, along with any interesting changes.
Class 6 - Of all six classes, this class saw the fewest changes in the Kansas City area. Every district remained the same, with three districts comprised solely of local teams. The only change of note is North Kansas City moving up from Class 5, while St. Joseph Central dropped down to Class 5.
Class 5 - Several changes in Class 5 leave football fans with some incredibly strong local football districts. Grain Valley, which was previously in District 8 with Fort Osage and Platte County, shifts to District 7, where they’ll play with locals Belton, Ruskin, and Raytown, along with Neosho, Carthage, and Webb City. The Eagles faced Webb City last year in the state quarterfinals. Meanwhile, in the Northland, District 8 contains Platte County, Fort Osage, William Chrisman, and Winnetonka from last year. New to the district are St. Joseph Central and Lincoln Prep, who moved up to Class 5, along with St. Pius X, which made a jump from Class 3 with the success multiplier.
Class 4 - Southeast and Center move up to Class 4 while St. Joseph schools Lafayette and Benton drop down to Class 3. This, along with some moves in other districts around the state, allows the Kansas City area schools to be in two districts compared to last year when they were spread across three, and Pleasant Hill and Warrensburg played schools more in central Missouri. State champion Kearney will welcome Center and Southeast to District 8, replacing the St. Joseph schools.
Class 3 - With Benton and Lafayette moving down, Class 3 District 8 is basically the Midland Empire Conference, plus Richmond and Northeast. In District 7, St. Michael moves up to Class 3, University Academy is back in districts, and KC Central is back in the playoffs after co-oping with Southeast last year. They’ll join Clinton, Summit Christian, and rivals Oak Grove and Odessa in a bit of a wide-ranging district.
Class 2 - While in Class 4 local schools were pulled together, in Class 2 they are spread out a bit more. In District 8, the Class 2 KCI schools stay together, plus Brookfield, South Harrison, and Trenton. District 7 will include schools from KIPP Academy, Hogan, and Pembroke Hill, then extend south and east to include Lone Jack, Holden, Sherwood, and Butler. The MRVC East will indeed go east this year. Lafayette County, Lexington, and Carrollton are all on the other side of the bracket and will face schools in the Columbia region, like Father Tolton and Centralia.
Class 1 - The biggest addition to Class 1 is Adrian returning to Class 1. The state finalists in 2022 took Class 2 champion Lamar to the brink in districts last year and will return to Class 1 District 3, where they’ll join Cass-Midway, state champion Marionville, and a laundry list of southern Missouri schools. In District 4, North Platte, the Class 1 runner-up, will see Milan, whom they faced in the semifinals last year, join their district. Penney and West Platte are also in this district. In District 2, Crest Ridge will participate in a district that spans toward central Missouri.
