State shuffle sends teams to new classes

Jackson is about to be, at least in the local football playoff picture, in a class by itself.

The area's largest high school will be the only Southeast Missouri school in Class 5A when the football season begins in the fall, thanks to new classifications released Wednesday by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. The change comes in conjunction with the state's addition of a sixth classification -- Class 6A -- voted upon last year by member schools. The state's 322 football-playing schools were redistributed across the six classes based on enrollments in grades 9-12.

Jackson played the past two seasons in Class 5A -- football's large-school classification at the time -- with Poplar Bluff and St. Louis-area schools Vianney and Francis Howell. Actual district opponents will be known in a week when the MSHSAA releases district assignments, which will apply for the next two years before school enrollments are again adjusted.

"The biggest change for us is that at district time, all our opponents will be from St. Louis, so that'll mean more driving for us and more driving for those teams," Jackson coach Carl Gross said. "It'll probably affect those schools more than us anyway because we've gone to Tennessee and Kentucky to play games the past couple of years, and we already play St. Louis teams.

"It's not a big surprise to us though. From a financial aspect and for the sake of our fans, I wish we could play all our games closer to home."

Basketball changes too

Most other area teams -- including Central -- are unaffected by the class size changes in football, but they will see new opponents in basketball, which will grow from four classes to five.

SEMO Conference rivals Central, Jackson and Poplar Bluff will move from 4A into the newest class -- 5A -- joining Sikeston, which now competes in 3A. That class change will affect only basketball and music, the only MSHSAA-sanctioned events in which 514 or more schools participate.

Other area basketball-playing schools also are making moves, including Notre Dame, Kelly, Scott City and Woodland to 3A, and St. Vincent, Meadow Heights, Advance and Oran to 2A. Oak Ridge, Scott County Central, Bell City, Delta, Zalma, Leopold and Marquand are among schools that will remain in 1A.

The changes begin with the 2002-2003 school year.

jhall@semissourian.com

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