The First Season of AHSAA Private School Play - Part 2

Can the schools at the bottom of Private School – A and Private School – AA, be competitive with the schools at the top? How strong will the top schools be and how weak will the bottom schools be in each classification? How competitive will the regions be for playoff spots?

Enrollment numbers have always been the primary factor to determine classifications of schools by the AHSAA. For many years private schools, have been affected by two other issues- the 1.35 multiplying factor and the competitive balance formula.

The AHSAA took the private school enrollment figures and multiplied that by 1.35. This formula was instituted in the late 1990s to account for the fact that studies showed that 35% more students played athletics in private high schools than public high schools. In short, it was believed that many students who were good athletes came to those private schools primarily to play sports.

If schools had great success, such as playing in the semifinals or finals, they accumulated points. Reach a certain number over the two-year period and in the next reclassification cycle, the school would be moved up one classification above where they would normally be. That number would still be determined after the 1.35 multiplier was used.

The new enrollment figures used by the AHSAA for 2026-27 had no multiplier. There was also no competitive balance “penalty” for success.

To determine what the competition might be like this fall in each division, it is probably best to first take a look at where the teams played last season in 2025 and what kind of success they achieved. Both the multiplier and the competitive balance formulas were used in determining their classification at the time.

Of the 29 schools playing “A” Private School football this coming fall, two played in 4A in 2025 (Mobile Christian @ 7-4 and Saint James @ 3-7). Ten schools played in 3A (State Champ Mars Hill @ 15-0, state runner up Bayside Academy @ 13-2, Montgomery Academy @ 11-2, Westbrook Christian @ 10-2, Cottage Hill Christian @ 10-2, Trinity Presbyterian @ 9-3, Whitesburg Christian @ 5-6, Alabama Christian @ 4-6, Prattville Christian @ 1-9, and Northside Methodist @ 0-8).  This means that 41% of the teams played 4A or 3A AHSAA football last season.

Class 2A had 7 schools in 2025 that are now in “A” and three of them had great seasons – (Coosa Christian- 2A State Champ @ 13-2, Providence Christian in Dothan @ 9-4, Tuscaloosa Academy @ 9-4). The other four were St. Luke’s Episcopal @ 3-7, Bayshore Christian @ 1-9, Decatur Heritage @ 1-9 and Pike Liberal Arts @ 1-8.

The other 10 schools either played in 1A or AISA last season. The only one that had a winning season in 2025 was Autauga Academy @ 7-4.

One of the first things that jumps out from last season is that there seems to be a top tier that did very well and a bottom tier that struggled with a minimum number of victories. There were very few “middle of the road” teams.

There were six schools that will play in Single A this year that won 10 or more games in 2025. Five of these teams are in the top 6 of the classification in enrollment.  The difference in enrollment is steep when you consider that the top of the Single A division is at 190 students. The bottom of the football playing schools is Ellwood Christian with 45, over four times less.  So there appears to be an enrollment issue in the smallest private school class. Can the schools that struggled in 1A last season be competitive in the new world of private school football?

The outlier to all of this seems to be Coosa Christian, which won the 2A Championship last season with an enrollment 73.45 students. Sanctions against the school had caused the suspension of their football coach just before the 2025 season.

Four schools from each of the four regions will make the playoffs next season. The first three rounds will be played in Weeks 1, 2, and 3 of the playoffs. The teams in the finals will not play Week 4, but will travel to Mobile to play on Wednesday, December 2^nd at 11:00 AM. The AA Championship will be played that night at 7:00 PM.

The four regions are very unique.

Region 1 includes Mobile and Dothan area schools and looks to be very competitive with Bayside, Cottage Hill, Mobile Christian and Providence leading the way in this 8-team region.

Region 2 is a 7-team region that includes three Montgomery area schools that have traditionally been very good- Trinity, Montgomery Academy and St. James.

Single A, Region 3 includes Tuscaloosa Academy who played in 2A last season and made the quarterfinals at 9-4 before losing to Coosa Christian. All other seven schools in that region all played in 1A, with only Autauga Academy managing to achieve a winning season. Region 3 looks to be the weakest of the regions.

Region 4 is a 7-team group that runs from Gadsden to Huntsville/Decatur to Florence. This group include last year’s 3A champ in Mars Hill, 2025 2A champ Coosa Christian, as well as Steve Smith’s Westbrook Christian squad that went 10-2 in 3A in 2025.

There looks to be some distance between the top schools and the bottom schools in this classification. Can the bottom schools close the gap over the next two seasons? Will there be a number of blowouts when the former 4A/3A teams play the former 1A schools?

It should be a very interesting 2026 season in Private School Class A football.

Part 3: A Look at the AA Classification for Private Schools