Mississippi high school sports take on a bit of a new look this fall with the addition of a new 7A classification, the first time Mississippi High School Activities (MHSAA) schools have been divided into seven classes.
When it was announced, MHSAA officials said the addition of a seventh class was to foster a more competitive balance between schools in a class.
Under the new set up, there will now be 24 schools in 5A, 6A, and 7A, where before there were 32 schools in the old 5A and 6A. Instead of eight regions (districts), there are now four regions of six teams for football in the top three classifications.
Five of the eight DeSoto County Schools will compete in Class 7A, led by DeSoto Central, the largest school in the state by last year’s grade 9-11 student enrollment at 1,553. Southaven (1,433), Hernando (1,077), Horn Lake (1,036), and Lewisburg (960) are the other 7A schools in DeSoto County.
The Class 6A schools in the county are Olive Branch (849), Center Hill (824), and Lake Cormorant (751).
For football, here are the regional assignments for the next two seasons affecting DCS schools. Schools are reassigned and reclassified every two years.
Region 1-7A
DeSoto Central
Hernando
Horn Lake
Lewisburg
Oxford
Southaven
Region 1-6A
Center Hill
Grenada
Lake Cormorant
Olive Branch
Saltillo
South Panola
You can see the complete listing of schools, enrollment numbers, and the classifications they fall into on the MHSAA website. The website also lists the regional assigments for all sports, including football, which you can see when you CLICK HERE.
