The South Carolina High School League released its region placement for 2026-28 realignment on Thursday.
The news comes a day earlier than expected and comes a week after the classification placements were set. Schools have until Feb. 1 to submit if they will appeal their region assignments. Appeals will be heard on Feb. 3-5 .
Some of the highlights of the new region placements:
Gray Collegiate will not be in a region with Lexington County schools for its first two seasons in Class 5A. The War Eagles are in Region 4-5A with Ridge View , Blythewood , Spring Valley and Sumter.Irmo won’t be with any Midlands teams in Region 5-4A. Instead, the Yellow Jackets are placed with Aiken -area schools and North Augusta.There will be an all- Midlands region in 3A with Airport, Brookland- Cayce , Camden , Gilbert , Lower Richland , Swansea all in Region 4-3A. Fort Mill , Northwestern , Rock Hill will be placed with Upstate schools Dorman and Boiling Springs in Region 2-5A.Florence schools Wilson, South Florence and West Florence will be paired with Myrtle Beach -area schools Conway , Myrtle Beach , North Myrtle Beach and St. James in Region 7-4A.With Socastee and Carolina Forest the only two Grand Strand teams in 5A, they are placed with Lowcountry schools Berkeley , Cane Bay , Goose Creek and Wando.Stratford is not in the same region as three other Berkeley County high schools, Berkeley , Goose Creek and Cane Bay . Insteal Stratford is in Region 6-5A with Ashley Ridge , Fort Dorchester, James Island , Stall, Summerville and West Ashley.
The complete list is below. (**Denotes Schools Not Playing Football … ****Denotes At-Large Member)
Class 5A
Region 1: Byrnes Eastside, Hillcrest, JL Mann, Mauldin , Woodmont
Region 2: Boiling Springs , Dorman, Fort Mill , Northwestern , Rock Hill , Spartanburg
Region 3: Chapin , Dutch Fork , Lexington , River Bluff , White Knoll
Region 4: Blythewood , Gray Collegiate, Ridge View , Spring Valley , Sumter
Region 5: Ashley Ridge , Fort Dorchester, James Island , Stall, Stratford, Summerville , West Ashley
Region 6: Berkeley , Cane Bay , Carolina Forest , Goose Creek , Socastee , Wando
Class 4A Regions
Region 1: Easley , Fountain Inn , Greenwood , Laurens , TL Hanna, Westside
Region 2: Gaffney , Greenville , Greer , Riverside, Travelers Rest , Wade Hampton
Region 3: Catawba Ridge , Clover , Lake Wylie , **Legion Collegiate, Nation Ford, South Pointe, York
Region 4: AC Flora, Dreher, Indian Land, Lancaster , Lugoff – Elgin , Richland Northeast, Westwood
Region 5: Aiken , Fox Creek , Irmo , Midland Valley , North Augusta , South Aiken
Region 6: Beaufort , Bluffton , Colleton County , Hilton Head , Lucy Beckham , May River
Region 7: Conway , Myrtle Beach , North Myrtle Beach , South Florence, St. James , West Florence, Wilson
Class 3A Regions
Region 1: Berea Daniel , Pickens , Seneca , Southside Walhalla
Region 2: Belton Honea Path , Emerald, **Legacy, Palmetto, Powdersville, Wren
Region 3: Blue Ridge , Broome, Chapman, Christ Church , Union County
Region 4: Airport, Brookland- Cayce , Camden , Gilbert , Lower Richland , Swansea
Region 5: Bishop England , Georgetown , Hanahan , North Charleston , Oceanside Collegiate
Region 6: Atlantic Collegiate, Aynor , Crestwood, Darlington , Hartsville , Lakewood , Loris
Class 2A Regions
Region 1: ** Brashier MC, Crescent, Carolina, **Green Upstate, **Greenville Tech, Liberty , Pendleton , St. Joseph’s, West-Oak
Region 2: Chesnee , Clinton , **Greer MC, High Point , Landrum , Mountain View Prep , Southside Christian, Woodruff
Region 3: Andrew Jackson , Chester , Columbia , Keenan, Mid-Carolina, Newberry , York Prep
Region 4: American Leadership, ** Horse Creek , Orangeburg -Wilkinson, Pelion , Silver Bluff , Strom Thurmond , Saluda
Region 5: Academic Magnet, Battery Creek , ** Bridges Prep , Lake Marion , Philip Simmons , Timberland, Woodruff
Region 6: Dillon , East Clarendon, Lake City , Marlboro County , Manning , Waccamaw
Class A regions
Region 1: Abbeville , Calhoun Falls , Dixie, McCormick , Ninety Six , **SC Deaf and Blind, Thornwell , Ware Shoals
Region 2: Batesburg-Leesville , CA Johnson, Clear Dot Charter , Eau Claire, Ridge Spring-Monetta , Whitmire
Region 3: Blacksburg , Buford, Fairfield Central, Great Falls , Lewisville, **Midlands Stem, **Riverwalk
Region 4: Barnwell , Blackville – Hilda , Calhoun County , Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, **North, Wagener – Salley , Williston – Elko
Region 5: Central , Cheraw , Chesterfield , **Governor’s School, Lamar , Lee Central, McBee , North Central
Region 6: Bamberg – Ehrhardt , Bethune – Bowman , Branchville , Denmark – Olar , Edisto, Scott’s Branch
Region 7: Allendale – Fairfax , Hampton County , Hardeeville , ****Polaris Tech, Ridgeland , ** Royal Live Oaks , Whale Branch
Region 8: Baptist Hill, Burke, ** Charleston Charter , Cross, **Lowcountry Leadership, Military Magnet, **Palmetto Scholars, St. Johns
Region 9: Andrews , Carvers Bay , Hannah Pamplico, Hemingway , Johnsonville , Kingstree
Region 10: ****Coastal, Green Sea Floyds, Lake View , Latta , Marion , Mullins , ** Virtus Academy
January 22, 2026 | State, The: Web Edition Articles (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak, The State | Section: high_school