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 25, 2026 | State, The (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak; Staff Writer | Page: 1B | Section: Sports