Manatee, Braden River, Palmetto make FHSAA football playoffs

The Florida High School Athletic Association announced the first-round pairings and the seeds for the eight classifications in Sunday’s selection show airing on NFHSNetwork.com.

Three Manatee County programs qualified for the 2017 playoffs.

Manatee, Braden River and Palmetto each earned a playoff berth as wild cards into the Class 8A and 7A playoffs, respectively.

District champions are seeded Nos. 1-4 in 8A-5A, while the next top four teams, based on their average playoff points, are seeded Nos. 5-8. The higher seeds host each round of the playoffs.

Here’s a look at the regional brackets for the three teams, with records and points average listed next to the teams:

CLASS 8A-REGION 2

SEEDS

1. Kissimmee Osceola, 8-0, 44.13

2. Vero Beach, 9-0, 42.22

3. Sarasota Riverview, 9-1, 40.40

4. Orlando Dr. Phillips, 8-2, 39.60

5. Haines City Ridge Community, 7-3, 38.60

6. Kissimmee Gateway, 6-4, 36.60*

7. Orlando Olympia, 6-4, 36.60

8. Manatee, 5-3, 36.13

(*- Gateway gets the tiebreaker with more Category 1 and 2 wins)

FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS

Manatee at Kissimmee Osceola; Haines City Ridge Community at Orlando Dr. Phillips; Orlando Olympia at Vero Beach; Kissimmee Gateway at Sarasota Riverview.

CLASS 7A-REGION 3

SEEDS

1. Venice, 8-1, 42.22

2. Tampa Bay Tech, 9-1, 41.00

3. Pinellas Park, 8-2, 38.30

4. South Fort Myers, 3-4, 33.14

5. Braden River, 7-1, 41.56

6. Palmetto, 6-3, 38.67

7. Valrico Bloomingdale, 7-3, 36.40

8. St. Petersburg, 6-4, 36.10

FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS

St. Petersburg at Venice; Braden River at South Fort Myers; Valrico Bloomingdale at Tampa Bay Tech; Palmetto at Pinellas Park.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Manatee, Braden River, Palmetto make FHSAA football playoffs."