AHSAA PLAYOFFS: Catholic wins in first round but pays for it regarding 2026-27 classification
Johnathan Chandler and Catholic will move up to Class 6A in the 2026-27 seasons due to the AHSAA Competitive Balance rule. (File Photo)
By TIM GAYLE
Friday’s 31-8 win over Citronelle was so much more than just a playoff win for the two-time defending state champion Catholic.
It also signaled a move up to Class 6A for the Knights in the 2026-28 classification period, the first time in Alabama High School Athletic Association history a football program has ever been elevated three classifications above its original base.
First-year coach Jonathan Chandler tried to diffuse the issue, at least in the midst of what he hopes is a long playoff run.
“If we win (against Citronelle), all of our focus will be on who we play in the second round,” he said.
But if anyone watched the previous week’s game between Catholic and Class 7A Vestavia Hills, it would be obvious what a move to Class 6A can mean to the 3A school.
“It’s almost like a self-imposed death penalty,” Catholic president Justin Castanza said before the start of the 2025 season. “If you decide you want to win -- which, by the way, is the goal in every sport for every team -- then we’re going to self-impose this two-year, at minimum, move up to 6A. What parent at Montgomery Catholic wants their child to play against a 6A team.
“It changes the dynamics of a Friday night. It changes everything behind the scenes, from safety and logistics to the finances. There are an amazing number of factors. Now we’re looking at whether we can even host games at home. We’re looking down the barrel of some major changes all because we’re going to win one playoff game.”
The seating capacity requirement for larger classification schools is higher, which could involve a substantial financial commitment by Catholic to enlarge its stadium to meet 6A standards. Also, the annual fees paid to the AHSAA by 6A schools is higher than lower classifications. In addition, Catholic will make more money off its Capital City Conference rivals with larger crowds than it will against virtually all of the teams it would face in the 6A region it will join in 2026-28.
The safety issue -- smaller schools playing in larger classifications -- was tested by St. Paul’s Episcopal in a 2018 federal case of a team playing up one level because of Competitive Balance Factor. Catholic will be playing up three levels, a substantial difference in playing ability and depth that Vestavia Hills coach Robert Evans pointed out after the Rebels’ win over Catholic a week ago.
“We played fast,” Evans said. “We have 120 players, they have 50. They had some guys going both ways. They don’t see people that play at our pace because there are a lot of 5A teams where players go both ways. You can’t play both ways when you’re playing us and we’re going up and down the field offensively.”
Chandler saw it as well, a team noted for its athleticism at lower classifications that was no match for the speed of the Rebels.
“There were things that were there and then they closed up quick,” Chandler said. “It reminds me of my days when I was at Troy and we went and played Nebraska.”
The analogy was apropos following Catholic’s 40-13 loss to Vestavia Hills.
“I think it gives the state association and the people who make the rules (a case study for Competitive Balance),” Chandler said. “I know there are meetings that I will never be involved in but we can be the guinea pig. Do we want a school to bump up three classes? Do we need to put a limit on the deal? At the end of the day, the result is going to be the result. Every now and then you may upset somebody, but it’s tough.
“I was talking with Coach Evans before coming up here, just the experence of what it’s like to play Hoover and Thompson and Hewitt-Trussville every single week and it’s a grind on the coaches, their families, the places. It takes a lot of pieces. They’re a staff of 15-plus people. They get their kids in the mornings and the afternoons and get extended meeting times. We don’t get all those things. I’ve got to figure out when the time changes what time I’m going to practice” because the practice field doesn’t have lights.
“We have four fulltime coaches that work at Montgomery Catholic. Everyone else works outside of our school. I think those are some of the underlying things that if you move up to 6A, those 6A schools have their coaches on campus. I think that’s where you’ll miss on a lot of things. And people don’t understand those things until they are a coach walking the hallways of your school. The decision makers, to me, don’t have a full grasp of that.”