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NATCHEZ — In the fall of 2018, the Academy Athletic Commission (AAC) and the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) decided to increase the number of classifications from four to six starting with the 2018-2019 school year.

Just six short years later, on Nov. 6, 2024, during an ACC meeting, a motion was made among 18 AAC members, including Randy Holloway of Wilkinson County Christian Academy and Jason Brabham of Centreville Academy, and seconded to approve a new athletic alignment that will decrease the number of classifications from six back down to four for the 2025-26 and the 2026-27 school years — and perhaps beyond.

“The powers that be went back and condensed it and that old 6A will now be 4A. I’m a big MAIS proponent. It’s the same teams are in the same classification with the exception of one or two,” said ACCS head of school, interim athletic director, and varsity head football coach David King.

The realignment will also mean a big change for athletic directors and coaches to figure out when to schedule both district and non-district games across all sports. And perhaps for one local area school in southwest Mississippi, not knowing if you will have any district opponents in one particular sport after being dropped down from Class 2A to Class 1A.

Cathedral Catholic School will be in Class 4A — now the highest classification in the MAIS after the major changes to its athletic alignment — and in a very tough district not just in 11-man football, but also in baseball, basketball, fast-pitch softball, girls’ and boys’ soccer, tennis, golf, track & field, archery, volleyball, swimming, cheer-dance, and cross country.

The Green Wave will be competing in District 4 with Jackson Preparatory School, Copiah Academy, Silliman Institute, and Oak Forest Academy in 11-man football and in South District 4 in all other sports against those same schools.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that ACCS, which had been in Class 5A in four of the previous six school years (2021-22 and 2022-23 in Class 4A), will be in Class 3A for the first time in seven years. King added that this will indeed be a good thing for the Rebels’ athletics programs.

“I’m glad that we went down a class. This is the first time in the history of ACCS that we’ve been in a class in which we’re one of the biggest schools instead of the smallest. I think it will help our girls’ sports and some boys’ sports,” King noted. “And it’s new teams that we haven’t faced in a long, long time, so that will help. Hopefully, we’ll take advantage of that.”

And there will be some difference between ACCS’s district opponents in football and all other sports. In 11-man football, the Rebels will compete in District 3 against Amite School Center, St. Aloysius High School, and Clinton Christian Academy. In all other sports, their South District 3 opponents will be St. Aloysius, Clinton Christian, Riverfield Academy, Central Hinds Academy, and Christ Covenant School out of Ridgeland.

“District-wise, on the surface that’s much more attractive than having Oak Forest and Parklane (Academy) and Silliman and Brookhaven (Academy) in your district. It’s going to be more beneficial for our kids,” King said. “We’re still going to schedule a strong non-district schedule. It’s not so much about football. It’s more about the other sports. I’m excited for our teams very competitive in our district. We’ll see some of those schools (in Cathedral’s district) in our non-district schedule. We’ve agreed to play our in-town rival Cathedral, not in football because we’re not in the same (classification), but in all other sports. That’ll be good for the town and for those sports.”

In sports other than 11-man football, Amite School Center will be competing in South District 4 with Bowling Green School, Ben’s Ford Christian School, Columbia Academy, Christian Collegiate Academy out of Gulfport, and Wayne Academy.

Perhaps the most unusual outcome of this athletic realignment is the district that Centreville Academy will be competing in in 11-man football in Class 2A compared to what the competition will be in all other sports.

In 11-man football, the Tigers will be in District 4, but their district opponents are nowhere near where their school is located — Discovery Christian School in Florence, Canton Academy, and Manchester Academy in Yazoo City.

But in all others sports, their opponents in South District 4 will consist of Prentiss Christian School, Hillcrest Christian School, Sylva-Bay Academy in Bay Springs, Laurel Christian School, and Lamar Christian School in Purvis.

Then there is Wilkinson County Christian Academy. In 8-man football, the teams who have competed in that sport had been in Class 1A and Class 2A in recent years. That will not be the case for at least the next two years as 32 total teams will be competing in divisions with the top 16 schools in Division I and the next 16 teams in Division II.

WCCA will be in Division II, District 7 and the Rams’ opponents will be Tensas Academy, Franklin Academy, and Heritage Christian Academy out of Picayune. Holloway, who is WCCA’s head of school as well as the varsity Rams’ head football coach, had high praise for the Heritage Christian Warriors when it comes to 8-man football.

“They’re a young school. They’ve added a grade every year in the last few years. We played them in junior high and Pee Wee last year. They were very competitive. They’ve got good coaches and they run a good program,” Holloway said.

In all other sports, WCCA will be in Class 1A and will be in South District 5 with Heritage Christian, St. Augustine School out of Ridgeland, By Faith Academy from Brookhaven, Benedict Day School out of Sumrall, Woodlawn Preparatory School in Columbia, and Hope Academy in Gulfport. The Rams’ varsity baseball team won back-to-back Class 2A South State and State Championships in 2024 and 2025. None of the schools that will be in South District 5-1A had a baseball team in either of those years. In fact, as of now By Faith Academy has no athletics programs at all.

“It’s going to be a short district (in baseball) for sure. We’ll continue to play our normal schedule. We’ll play closer schools. They may not be district opponents, but we’ll continue to play them,” Holloway said. “In basketball, it’s going to be us and one other school, Woodlawn Prep.”