The Carson and Douglas football teams will be split into different classifications for 2025, according to the new approved NIAA realignment. However, that could change moving year-by-year.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Do you remember Tuesday’s high school football playoff setup for Classes 5A and 4A?
Well, you can forget it.
Wednesday, the NIAA Board of Control voted to amend Tuesday’s passed proposal, allowing alterations to the playoff structure for the top classifications in football.
The new proposal passed by an 8-3 vote.
Colin McNaught (Region IV), Christina Brockett (Region IV) and Keith Wipperman (Region IV) voted against the proposal. Rayanne Sorensen was not present.
According to social media reports, all 12 Northern 5A/4A schools had representation present in the room at Wednesday’s meeting.
PLAYOFF STRUCTURE ALTERED
The amended postseason format in Nevada will have six state titles, down one from last year in which seven state trophies were handed out.
The usual five classifications will each play for a state championship — Classes 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A — while the sixth title will come from a newly created “Open Division.”
The Open bracket will contain four teams, all of which will be selected from the southern portion of Class 5A, which is made up of 18 schools.
The four selections will be made based on RHM points, which is a combination of the NIAA’s rubric (R), Harbin points (H) and MaxPreps rankings (M).
In the North, four of the six teams in Class 5A will qualify for a regional playoff while the southern Class 5A will send eight schools to its regional playoffs.
All four teams in the North will be seeded by league standings and applicable tiebreakers.
The two Class 5A region champions will meet for a state title.
Class 4A will use an identical setup.
Four of the six teams competing in the North’s Class 4A will secure a postseason berth while eight schools from southern Nevada will have playoff spots. The two regional champions will meet for a state championship.
There will be 19 teams in the southern 4A.
HRM points will seed all three classifications in the South for the postseason.
REGULAR SEASON 2025-2028
On Tuesday, the NIAA Board of Control agreed on the regular-season format, which was not altered Wednesday.
The board agreed unanimously on the regular-season configuration.
In the North, Classes 5A and 4A will be made up of 12 teams total. Six will compete in Class 5A while six will compete in Class 4A.
Promotion and relegation is still in play for the next three years. Each season, one team from Class 5A will drop down and one team from Class 4A will be moved up based upon final standings.
For the fall of 2025, Class 5A will consist of Douglas, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, Reed and Spanish Springs.
Class 4A is made up of Carson, Hug, McQueen, North Valleys, Reno and Wooster.
Locally, Douglas and Carson will once again be split in two different leagues, potentially meaning The Rivalry might continue to be in the first few weeks of the season.
(Editor's note: To read about Tuesday’s now-overturned playoff decision, click here.)
(The new alignment for Class 4A and 5A football in the state of Nevada, which was approved by the NIAA's Board of Control Tuesday in their annual winter meeting. / NIAA Board of Control packet)
