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    • Alcoa will move to Class 4A in 2025
    Duluth

    Alcoa will move to Class 4A in 2025

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

    Alcoa’s dominance of the TSSAA Class 3A football state championships is coming to an end. The TSSAA accepted the school’s proposal to move up to Class 4A for the next classification cycle (2025-2029).

    Alcoa has won a state record nine consecutive 3A state championships and 22 overall. It has won the last five state championship games by a combined score of 194-60.

    Alcoa’s enrollment of 677 correctly places it in Class 3A, but almost every year the question arises as to whether the Tornadoes have outgrown their competition. Alcoa (5-1) faces rival Maryville on Friday at 7 p.m.

    Alcoa athletics director Josh Stephens said the move had less to do with that success and more to do with the search for a larger region that would allow it to easily play 10 regular-season games without having difficulty facing non-region opponents to find.

    Alcoa has played a 10-game regional schedule in all but two seasons since 2012, but is playing nine games this season.

    “I think there’s going to be a lot of people in the public who really don’t understand the pros and cons and are going to be upset because they feel like moving up to 4A is going to bring a whole different set of challenges,” Stephens said. “But personally, I’m not sure there’s a big talent gap between 3A, 4A and 5A. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think our chances of success in each of these classifications are about the same regardless. Perception may be different, but perception is perception.”

    Alcoa’s current region, Region 2-3A, has only five teams and the game against Scott requires a nearly 1.5-hour trip. Stephens believes a Class 4A region could include seven or eight teams and would help avoid a situation like last year, when Alcoa played 10 games but had to host Tottenville (New York), which didn’t appeal to fans met with great interest.

    “Obviously it’s a different landscape (in 4A), a different group of teams, some new rivalries that will most likely emerge. There’s a little excitement about the change there,” Stephens said.

    The tornadoes are placed in the same classification as Pearl-Cohn and Upperman high schools. Pearl-Cohn won the 4A state championship last year, defeating Upperman 36-27. Both are among the favorites to return in December. Upperman enters Week 10 with a record of 8-0. Pearl-Cohn is 6-2.

    The Firebirds’ enrollment number (524) lists the school in 2A, according to the TSSAA’s initial classification list released Oct. 8. However, the school decided it will continue to play in 4A.

    The last competitive Class 3A final was Alcoa’s 21-14 win over Covington in 2018. The Tornadoes’ last loss to a Class 3A opponent was to CPA in the 2014 state championship game. CPA was moved to Division II in 2014 and has become a DII -AA power has become. CPA will move to DII-AAA next year.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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