FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 28, 2005


Sun Sports to televise Class 2A football final live

GAINESVILLE – Thursday night's Class 2A state championship game between South Sumter (Bushnell) and Chaminade (Hollywood) at FIU Community Stadium in Miami will be televised live statewide by Sun Sports, the FHSAA Office announced today.

The live telecast will be the first of a state championship football game since the 1984 Class 4A final between Miami Southridge and Woodham (Pensacola). Sun Sports' coverage will begin at 7 p.m. EST. Kickoff is set for 7:06 p.m.

"The FHSAA is pleased to allow Sun Sports to provide live coverage of the Class 2A state championship game," said Commissioner John A. Stewart. "We knew that moving the game from Saturday night to Thursday night was going to make it impossible for many fans to make the trip to Miami to support their teams. Now, thanks to Sun Sports, they will be able to see the game on live TV."

The Class 2A final, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, was moved to accommodate a makeup game between Middle Tennessee State and Florida International University, which was postponed earlier this fall because of Hurricane Wilma.

The FHSAA previously announced that the Class 5A state championship game to be played on Friday, Dec. 9, also will be televised live in north and central Florida on Sun Sports. TV coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. Kickoff is set for 7:36 p.m. Miami Heat NBA action will preempt the live telecast in South Florida.

The remaining six state championship games will be televised on a tape-delayed basis. Air dates and times are as follows:

• Class 1A, Port St. Joe vs. Fort Meade, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 24;

• Class 1B, Graceville vs. Evangel Christian (Lakeland), 12 noon, Saturday, Dec. 24;

• Class 2A, South Sumter vs. Chaminade (R), 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 24;

• Class 2B, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) vs. Pahokee, 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 24;

• Class 3A, teams TBD, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 24;

• Class 4A, teams TBD, 12 noon, Sunday, Dec. 25;

• Class 5A, teams TBD (R), 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 25; and

• Class 6A, teams TBD (R), 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 25

Calling the action for all eight games are Sun Sports' James Bates, play-by-play, Brady Ackerman, color analyst and Kim Anthony, sideline reporter.

Encore presentations of each game include the Class 1A game replaying on Monday, Dec. 26 at 12 noon, the Class 1B games on Monday, Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m., the 2A game on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 11 a.m., the Class 2B game on Thursday, Dec 29 at 12 noon, the Class 3A game on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 2:30 p.m., the Class 4A on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 11 p.m., the Class 5A game on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 4:30 p.m. and the Class 6A game on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 7p.m.

About the FHSAA
Headquartered in Gainesville, the Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 720 middle and senior public and private high schools. More than 175,000 student-athletes annually participate in one or more of the FHSAA’s 28 championship sports programs. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.

Contacts:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org