Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School flag football team watched its postseason fate be taken out of its hands Tuesday night in Middleton. 

The Buffalo suffered a 14-0 shutout loss to Wildwood in the Class 1A-District 12 Tournament semifinals at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium, now leaving their playoff hopes in the hands of the FHSAA state rankings.

While failing to secure an automatic bid into next week's eight-team regional competition by winning the district title, VHS (12-4 overall) can still earn an at-large bid into the state playoffs — if it holds one of the top four non-district-champ positions in the final set of rankings — to be announced this weekend. The Buffalo entered the district tournament as the No. 7 team in Class 1A-Region 3.

The shutout loss to Wildwood on Tuesday marked the third time this spring that VHS was held without a point. With the win, the Wildcats advanced to the district championship game against Jones (Orlando) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at VHS. 


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org or by calling (352) 259-6890.