When the AHSAA Kickoff Classic between defending champion Thompson and Central-Phenix City takes place on Aug. 20, it won't be in the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. The AHSAA announced that the game will instead be hosted on campus at Central-Phenix City during the AHSAA Kickoff Classic press conference held at the AHSAA office in Montgomery on Thursday, Aug. 13. It was decision two years in the making when executive director Heath Harmon heard conversations from his staff about it becoming difficult to find teams that were willing to play at neutral site. "We worked as hard as we could up until the last possible minute to try and find teams that would do that because what happens is, even though the gate, and there's money that's shared back to the school, they're still losing a home game," Heath Harmon told the Montgomery Advertiser. Harmon mentioned losing concessions, band activities and even halftime recognitions between quarters as other factors the AHSAA heard. "So what we said is, we'll go to a home site this year and see how it goes and maybe we like it," Harmon said. Harmon did say the AHSAA will also be looking at reenvisioning of the Kickoff Classic at a neutral site. The AHSAA wants to play the game at the Cramton Bowl, so that reenvisioning might look like more collaboration between teams to incorporate things that they might want to have a part of the game. For now, the AHSAA and Harmon are excited to see how things go at Central-Phenix City on Aug. 20. PICKING AHSAA STATE TITLES: Picking eight preseason 2026 AHSAA football state title winners AHSAA CHANGES PLAYOFF FORMAT: AHSAA makes adjustments to private school football playoff format
Jaeden Day covers high school sports, Alabama State football and Auburn recruiting for the Montgomery Advertiser/USA Today. You can find him on X at dayjaeden12, or reach him at JDay@montgome.gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why the AHSAA Kickoff Classic has a new host site in 2026