By Mark Carpenter-
The state of Ohio still waits. As of press time, the future of high school football in the state rests in the hands of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. DeWine has promised to make an announcement this week on the fate of “contact sports”, which in this county includes football and soccer. All of the Adams County teams in all fall sports have begun practicing, but football and soccer still await a verdict from the governor’s office.
On the subject of football, the Ohio High School Athletic Association made a surprise announcement late last Friday afternoon. In a press release, the OHSAA reduced the number of regular season football contests to six, while also announcing that all high school football teams in the state will be playoff eligible after those six contests. Somewhat confusing is the fact that teams can opt out of going to the playoffs and continue to play a 10-game full schedule, or they can play their postseason game and if they are immediately eliminated, can go back to finish their 10-game slate as long as all contests are completed by Nov. 14. Many are of the opinion that the expanded playoffs are a way for the OHSAA to recoup some of their financial losses, though it has not been determined if spectators will even be allowed.
The only varsity football squad in the county that is OHSAA affiliated is Manchester and the Greyhounds can choose their option, one being the first time in school history that they would be involved in a playoff contest. The other three squads- West Union, North Adams, and Peebles- are not OHSAA affiliated, but member of their own Southern Ohio Independent League, but league officials have said that their teams will follow whatever decisions are handed down by the governor.
The West Union Dragons have been practicing regularly at Freedom Field, and head coach Scott McFarland discussed Friday’s OHSAA ruling and the progress of his program.
“The way I interpreted it is that sponsored schools have the option if they want to participate in the playoffs or if they want to opt out and play their regular 10-game schedule, they can,” said McFarland. “I think a lot of teams might opt out of the playoffs but it really doesn’t affect our schedules at all. It’s just a week-to-week situation for anything, not just sports, but schools in general. We’re going to plow forward as if it’s a regular season until somebody tells us to shut it down.”
“In the past when you made the playoffs it was like a trophy you held u, but this year it will be more like everyone gets a participation trophy. That may not be an easy decision, but as for us, we are going to play our 10 games if that is allowed by the governor.”
“We had a lot of talent for a few years and last year we just didn’t have the depth and our work ethic wasn’t there,” McFarland added. “This year we have some depth, a lot of talent, and a strong roster. This is getting West Union football back to where it was in 2018. I’m very pleased with where we are right now but we still have a lot of work to do. I’m just super excited about this team and their potential.”
While McFarland and every other coach play the waiting game, the governor has a tough decision to make, one which will certainly cause division either way it goes, though it seems as if the governor is perhaps leaning towards allowing football to be played under the new OHSAA guidelines.
Following are some of the highlights of last Friday’s OHSAA release:
“Following a recommendation this week from the Governor’s Office to shorten the season due to concerns that COVID-19 may spike in early winter, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Friday that if high school football games are approved by the Governor, all teams will enter the playoffs beginning October 9 and the state championship games will be played no later than November 21.
The OHSAA Board of Directors, which assisted OHSAA staff to create the proposal and approved it by a 9-0 vote, considers this a win-win situation for all schools since it will not matter how many games each team has played leading up to the playoffs. Instead of the computer ratings system determining which teams qualify for the playoffs, the coaches in each region will conduct a tournament seed meeting the week of September 28 to form the regional bracket, similar to the process in other OHSAA team sports.
Schools may keep their first six previously scheduled games, but all regular-season football contracts are now voidable by either school, especially in the event that conferences redo their league schedules to fit into the first six weeks. In addition, the OHSAA will determine new playoff regions in September. Schools that are eliminated from the playoffs may continue to schedule regular-season games up until November 14.
Schools that have currently paused sports could still begin their season in September or early October and compete in the playoffs. Schools are not required to enter the playoffs if they would rather play regular-season games up until November 14.
“To both ensure we can offer students the opportunity to participate in education-based athletes but do so with their best interests in mind, we believe this modified plan offers a positive solution by addressing many of the concerns of our member schools,” said Jeff Cassella, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and athletic administrator at Mentor High School. “Those that are able to start their seasons on time will be able to do so. Those that are starting later can still have a season. Add in the option of all schools entering the playoffs and the possibility of schools still being able to play 10 regular season contests, and this plan is helpful to virtually all of our schools.”
A decision on spectators at contact sports has not yet been made, however the OHSAA believes that at a minimum parents should be permitted to attend.
As a reminder, four of the OHSAA’s fall sports have been determined to be low-contact by the Governor’s Office and thus are permitted to have contests with other schools, including golf, tennis, volleyball and cross country. The OHSAA’s fall sports of field hockey, soccer and football have been determined to be high-contact sports and the OHSAA continues to work with the Governor’s Office and the Ohio Department of Health toward modified protocols for those three sports to have contests.
Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted had a scheduled press conference for Tuesday, Aug. 11 where they were expected to address both the reopening of schools and the status of fall sports.