After months of discussion and debate, eight-man football in Maine is at the goal line.
The Maine Principals’ Association Football Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to recommend an eight-man football class comprised of 10 teams for the 2019 season.
The debut of eight-man football would place programs in two divisions based on enrollments.
Schools with enrollment above 350 would include Ellsworth, Mt. Ararat, Yarmouth, Gray-New Gloucester, and Maranacook. A division of 350 and fewer students would have Boothbay, Old Orchard Beach, Sacopee Valley, Telstar and Traip. Each division will have a playoff, with the winners meeting for a state championship.
The Football Committee’s recommendation will next be considered by the MPA’s Classification Committee on Feb. 11. That committee will then hear appeals filed by individual schools in March. Any changes would have to be approved by the MPA’s general membership in the spring.
The remaining traditional 11-man teams would continue to be divided into four classes based on enrollment, but tweaks to the enrollment cutoffs raised concerns, particularly at the Class A level. The cutoff for Class A drops from 845 students to 780. With this change, defending Class B champion Marshwood moves to Class A, along with Noble, Gorham, and Skowhegan.
Marshwood and Skowhegan have less than 800 students. Thornton Academy, the largest school in the state and the defending Class A champion, has 1,476 students.
“We’ll stay wherever they place us but I can tell you I don’t feel (the proposal) is fair for all involved,” said Marshwood Athletic Director Rich Buzzell. “Specifically, the difference in enrollment figures of the teams playing in the same classes. From top to bottom in A is a 700-kid difference.
Class B will include schools with enrollment between 556 and 779 students. This places defending Class C champ Nokomis and runner-up Fryeburg Academy up to Class B.
Class C will be schools with enrollment between 420 and 555 students. Class D champ Wells moves up to Class C with this change. Class D will feature schools with enrollment below 420 students. Each class is divided into North and South regions.
The Football Committee also passed a rule that would require an 11-man team to move to eight-man football the following season if it failed to fully complete a game or season.
Eight-man football — which is played with two fewer linemen and one less receiver/running back on offense — has emerged as an alternative for programs struggling to maintain roster sizes large enough to keep teams competitive and players safe.
Participation in football decreased by 16.9 percent at Maine high schools from 2008-2017. Last season, several schools struggled to dress more than 20 players for varsity games.
“I think the groundwork’s been put in place by the committee and the MPA, to kind of curb that lowering number of participation across the state. I think eight-man is a good thing,” said Medomak Valley football coach Ryan Snell, whose program will play 11-man in Class B South. “I think it will work well for schools. People will see that success and you may see eight-man grow. It’s going to take those few teams to take that step and try it out this year.”
Football Committee chair Brendan Scully, the athletic director at Massabesic High School in Waterboro, acknowledged that no plan is perfect, but added the proposal approved Thursday is in the best interest for Maine high school football. Also, 11-man programs will be allowed to move to eight-man by their own choice in 2020.
“No matter where we move lines, somebody is in a bad place,” said Scully.
The committee previously proposed moving 11-man programs into three classes — instead of the four it adopted in 2013 — to add more competitive games.
“There are schools that don’t feel like they are ready to compete for championships. They just want competitive schedules,” Scully said.
However, there was considerable pushback to a three-class system.
“Going back to three classes is going backward,” Freeport High School athletic director Craig Sickels said. “In the Campbell Conference (Class B, C, and D South), we’ve made (cross-class games) work to some extent.”
Although the four-class system will remain, Class A will expand from 14 programs to 18. Oxford Hills coach Mark Soehren said adding teams to Class A will create more competitive games.
“With the bigger Class A, that’s going to happen. I understand pulling some smaller teams in, there might be a slight disadvantage. The truth is, I watched Marshwood play. They’re outstanding. Way back, we played Skowhegan. They’ll be able to compete. There’s always going to be some teams on those edges with a slight disadvantage,” Soehren said.
Eleven-man teams that are unable to finish games or a season will be required to go eight-man. The committee passed this rule after Orono, which played in Class D North last season, was unable to complete some games because of a lack of healthy players. Orono’s midseason game at Mount View was played with running time throughout the second half, before being halted with 1:14 remaining. Under the new rule, that game would have triggered Orono’s move to eight-man football. Orono chose to continue playing 11-man football in 2019. Coach Bob Sinclair addressed the committee and said he expects Orono to remain competitive in Class D.
“We’ve looked at all options with an open mind. We really have,” Sinclair said. “The definition of what’s competitive could be all over the place. We’re working on it.”
The committee also voted to determine football playoff seeding using Crabtree Points, rather than the traditional Heal Points, which were used for the last two seasons. While Heal Points reward wins, Crabtree Points reward playing stronger opponents.
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