Expansion of Playoffs Pleases Some ...
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Expansion of Playoffs Pleases Some ...
Expansion of playoffs pleases some...
Size of District #3-(AAA) justifies 16-team field, says West Perry coach
So, what do you get the district playoffs that now has everything for its silver anniversary?
The answer: More, more, more.
Oh, and December championship games.
It is actually coincidence that the District #3 football playoffs have doubled in size in their 25th year of existence. Only the PIAA's decision to throw the state a bone and add a week to the football season enabled this new District #3 expansion.
District #3 has expanded to "16" qualifiers in Class (AAAA) and Class (AAA), eight apiece in Class (AA) and Class (A).
The decision left even full-throated proponents of playoff expansion squirming in discomfort at the sight of 2-8 records -- two of them! -- in Class (A) and the brackets in all classes littered with teams at or barely over .500.
But that's the dirty side of the coin. On the other side is 9-1 West Perry.
Just one year ago, the Mustangs would have been sitting at home rather than, as they currently are, preparing for a District #3-(AAA) playoff game against 9-1 Red Land.
That's because last year, the D#3-(AAA) playoff field was eight. West Perry qualified this year as No. #9. And West Perry head coach Al Ream is a sudden convert to playoff expansion.
"For a long time, I thought it wasn't good to expand the playoffs," Ream said last night from his office at the West Perry fieldhouse. "I especially didn't like the season being extended another week.
"[But] I think my mind has been changed because of this year," Ream said. "As long as we have this many teams [35] in Class (AAA), we can justify the playoffs the way they are now."
This year, an incredible eight D#3-(AAA) teams finished the season with 9-1 records. It takes a virtual perfect storm of scheduling and subsequent results for that to happen.
But happen it did, and West Perry, which finished ninth in the district's point rating system, is grateful that there is a No. #9 slot available for play this year.
"It would have been a big disappointment not to make the playoffs at 9-1," said Ream, who was coaching at East Juniata when the Mustangs' 1989 club was the last unbeaten team to fail to qualify for what was a four-team playoff at the time.
West Perry isn't the only beneficiary of the fat-and-happy playoff system.
Three Class (AAAA) playoff teams will be making their first District #3 playoff appearances, all in the lower half of the 16-team bracket: No. #9 seed Altoona, No. #12 Warwick and No.# 15 Penn Manor.
Red Land is also making its first District #3 playoff appearance. All other teams in this year's playoffs are making at least their second appearance, although Lampeter-Strasburg is making its first showing since 1984 and Hamburg its first since 1985.
Lampeter-Strasburg and Hamburg are Class (AAA) teams. In 1984, L-S was a Class (A) team when the district had just three classes; Hamburg was a Class (AA) program in 1985, the first year the district expanded to four classes.
All four defending champions are in their respective playoff fields: Bishop McDevitt (seeded eighth) in Class (AAAA), Manheim Central (No.# 6) in Class (AAA), Lancaster Catholic (No. #1) in Class (AA) and Steelton-Highspire (No.# 3) in Class (A).
The District #3 Class (AA) and Class (A) championship games will be played on Friday, Nov. 24, at Hersheypark Stadium. The Class (A) title game will be played at 1 p.m., the Class (AA) game at 7 p.m.
The D#3-(AAA) championship game will be played at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, at Hersheypark Stadium. Similarly, the D#3-6 Class (AAAA) title game will be contested at Hersheypark Stadium at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2nd.
The Class (AAA) and Class (AAAA) championship games will be the first two district playoff games played in the month of December.
Size of District #3-(AAA) justifies 16-team field, says West Perry coach
So, what do you get the district playoffs that now has everything for its silver anniversary?
The answer: More, more, more.
Oh, and December championship games.
It is actually coincidence that the District #3 football playoffs have doubled in size in their 25th year of existence. Only the PIAA's decision to throw the state a bone and add a week to the football season enabled this new District #3 expansion.
District #3 has expanded to "16" qualifiers in Class (AAAA) and Class (AAA), eight apiece in Class (AA) and Class (A).
The decision left even full-throated proponents of playoff expansion squirming in discomfort at the sight of 2-8 records -- two of them! -- in Class (A) and the brackets in all classes littered with teams at or barely over .500.
But that's the dirty side of the coin. On the other side is 9-1 West Perry.
Just one year ago, the Mustangs would have been sitting at home rather than, as they currently are, preparing for a District #3-(AAA) playoff game against 9-1 Red Land.
That's because last year, the D#3-(AAA) playoff field was eight. West Perry qualified this year as No. #9. And West Perry head coach Al Ream is a sudden convert to playoff expansion.
"For a long time, I thought it wasn't good to expand the playoffs," Ream said last night from his office at the West Perry fieldhouse. "I especially didn't like the season being extended another week.
"[But] I think my mind has been changed because of this year," Ream said. "As long as we have this many teams [35] in Class (AAA), we can justify the playoffs the way they are now."
This year, an incredible eight D#3-(AAA) teams finished the season with 9-1 records. It takes a virtual perfect storm of scheduling and subsequent results for that to happen.
But happen it did, and West Perry, which finished ninth in the district's point rating system, is grateful that there is a No. #9 slot available for play this year.
"It would have been a big disappointment not to make the playoffs at 9-1," said Ream, who was coaching at East Juniata when the Mustangs' 1989 club was the last unbeaten team to fail to qualify for what was a four-team playoff at the time.
West Perry isn't the only beneficiary of the fat-and-happy playoff system.
Three Class (AAAA) playoff teams will be making their first District #3 playoff appearances, all in the lower half of the 16-team bracket: No. #9 seed Altoona, No. #12 Warwick and No.# 15 Penn Manor.
Red Land is also making its first District #3 playoff appearance. All other teams in this year's playoffs are making at least their second appearance, although Lampeter-Strasburg is making its first showing since 1984 and Hamburg its first since 1985.
Lampeter-Strasburg and Hamburg are Class (AAA) teams. In 1984, L-S was a Class (A) team when the district had just three classes; Hamburg was a Class (AA) program in 1985, the first year the district expanded to four classes.
All four defending champions are in their respective playoff fields: Bishop McDevitt (seeded eighth) in Class (AAAA), Manheim Central (No.# 6) in Class (AAA), Lancaster Catholic (No. #1) in Class (AA) and Steelton-Highspire (No.# 3) in Class (A).
The District #3 Class (AA) and Class (A) championship games will be played on Friday, Nov. 24, at Hersheypark Stadium. The Class (A) title game will be played at 1 p.m., the Class (AA) game at 7 p.m.
The D#3-(AAA) championship game will be played at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, at Hersheypark Stadium. Similarly, the D#3-6 Class (AAAA) title game will be contested at Hersheypark Stadium at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2nd.
The Class (AAA) and Class (AAAA) championship games will be the first two district playoff games played in the month of December.