Page 10 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2021 Local HS football schedules may look different next fall MIAA’s Football Committee approves plan featuring nine regular season games, new playoff format By Steve Freker t looks like the members of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Football Committee are good listeners, judging from the news out of headquarters this week. For years now, many Massachusetts high school coaches and athletic directors have made it clear they were not in favor of the existing high school football playoff system. Many railed against the consolation game format for teams that did not qualify for postseason playoffs. Others were concerned about teams with obnoxiously poor records in the 2-5 range (and lower!) that were qualifying for playoff games while other teams with records above .500 did not even qualify. Still others have been miffed that the value of traditional Thanksgiving Day games have sunk like a stone in some communities, particularly with the teams that are looking ahead to the many Super Bowl games on the docket. I New format features nine regular season games and an eightteam playoff field On Tuesday, in a closed-door meeting, the Football Committee voted to approve a ninegame regular season schedule in which the top eight teams in each division would qualify for the postseason. Playoffs would be contested the week after the regular season ends with the state championships scheduled for the traditionProposed 2021 high school football plan The following are the dates and structure for the 2021 Saugus Sachem quarterback Christian Correia had a great senior year in the 2019 season. Above, he runs for daylight against Lynn Classical. (Courtesy Photo) al first weekend in December. The next step in a process of having this plan approved would be for the MIAA's Tournament Management Committee (TMC) to review it and give an up-or-down vote. If the TMC approved the proposal, it would then advance for a final vote by the MIAA's Board of Directors. According to the proposal, for those schools who don’t qualify for the playoffs, they would have the option of playing a consolation game on the weekend of November 11-12. A key change here would be those games would be scheduled by the schools and not by the Football Committee. The traditional Thanksgiving Day rivalry game (played by over 95 percent of high school teams in Massachusetts) would be retained as the 11th game, for most schools, Revere quarterback Calvin Boudreau was recently named captain for the 2021 Fall 2 season and will be looking to lead the Patriots in a couple weeks. (Courtesy Photo) for those who chose the single, self-scheduled consolation game route. Malden’s Jerry Mervil was a two-year captain in 2018-2019 and MVP of Thanksgiving wins over Medford in both years. (Courtesy Photo) Mass. Football Coaches Association backed plan If this proposal ends up being the one adopted by the MIAA, it would be along the lines of one of the two proposals submitted for consideration by Milton High School Head Football Coach Steve Dembowski, on behalf of the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFC). Dembowski serves as president of the coaches’ group. Among the benefits cited by the MHSFCA is a longer regular season, up from the seven games (eight in Central and West) during the last (2019) completed football season, and eight games as part of the plan passed by the TMC last June. The proposal would eliminate the need for consolation games, a concern for many coaches and athletic directors in past formats. Even the one game would be one schools scheduled themselves by choice, as Everett’s Tyrese Baptiste, who recently committed to play football at UMaine-Orono, is shown picking up some yards last season. (Advocate File Photo) High School Football Season under the MIAA Football Committee’s new plan. zA nine-game regular season beginning Sept. 6-11 and ending Nov. 1-6, with no “byes” z• Playoff teams would be determined using rating system adopted by MIAA zPlayoffs begin with Top Eight teams in eight divisional quarterfinals on Nov. 12-13 – and semifinals Nov. 19-20 zNon-playoff qualifying teams have the option of playing one consolation game on Nov. 12-13 zNo consolation games would be scheduled for teams that lose in the first round of the playoffs zThanksgiving games are played mid-playoffs, are not part of the postseason structure and do not count toward qualifying for the tournament. zEight Divisional Super Bowls played Dec. 3-4 opposed to a game assigned to them by the MIAA. “From the standpoint of the coaches association, and the feedback we’ve gotten in the last year, this was the second-best option,” Dembowski said in an online report. “If the idea was to be in line with other sports, we didn’t want consolation games.” For teams in the Greater Boston League (GBL), this means that for most of the schools in what will be an eight-team GBL beginning informally this spring with the addition of Lynn Classical, Lynn English and Chelsea and 100 percent official next fall, it would mean six regular season league games already set. It is expected, though not set in stone, that GBL newcomer Chelsea would play an independent football schedule from the league, though the possibility exists the Red Devils could play selected league teams. Two of the traditional Thanksgiving matchups, Malden-Medford and Lynn Classical-Lynn English, would mean those schools would be looking at five league games of the first nine, having to fill the remainder of the schedule with four non-league games. Saugus High would most likely be in the same boat, playing up to five or six Northeastern Conference (NEC) games and the rest non-league opponents. The Sachems would also be looking forward to the excitement of christening their brand-new football field adjacent to their new middle-high school building.
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