43
Division I football playoff games moved to Friday
By BRIAN DZENIS
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors agreed to move Division I football playoff games to Friday nights, the league announced on Wednesday. The measure was approved last Thursday.
This fall D-I will have Friday night playoff games for the first time since 1980. D-I games will be at 7:30 p.m. Divisions II, IV and VI will also be on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Divisions II, V and VII will be on Saturday.
The decision was due to years of decreasing attendance for Saturday playoff games.
“In Ohio’s larger cities where the Division I schools are located, we have been competing with college games and other events on Saturdays, both in terms of fans and facilities being available,” Beau Rugg, OHSAA Assistant Commissioner and football administrator, said in a statement. “Moving Division I playoff games to Friday nights has been something our football tournament committee has been thinking about for a couple years.”
The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association approved of the change.
The 2016-17 school year will be the second in the OHSAA’s current two-year cycle for enrollment and divisional alignment. This upcoming school year, the Ohio Department of Education will work with the OHSAA to determine enrollment data for the next two-year cycle.
Another change for football is D-I changing back to a four-region format instead of the two-region format used for the past three seasons.
The only local school this affects is Austintown Fitch. The Falcons will occupy Region 2 along with Berea-Midpark, Canton GlenOak, Canton McKinley, Cleveland Heights, Cleveland John Marshall, Cleveland Rhodes, Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cuyahoga Falls, Euclid, Lakewood, Lakewood St. Edward, Massillon Jackson, Mentor, North Canton Hoover, Shaker Heights, Solon and Stow-Munroe Falls.
The regular season starts the week of Aug. 22.