OHSAA proposal could move playoffs to Friday

May 30, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

It appears as though the Friday night lights may shine a little brighter throughout Ohio this coming November.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association will vote Thursday on a proposal that, if passed, will place all of its playoff games (with the exception of the state championship round) on Friday nights.

The state finals would remain a three-day event.

Traditionally, the tournament has been split between Friday and Saturday nights.

“What this comes down to is that we have come to the realization that fans believe Fridays belong to high school football,” said OHSAA director of communications Tim Stried. “Everything points to Friday being the popular choice for the high school game.”

Stried noted that attendance figures for Friday playoff games “is significantly stronger” than for those played on Saturdays. Last year, Division I games were moved to Friday nights for the first time in 36 years. Those games showed an attendance increase, while Division III games, moved from Fridays to Saturdays, showed a decline in attendance.

“Attendance is our biggest reason for looking to go to an all-Friday format,” Stried said. “It’s becoming very tough to compete with Ohio State and college football in general. So many of the biggest games of the weekend are now played in prime time. For most football fans, the mindset says Friday is for high school, Saturday for college and Sunday for the pros.”

Two other factors helped spur the proposal. Stried said that feedback from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association suggests that coaches overwhelmingly prefer to play on Fridays. Also, Stried noted that it is becoming more difficult for the OHSAA to secure playing sites on Saturdays.

“Again, it goes back to workers and game site managers wanting to spend their Saturdays watching Ohio State,” Stried said.

From a coaching perspective, playing on Fridays is both convenient and practical, according to Ursuline coach Larry Kempe.

“Coaches are creatures of habit, so in that regard I can see where Fridays would be the preferred night,” Kempe said. “You get into a routine, you get into a habit and you want to maintain that rhythm into the playoffs.”

Ursuline made the playoffs four straight years under Kempe. Each year, the Irish played their tournament games on Saturdays.

“We were somewhat used to the playing on Saturdays, but you never get completely comfortable with the routine,” Kempe said. “It makes for a very long day for the players.”

Warren John F. Kennedy played the vast majority of its regular-season games last year on Saturday. It then played five straight Saturday games en route to a Division VII state championship.

Still, Eagles coach Jeff Bayuk says he would welcome the move to Friday “purely from a coaching perspective.”

“As a coach, playing on a Saturday requires a lot of Sunday work and it shortens the work week,” Bayuk said. “Friday games are much more beneficial to both coaches and players.”

However, both Kempe and Bayuk also have their reservations about an all-Friday format.

Kempe said he worries that a cluster of Friday games will diminish exposure for the student-athletes. Under the proposed format, 112 games will be played the first Friday of the tournament. The Mahoning Valley has sent as many as 18 schools (2015) into the playoffs in a single season.

“The print and electronic media can only cover so many games per night,” Kempe said. “You want playoff football to be special. You want to put the student-athletes in a spotlight. But the media can only do so much if so many teams are playing at the same time.”

Bayuk admits that the fan in him wishes that the playoffs remain spread out over a two-day period.

“If you go to any playoff game involving area schools, you’ll see a lot of area coaches in the stands,” Bayuk said. “I love going to see other area teams compete on nights we’re not playing. And this area has a lot of hard-core fans who prefer to go to games on both nights. That, I would miss.”

Poland athletic director Brian Banfield said that he would welcome the transformation to an all-Friday format, but he too is concerned that an influx of games would “make week eleven feel the same as week eight.”

Banfield also wonders if the OHSAA will be able to find enough suitable neutral sites to host weeks 12 through 14.

“They have sometimes struggled in the past, so this could really create a scheduling headache,” Banfield said. “At the same time, it might open up opportunities for schools who have previously been turned away. It will all depend on who is in the playoffs, and which available sites are adequately equipped to host.”

Warren G. Harding’s Mollenkopf Stadium has hosted numerous playoff games in recent years. Often times Harding would host a game on a Friday, while the Raiders would play the following night. That could change if the new format is adopted and Harding enjoys playoff success.

“I would hate to turn games down, but at the same time if we’re in the playoffs there is no one left to open and run the facility,” said Warren G. Harding athletic director Bill Nicholson.

“Truthfully, it’s a lot of work to host a game, and the big winners are the booster clubs who run the concessions. There isn’t a lot of profit for the host site, which is why the OHSAA might struggle to find enough facilities in that second round.”

First-round games are hosted by the higher-seeded team. Neutral sites are used for the rest of the tournament.

Nicholson noted that Warren fans “travel well, regardless of where we play and on what day.” He wonders if the dip in Saturday attendance might be a regional issue.

“I can see where it can be a major problem in the Columbus area to attract fans or to find a host site, even if Ohio State is playing an afternoon game,” Nicholson said. “But honestly, I haven’t really noticed a difference in Northeast Ohio.

“Whatever decision is made, I hope the OHSAA takes a slow approach and thinks this all the way through so things don’t get ugly.”

Austintown Fitch coach Phil Annarella said that if games do get moved to Friday, he hopes for a uniform 7:30 kickoff time to help give both teams and fans adequate travel time. Annarella said that Saturday games can pose challenges for coaches, but at the same time, “Fridays result in a lot of hustle, whereas Saturday games feel like more of an event.”

Annarella then summed up the feelings which are probably shared by coaches statewide.

“Honestly, if we make the playoffs, I don’t care when we play,” Annarella said. “Put us on the field on a Saturday afternoon. I don’t care, as long as we’re playing.”