HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: New Group 5 classification still not official
Kevin Maloney Correspondent
HADDON TWP. — If you're still waiting for the new proposed changes for the upcoming football season to be finalized, well, then you're not alone.
Back in May, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association voted in favor of adding a Group 5 to the four current sections, which would in turn allow four additional teams to claim sectional titles and an additional 32 teams (pushing the total to 160) across the state entrance into the postseason.
But as many of the coaches of the 65-team West Jersey Football League gathered at Paul VI High School Wednesday evening for media day — and with the start of fall practice looming on Monday — the NJSIAA had yet to implement the proposal, leaving many coaches confused as to what exactly the future has in store.
Per the proposal, Cherokee, Lenape and Rancocas Valley would move to Group 5 South along with Absegami, Atlantic City, Cherry Hill East, Eastern, Egg Harbor Township, Millville, Southern, Toms River East, Toms River North, Vineland, Washington Township and Williamstown.
The irony there would be that the Red Devils' regular-season schedule would be comprised of Central Jersey teams, then come playoff time would have to go through a gauntlet consisting mainly of South Jersey squads.
"If we're South Jersey for the playoffs, we're still playing all Central Jersey teams during the regular season with the exception of Eastern and Lenape," Rancocas Valley head coach Dan Haussman said. ". . . I just wish I knew that we were going to be Central Jersey or South Jersey come the playoffs for an extended period of time.
"It changes every single year. Right now it looks like we'll be South for this season but that could change next season. We're going to take it one game at a time during the regular season and once you get to the playoffs you just have to be as prepared as possible. You know every game is going to be a challenge."
It's not that the advent of Group 5 hasn't been lauded around the state — the measure did pass with a 21-5 vote with three abstentions in May — but that it's counterintuitive to what many longtime critics have said about the state's playoff format.
New Jersey is one of the few states in the country that declares sectional champions in favor of state champions. Last year, the state awarded sectional titles to 20 teams and that number would bump up to 24 if the proposal were to be finalized.
An interesting subplot to the debate is that critics have argued that the NJSIAA hurried the proposed change into a vote in May so that the additional playoff games would help generate more revenue for the organization that in June was reportedly facing a $408,965 budget shortfall, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.
The two questions that remain to be answered with the start of the season just over a month away are: when will the NJSIAA implement the new system it approved three months ago and, if it is implemented for this season, does is dilute the significance of winning a sectional title even more than many believe it already is?
"If we want to get to the playoffs we still need a minimum of a 6-2 record and then once we get in we're playing a top team in South Jersey," Cherokee head coach P.J. Mehigan said. "Is it watered down for us? I don't think so. I still think that if you're going to win you're going to have to play some very good teams.
"It certainly does look like they're going in the opposite direction than many of us want to go as far as a true state champion. But beneath the surface it doesn't affect us too much week to week."