DISTRICT 9 ADDS FOUR PLAYOFF TEAMS IN CLASS A WHILE MAKING CLASS AA PLAYOFFS AN "OPEN" TOURNAMENT

By Chris Rossetti

RIDGWAY – The District 9 committee voted July 7 at a special committee meeting in Ridgway to officially change the football playoff formats in District 9 in Class A and Class AA.

In both cases, the numbers of teams who will be eligible to qualify for the playoffs has been expanded.

In Class A there will be eight playoff teams, the top "A" team in the KSAC and AML as well as six wild cards, in 2004 up from four, the top "A" teams in the KSAC and AML and two wild cards, last year, while the Class AA tournament will be an "open" tournament meaning that all seven of District 9’s Class AA football teams can enter the playoffs if they wish too. The tournament, however, will probably not have seven teams in it because many schools have a policy of not allowing teams to go to enter into "open" playoffs without a winning record.

The selection process in Class A is also changing dramatically. Gone as the first criteria in determining the wild card playoff teams is the complicated Gardner Point System. It is being replaced by the much similar criteria of winning percentage. Presumably, a tie for the final wild-card spot would then go into the following tiebreakers in this order – 1. Head-to-head competition 2. District 9 Power Rating System. 3. Gardner Points System 4. Coin Toss.

The way the team’s will be seeded in Class A will be a two-step process. First, the first two seeds will be awarded to the top "A" team in the KSAC and the top "A" team in the AML as determined by each league. The determining factor for the No. 1 seed will be winning percentage with the tie-breakers in order being head-to-head competition, the District 9 Power Rating System, the Gardner Points System and finally a coin toss. The third through eight seeds will then be determined in the same manner with winning percentage being the first criteria followed by head-to-head competition, the District 9 Power Rating System, the Gardner Points System and finally a coin toss.

The 14 Class A teams include two-time defending champion Clarion-Limestone, Clarion, Keystone, Union, Ridgway, Curwensville, Elk County Catholic, Johnsonburg, Kane, Cameron County, Coudersport, Port Allegany, Otto-Eldred and Smethport. Otto-Eldred was a Class AA team last year but moved down this season.

In Class AA, all seeding will take place using the same criteria used for seeding three through eight in Class A with no preferential seeds given to the top "AA" teams from the KSAC, the AML or the D9 League.

In both Class A and Class AA (if five or more Class AA teams enter the playoffs) first-round playoff games will be held either Nov. 5 or Nov. 6 at the higher-seeded team’s home field. The semifinal round will then played either Nov. 12 or Nov. 13 also at the home field of the higher seeded team. The championship game in each classification will then be played either Nov. 19 or Nov. 20 at a site to be determined.

The seven Class AA teams will include two-time defending champion Brockway, Redbank Valley, A-C Valley, Brookville, Karns City, Moniteau and Sheffield. Redbank Valley was Class A last season but had to move up this year, while A-C Valley moves down from Class AAA. Sheffield, which has been playing as a District 10 team in the AML North, is joining District 9 in all sports this season.

The Class AAA tournament will also be an "open" tournament, but with only four Class AAA teams in 2004 – Clearfield, Bradford, St. Marys and Punxsutawney – there will be no change in the number of teams who can qualify for the tournament. A semifinal round, if needed, will be played either Nov. 5 or Nov. 6 at the home field of the higher seeded team with the championship game being played Nov. 12 or Nov. 13 at a site to be determined.

District 9 has only one Class AAAA team again this year – DuBois. The Beavers would have to qualify for the playoff through District 10.

The reason District 9 was able to add teams to both the Class A and Class AA playoffs was because of a restructuring of the PIAA state playoff system to accommodate the entry of the Philadelphia Public Schools.

The PIAA tournament will still be a 32-team tournament, although the traditional East-West brackets have been watered down some this year.

District 6 combined with District 5 in football, which has historically qualified for the PIAA playoffs in the Western side of the bracket with Districts 7, 9 and 10 in Class A and Class AA, will now qualify in the Eastern side of the bracket.

Because of this change, District 9’s Class A and Class AA champions will now enter the PIAA playoffs a week later entering in the quarterfinal round instead of the Round of 16 while District 7’s (WPIAL) champion will enter in the quarterfinal round instead of the semifinal round. This mean’s District 9 has an extra week after the conclusion of the traditional nine-week schedule to add an extra round of playoffs.

Football practice starts Aug. 16 with District 9 teams able to play their first game Sept. 3.