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SHEFFIELD, Pa. – The KSAC and AML will be no more in football starting in 2018.
In a joint release from both conferences, Wednesday, Oct. 18, the conferences announced they are dissolving their respective varsity football leagues in order to create one District 9 Football League Association.
“The new league schedule and Constitution will take effect at the conclusion of the 2017 PIAA Football Championships,” the release said.
The two leagues have been in negotiations for a couple of years now trying to figure out a way to create a league that would pit schools of similar sizes against each other.
“After several years of discussion and observation, the majority of administrators across District 9 voted to establish one league as a step in helping to establish a more equitable playing field among the football-hosting schools and also to aid in the preservation of the sport for some schools’ programs,” the joint release said. “Further information will be available at a later date.”
While the new league didn’t announce its structure in the release, documents obtained by D9Sports.com show a format that would have three divisions – two small-school divisions and a Large School Division.
Under that structure, the Large School Division, as currently constructed, would consist of 10 schools playing a nine-game league schedule with the possibility of a 10th game if a school chooses not to play two scrimmages. There would also be a Small School North Division and a Small School South Division with each division having six schools in it. The teams would play every school in their division once and “crossover” to play schools in the other division for four games with the possibility of a 10th game if a school chooses not to play two scrimmages.
The documents show Bradford, Brockway, Brookville, Clarion, Kane, Karns City, Moniteau, Punxsutawney, Ridgway and St. Marys in the Large School Division, Cameron County, Coudersport, Otto-Eldred, Port Allegany, Sheffield and Smethport in the Small School North Division and Clarion-Limestone, Curwensville, Elk County Catholic, Keystone, Redbank Valley and Union/A-C Valley in the Small School South Division. (See what the current leagues look like on our standings page).
As the divisions are currently constructed, some long-time rivalries will cease to exist.
For example, if Clarion, which has chosen to play two scrimmages in each of the past two seasons, sticks with that the Bobcats will no longer play Clarion-Limestone nor Redbank Valley, two long-time rivals. If they choose to play one scrimmage then the possibility of playing one of those teams remains but not the other.
The same holds true for Kane, which could choose to potentially play Curwensville or Elk County Catholic, two long-time AML South rivals if they play a 10-game schedule but not both.
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