It’s never too early to start talking about high school football.
Like every other newspaper in Pennsylvania, The Republican-Herald staff has already started working on the upcoming high school football season.
From compiling and typing in schedules, to planning out the annual Football Tab, to working on our weekly Football Friday publication, there’s a lot of work that has to be done in the preseason so that we can provide you with the most in-depth coverage of the 20 high school teams that reside in or on the outskirts of Schuylkill County.
It didn’t actually hit me how close the 2015 season really is until Tuesday in an email exchange with Panther Valley head coach Matt Davis.
“Only 38 days until kickoff ...” his email began.
Yes, it’s that close.
Let the countdown begin.
For the record, the 2015 high school football season begins Friday, Sept. 4.
Official preseason “two-a-day” practices start Monday, Aug. 17, with scrimmages set for Saturday, Aug. 22, and Thursday-Friday-Saturday, Aug. 27-28-29.
If that seems later than usual ... it is. Labor Day doesn’t fall until Sept. 7 this year, so everything is roughly a week later than last year. The final week of the regular season is Nov. 6-7, with the District 11 championships set for Nov. 20-21. The PIAA Football Championships are slated for Dec. 18-19 in Hershey — that’s right, the weekend before Christmas.
The Media Day circuit begins next week, with Mount Carmel and Shamokin heading to the Williamsport Country Club for the District 4 Football Coaches Association get-together Tuesday, Aug. 4; and the Tri-Valley Football Coaches Association holding its third annual event Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Upper Dauphin Elementary/Middle School.
The Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association will hold its annual Media Day on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Mountain Valley Golf Course.
Here are some storylines and other information as we gear up for the 2015 season:
20 teams/20 days
To get you fired up for the start of preseason training
camps and the upcoming season, The Republican-Herald will run a daily feature called “20 Teams/20 Days” that debuts today with Davis’ Panther Valley club.
A teaser of sorts to the Republican-Herald’s Football Tab that will be in the Aug. 30 edition, the “20 Teams/20 Days” box will include some player information, a summer update and some key questions facing each team heading into training camp. Each squad’s scrimmage and game schedules are also included.
There is no set schedule to the “20 Teams/20 Days” feature ... so you’ll have to read the paper and check it out online every day to find out when your team is highlighted.
New coaches
There are two new coaches in the area for the 2015 season, as Kevin Bolinsky takes over at Shenandoah Valley and John Darrah is at Mount Carmel.
I talked with Bolinsky, a coordinator with the Devils last season, at last year’s final Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association meeting, and he was already excited about getting the job. If the players at Shenandoah Valley can channel that energy and enthusiasm into their play on the field, the Devils will be just fine.
Darrah is the new guy in charge at his alma mater Mount Carmel after a messy offseason that saw Carmen DeFrancesco not rehired after going 7-4 and guiding the Red Tornadoes into the District 4 Class AA playoffs, Frank Sheptock hired to replace him and then Sheptock resigning a month later.
A coordinator at North Schuylkill last season, Darrah also needs to find a new quarterback after Dominic Farronato transferred to Lewisburg. Farronato threw for 1,168 yards and 10 touchdowns and was an All-State safety last season.
PIAA changes
If you’re a high school football fan, I’m sure you are aware of the PIAA’s possible switch to six classifications for football. I highlighted the proposed changes in a June 17 story, and fellow Times-Shamrock writer Joby Fawcett detailed them after the recent PIAA meetings last week.
To date, the only thing that has officially passed is a change in the way the PIAA counts enrollment figures for its member schools. Adopting what is called “the 10-percent rule,” public schools will now only count 10 percent of its students that are home-schooled or attend charter, cyber-charter, alternative education or full-day vocational-technical schools. Catholic and charter schools that are members of the PIAA are unaffected.
This rule applies to all sports, not just football.
The “10-percent rule” goes into effect in the next PIAA cycle, for which the enrollment numbers will be calculated this October. The 2015 season is the final year of the current cycle; the next cycle will include the 2016-17 football seasons.
As for the change in football classifications, the PIAA and its strategic planning and football steering committees passed a second reading on three proposals — four classes, six classes or six classes with the largest being a Super 700 class for schools with enrollments larger than 700.
The next step is for each district to schedule informational meetings with its member schools and decide which proposal they prefer. The committees reconvene Sept. 16, with the next PIAA Board of Directors meeting slated for Oct. 7. A proposal needs to pass three readings for it to be adopted.
Although it appears change is on the horizon, there’s still a long way to go here. There are a lot of logistical questions to be answered, and a lot of cause-and-effect questions.
For example, how will the changes affect the rating system? How will the playoffs be constructed? When will it start? Is this football only or will it include other sports?
Personally, I’m surprised a five-classification format wasn’t proposed.
We’ll explore the changes and get local coaches’ reactions for the preseason Football Tab.
For now, start getting geared up for another exciting year of high school football.
It will be here before you know it.
(Boyer is sports editor. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)
Key Dates
Some important dates on the high school football calendar:
Tuesday, Aug. 4 — District 4 Football Coaches Association at Williamsport Country Club
Wednesday, Aug. 5 — Tri-Valley Football Coaches Association Media Day at Upper Dauphin Elementary/Middle School
Wednesday, Aug. 12 — Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Media Day at Mountain Valley Golf Course
Monday, Aug. 17 — Preseason practices begin
Saturday, Aug. 22 — First scrimmages
Thursday-Friday-Saturday, Aug. 27-28-29 — Week 2 scrimmages
Sunday, Aug. 30 — Republican-Herald Football Tab
Friday, Sept. 4 — Opening night of 2015 season