NJSIAA Adds Group Classification to Football

Beginning this fall, 160 high school football teams around the state will have the opportunity to win a state sectional championship, under a proposal approved by the NJSIAA this afternoon.

The NJSIAA Executive Committee approved the proposal to create a Group V designation in the four public school sections by a vote of 22-5-3 at its meeting in Robbinsville, according to Jack DuBois, NJSIAA assistant director in charge of football.

"This creates a greater opportunity for schools and for student-athletes," DuBois said. "It increases the number of teams playing in the playoffs from 128 to 160. At the same time, it eliminates 16 consolation games that schools didn't want to play anyway."

Black Horse Pike Regional School District athletic director Chris Dziczek said it will be June, when 2012-13 enrollments are determined, before the fates of Highland, Timber Creek and Triton high schools are known, but noted she does not expect any of the three schools to switch groups in football.

"I think, off the top of my head, that we're going to stay put," she said Thursday afternoon.

Highland competed in Group 2, Timber Creek in Group 3 and Triton in Group 4 last season. Timber Creek won the South Jersey Group 3 title—the first in school history.

The NJSIAA proposal also allows teams whose records are under .500 to participate in the playoffs if they are needed to fill an eight-team bracket.

"We fill brackets in other sports that way, such as baseball and soccer," DuBois said.

The four sections—North Jersey Section 1, North Jersey Section 2, Central Jersey and South Jersey—will now have 15 teams per group instead of 19, which improves the chances of a team making the playoffs, he said.

The finalized list of team groupings won't be available until after the NJSIAA receives school enrollment numbers from the state, likely in June, DuBois said.