Change seems inevitable in high school football, and this year the biggest changes include reclassification, running time and the geographic descriptions of each division.
That latter change means that East becomes North and West becomes South. For example, what last year was Class A East is now Class A North, and what was Class A West is now Class A South.
One new team joins the Maine varsity ranks this fall, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, which brings the total number of interscholastic programs statewide to 77.
The Panthers, coached by Ryan Snell, will compete in the LTC Class D North for the next two seasons after getting a head start at that level of competition last fall by playing many of those schools in bye-week exhibition contests that provided valuable experience in preparation for their varsity debut.
One existing program, Class A North Oxford Hills of South Paris, will add players from Buckfield High School as a first-year cooperative team this fall. That newly combined program has a total enrollment of 1,235, making Oxford Hills-Buckfield the state’s third-largest high school football entity, trailing only defending Class A state champion Thornton Academy of Saco (1,422) and Lewiston (1,318).
Eight other schools will field compete in different classes than a year ago:
— Biddeford and Noble of North Berwick from Class A West to Class B South.
— Leavitt of Turner Center from Class C West to Class B South.
— Nokomis of Newport from Class C North to Class B North.
— Fryeburg Academy from Class B West to Class C South.
— Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston from Class B West to Class C North.
— John Bapst of Bangor from Class D East to Class C North.
— Camden Hills of Rockport from Class C East to Class D North.
Camden Hills, Medomak Valley and Ellsworth-Sumner, all playing down from their enrollment level in Class D North, are not eligible for postseason play this fall.
Time on the run
One new rule instituted by the Maine Principals’ Association provides for running time in games with a differential of 35 points or more in the second half.
Such a circumstance has been in place informally in the past based on the mutual agreement of the head coaches of both teams involved, but this change formalizes the procedure at all levels of high school football in the state.
Under the new rule, the clock will be stopped in a game with a point differential of 35 or more in the second half only under the following circumstances: a charged timeout, injury, penalty and after scores.
If the clock is stopped, it will be started on a ready-for-play signal or when a free kick is first touched after the kick.
If the point differential subsequently dips below 35 points, the game will revert to standard timing rules.
The rule change was made in part to help reduce the degree of lopsided games and as a safety measure for players on teams with small rosters.
Most of the subvarsity players who would see the bulk of the varsity playing time during the second half of a lopsided game already have a junior varsity or freshman football game to play during the week. As an additional safety precaution, the Maine Principals’ Association now recommends that athletes not participate in any more than six quarters of football each week at any level of play.
Class D final coming north
Under the third year of the annual rotation by which one game among the Class B, C and D state finals are held at the University of Maine, the 2015 Class D state championship will be played on the Orono campus on Friday night, Nov. 20.
That will be followed the next day, Nov. 21, by the state finals in Classes A, B and C at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
