Class 8-man grows; other classes get smaller

The Iowa High School Athletic Association Board of Control finessed its press release when it said it accepted 'the lone recommendation out of recent meetings of the joint IHSAA/IGHSAU classification committee,”

The Iowa Football Coaches Association requested six classes for 11-man and two classes for 8-player on Dec. 14. On Jan. 21, the board added one class, 5A, which consists of the state's largest 36 schools in terms of enrollment, then 36 each in 4A and 3A, 48 each in 2A and 1A, the rest of 11-player in A and no change to 8-man. Member schools will be contacted to confirm Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS), which collects staffing, student, and policy data from public districts, nonpublic schools, and Area Education Agencies. It seems only six teams from 1A will be affected and move up, then 12 2A move up and 30 3A.

A total of 328 teams participated in Iowa high school football last season - 40 in 4A, 54 each in 3A, 2A and 1A, 59 in Class A and 67 in 8-Player. The top three classes play nine regular season games then 16 playoff qualifiers. Eight regular season games for the other clases with 32 playoff teams. All non-playoff teams in 2A, 1A, A and 8-player are permitted to play a ninth regular-season game.

'I'm not sure why the state is doing this,” Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh said. 'I am hoping it doesnt move us up a class.”

The cutoff between 3A and 2A would be 108. Mid-Prairie's BEDS number is 294 up from 268 and the 113th largest of 365 district so where exactly the number is among the 328 football programs is up in the air. (All of the following numbers are close guesstimates and nothing is official until verified.)

The new class really doesn't affect A or 8-man, leaving the amount of teams the same but doubles the playoff teams.

'Getting more teams in the playoffs is good for the sport, community and school,” WACO head coach Chad Edeker said. 'The later in the season a team has a chance to make the playoffs, the more community interest there is and more school spirit. It makes for a fun atmosphere for the kids to play in front of when they are still playing for the playoffs.”

WACO's BEDS moves from 103 to 106 and is No. 284.

'There are 8-man teams with enrollments of 120 that are playing against a 57-student team,” Winfield-Mt. Union head coach Scott McCarty said. 'The big hang up will be geography versus size and schedule creating.”

WMU's BEDS is stable at 112, which is the 274th largest.

Pekin has been moving back and forth between A and 1A in recent years. Pekin's BEDS is up from 160 to 173, and that ranks 193rd in size. The cutoff between 1A and A would be 204.

'Anytime you can make the system as fair as possible, that is a plus,” Pekin head coach Brent Blakely said. 'It gives kids a more positive outlook on the opportunity they have in front of them. That being said, I didn't have a problem with the way we were doing things. I value the playoff system as being worth qualifying for. I can certainly see both sides and have been on both sides of the argument.”

Regardless of the system. there will be pros and cons, whether it's level of competition or miles traveling.

'I liked what I saw,”Columbus head coach Dave Leikwa said. 'It would keep us in Class A most likely, which is where we want to be right now.”

Columbus BEDS drops from 157 to 146, tied with Starmont at 229th.

In case of a tie the last alphabetical goes into the larger class.

The cutoff between 2A and 1A would be 156 and 157.

The Cobras BEDS stay the same with Sigourney up five (135 to 140) and Keota down five (63 to 58). The 198 total would put the Cobras close to the threshhold around 164th, barely staying in 1A.

'I'm not one that thinks every team should be in the playoffs, but some good teams finish third or fourth in a tough district that can play with other district champions,” Sigourney-Keota head coach Jared Jensen said.

The Cobras saw that in a 2012 district with ranked teams Iowa City Regina, West Branch and Wilton. The Cobras almost knocked off district champ Maquoketa Valley, losing 17-14.

A number of coaches contacted expressed the sentiment, 'I don't know what to think about it.”

A few were on board with some sort of socio-economic multiplier like free and reduced lunches paired with the BEDS numbers,

'That would really help level the playing field for some of the larger schools, but I wouldn't expect drastic change in the smaller classes,” Jensen said. Other area schools: Highland 139 down to 131, tied at 250th with AGWSR; Cardinal 184 up to 190, tied with West Central Valley at 169th; Van Buren County 167 up to 171, tied with Boyden-Hull at 194th; New London 120 up to 129, tied with Fort Dodge St. Edmond at 253rd.