New plan for high school football is ‘utter travesty’
While college football has officially kicked off its season, high school football and the National Football League will soon have footballs flying across fields everywhere. Since we’re about to officially kick off the 2013 football season let’s take a look at some of the changes the Louisiana High School Athletic Association is going to experience come playoff time. This season marks the inaugural year of the “select” and “non-select” playoffs. For those who may not know to what I’m referring, the association will be split primarily between public and private schools come playoff time.
There are some exceptions, like Byrd High School, which has been deemed “select” because greater than 33 percent of its enrollment comes from outside its attendance zone. Whether you’re for or against the change in the system, and for the record I’m against the change, it makes for a very interesting and often heated debate. For the Yellow Jackets, it means they’re in the newly created Division I playoffs with nine other Class 5A select schools, the majority of which come from the greater New Orleans area. Byrd has a great opportunity to win the school’s eighth state championship and its first since 1949. Theoretically, Byrd could go 0-10 in the regular season and could still win the Division I state championship. Preposterous as it sounds, it could happen.
However, before the Yellow Jackets can think about a state championship, they will have to fight hard to capture a share of their third straight District 1-5A title. That’s because the Parkway Panthers, who advanced to the state quarter finals last season, feature one of the country’s top quarterback prospects in senior Brandon Harris, an LSU commitment. The Airline Vikings with mammoth defensive lineman O.J. Smith, an Alabama commit, and the Haughton Buccaneers with the Craft twins, Jarred and Jerrod, as well as Micah Larkins, the Class 5A 100-meter champion, will make the race for the district title very interesting.
The local Class 4A district consists of eight schools spanning a four-parish region. Loyola College Prep opted to play up in classification but will still have to go through football factories Evangel and John Curtis if the Flyers are to capture the state title.
Select schools in Classes 3A and 4A will now compete in the newly formed Division II playoffs. The state title winner in this 17- team division will certainly have earned the title champion, despite the objections of some like one veteran broadcaster who told me he won’t call the winners “state champions.” In addition to Evangel Eagles and John Curtis Patriots, there are other powerhouses like the Notre Dame Pioneers, Parkview Baptist Eagles, St. Charles Catholic Comets and St. Thomas More Cougars. Throw in perennial playoff participants like the E.D. White Cardinals, Teurlings Catholic Rebels and University High Cubs, and Division II may turn out to be the bracket to watch.
In Class 2A, the Calvary Baptist Academy Cavaliers have a great opportunity to win the school’s rst football title in the new Division III playoffs. Calvary no longer has to worry about facing off against arch-rival Evangel or John Curtis in the playoffs. And, unlike Division II that’s loaded with consistently strong football programs, Division III has much more fluctuation. Schools like Riverside Academy, Redemptorist, Newman and Opelousas Catholic all have been very good or even great at times, but haven’t quite been able to maintain that level of consistency for long periods of time in comparison.
Calvary, who faces three very tough opponents in Parkway, St. Thomas More and Byrd to begin the season, will likely gain valuable experience from those games that it can draw upon come playoff time.
The real crazy scenario comes in Class 1A where there will be more teams in the new select Division IV playoffs than will be on the nonselect 1A side. Thirty teams will compete for the Division IV state title while 27 will compete for the 1A crown. And the ridiculousness continues!
I’ve been on both sides of the ledger in this issue, and each side has merit in its arguments. I’m a product of Catholic schools – Our Lady of Fatima and then St. Thomas More Catholic High School, both in Lafayette. I have family members who have coached and taught at both public and private schools. I’ve now been affiliated with Byrd High School for more than 16 years now.
However, personally I believe this whole playoff system is a complete and utter travesty. I think it should be obvious to anyone who has covered high school football in Louisiana that this plan was not well thought out and there was a rush to have it implemented. I think there was a failure of leadership at the LHSAA. Either President Kenny Henderson and or the members of the Executive Committee should’ve put a moratorium on this plan and taken at least a year or two to further study the issues and to work out a better plan and system. Unfortunately, none of that happened, and now we’re faced with the reality of this system.
Two years ago my dream of broadcasting a state championship game from the Superdome nearly came true when Byrd played in the state semifinals at Carencro. Unfortunately for me and the City of Byrd, the dream ended on that early December night in the CroDome. But who knows, that dream may come true this season.
Charlie Cavell may be reached at ccavell12@hotmail.com.
