Ch-ch-ch-changes : 2005


The new coaches and new schools have their own pages.


Here's the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) rule changes for 2005, which include :
7-2-1 : Goodbye, “Illegal procedure”
7-5: Only one forward pass may be thrown per down
8-5-2a: An expansion of the momentum rule to cover more live-ball situations

Here's more info and links from a Canadian site, including a note about "Poloroid moments" I've not seen anywhere else.

Here's the national press release posted on the VHSL website.



With 2005 being the first year of a new 2-year cycle for the VHSL, a few schools move either up or down a Division based on changing enrollments. No western VA schools change Districts, but a few do change Divisions for 2005 & 2006 :

Region 4 : Richlands, Marion & Patrick Co. drop to Div. 3; Martinsville moves up to Div. 4
Region 3 : With the departure of three Div. 3 schools from the Dogwood, Northside and Liberty (Bedford) drop to Div. 3
Region D : Rye Cove drops to Div. 1; Pound moves up to Div. 2 (maybe)
Region C : no changes

A new VHSL rule (68.8.3) that was passed in the Spring of 2004 allows any school whose enrollment is less than half of the largest school in their Division to appeal to the VHSL to be placed in "the smaller division".

For this new, 2-year cycle, only 2 schools in the state are eligible - Pound & Thomas Walker. After noticing the absence of a deadline to apply, I contacted the VHSL, which said they had already notified the eligible teams that "the appeal must be received in time for action by the September Executive Committee meeting", so we'll know in late Sept. if either team will be moved down to Div. 1.

I wonder if Pocahontas could play King & Queen for the Division 0 title?


The Dogwood District is purely 'single A' now, as 2 AA schools changed districts (Appo. goes back to the Seminole after a 6 year absence) and another 2 (including 2-time defending Div. 3 state champ Gretna) drop to Group A. This caused the last Div. 3 champ, Liberty (2002), to drop back down from Div. 4.

Div. 5 is also guaranteed to have a new state champ because Meadowbrook moves up to Div. 6.
James Monroe (of Fredericksburg) returns to Div. 2 after going 18-5 in 2 years of AA play.

A handful of Northern Region schools played musical chairs to create 2 districts made up entirely of Div. 5 schools and 2 of Div. 6 schools (but they ended up with 1 mixed district after the new ADM numbers were released in May).

Here's a breakdown of those changes:
                        WAS                          NOW

   school         Group  Region  District     Group  Region  District

Rappahannock Co.           Bull Run JV            A    B     Bull Run
Altavista           ind. in football              A    B     Dogwood

Central (Woodstock)  A      B    Shenandoah      AA   II     Northwestern
James Monroe         A      A    Northern Neck   AA    I     Battlefield

Prince Edward Co.   AA    III    Dogwood         AA    I     Southside
Appomattox Co.      AA    III    Dogwood         AA  III     Seminole  
                                  (was in Seminole until Summer, 1999)

Buckingham Co.      AA    III    Dogwood          A    B     James River
Gretna              AA    III    Dogwood          A    B   **Dogwood
Northampton         AA      I    Eastern Shore    A    A     Eastern Shore

Fauquier            AA     II    Northwestern   AAA   NW     Cedar Run
Stone Bridge        AA     II    Dulles         AAA    N     Liberty


James Robinson     AAA Northern  Patriot                     Concorde
Fairfax                    "     Liberty                     Concorde
R. E. Lee                  "     Liberty                     Patriot
T. Jefferson S&T           "     National                    Liberty 

Culpeper Co.       AAA     NW    Commonwealth                Cedar Run
Potomac                    NW    Cedar Run                   Cardinal

Battlefield                    JV               AAA   NW     Cedar Run
Freedom (Woodbridge)           JV                     NW     Cardinal

Briar Woods             new                      AA   II     Dulles JV 
Freedom                  "                                     "    "   
Mountain View            "                      AAA   NW     Commonwealth 
South County Secondary   "                      AAA    N     Patriot

*Loudoun Valley     AA     II    Dulles         AAA    N     National       

* Loudoun Valley received special consideration, due to geography and enrollment, 
to participate in VHSL actiities for the 2005/6, 2006/7 cycle in this manner :

The school has been assigned to the Group AAA National District based on enrollment.
But due to the driving required to get to the other schools in the district 
(the nearest is about 30 miles down Leesburg Pike), all sports BUT football
will stay in the Dulles District for the regular season, then compete in the 
National during the post-season.  Football will compete full-time in the National.

**  The Dogwood District is no longer "split" - it's entirely Group A schools now.



Here's the state-wide breakdown from the VHSL : Districts / Divisions



How about this ... a Va. District champion may not make the playoffs!

No, this isn't about the proposed 8 Division plan for 2007 (that's here). I'm talking about this year!

At their May meeting, the VHSL approved a plan (see page 6) submitted by Region I (AA) that prevents the Eastern Shore District champ from automatically receiving a post-season bid. Here's why:
The Eastern Shore is a combination district. Northampton has dropped to Group A, leaving Nandua as the only AA school. Last season, 6 teams in the Region finished with a higher rating than Nandua, but the team with the 4th-most points, New Kent, was "bumped" because Nandua won their District and got an automatic bid.

So Nandua could become the first District champion to miss the playoffs since 1975, when Andrew Lewis (Salem), Rye Cove and a few others were left out because they were in Regions with 3 Districts, but only 2 District champs could play for the Regional crown (because the playoffs only had 3 rounds).


Tennessee did their 4-year reclassification over the Summer. Here's a list of changes involving Region 1 (Upper East Tenn.) teams.

Class 1A / 2A : North Greene moves up to 2A. Hampton drops to 1A. Grace Christian of Knoxville joins 1A (they started football in '04).

Class 3A : Sullivan North moves up to 4A. (Knox) Carter drops down from 4A & (Knox) Gibbs moves in from Reg. 2.

Class 4A : Sullivan North in, Carter out, & Daniel Boone is forced over to Reg. 2.

Class 5A : South Doyle drops to 4A, Region 3.


In eastern Kentucky, the only "nearby" change is Johnson Central, which moves back down to Class 3A.