Ch-ch-ch-changes : 2007
Well, this is going to take a while, so grab a drink and settle in.
First, the new coaches and
new schools / stadium info have their own pages.
Next, we have some rule changes.
Here's the NFHS
(National Federation of State High School Associations)
rule changes for
2007, along with their
press release
and a more user-friendly version from
British Columbia.
Basically, a majority of the changes are tweaks in the wording in order to provide
clarification of terms like flagrant foul, passer and head coach (and,
yes, I'm serious). Also, the new game jersey specs were clarified and the beginning date
was moved to 2012. A big change is Rule 8-2-2 : When a penalty is called against the defense
during a TD, enforcement can now be delayed until the ensuing kickoff. But the biggest item
is tweaks in Rules 2-20 & 9-4-3, which aim to reduce both illegal helmet contact and
head/neck injuries.
Here are the major VHSL changes :
68-6-1 : New ratings scale. Changes points earned for playing an opponent to :
4 for A, 8 for AA & 12 for AAA. Each win is now worth 12 points.
"Rider" points will remain the same :
2 points for every win by a team you beat
1 point for every win by a team you lost to
(This was designed to put an emphasis on winning. Each win is now worth 4 or
5 points more than before, while each loss is now worth 2 or 3 points more.)
Here's a run down of the points you would get under both systems :
opponent is old new old new
W / L W / L W / L W / L
Div. 4, 9 wins - 34/15 , 38/17 Div. 2, 9 wins - 30/11 , 34/13
Div. 3, 9 wins - 33/14 , 38/17 Div. 1, 9 wins - 29/10 , 34/13
Div. 4, 5 wins - 26/11 , 30/13 Div. 2, 5 wins - 22/ 7 , 26/ 9
Div. 3, 5 wins - 25/10 , 30/13 Div. 1, 5 wins - 21/ 6 , 26/ 9
Div. 4, 1 win - 18/ 7 , 22/ 9 Div. 2, 1 win - 14/ 3 , 18/ 5
Div. 3, 1 win - 17/ 6 , 22/ 9 Div. 1, 1 win - 13/ 2 , 18/ 5
68-4-1, 68-4-2, 68-8-4 & 68-8-5 (3) : Combined, these give each Region the
option of replacing regular season Week 12 of the football calendar with
a "preliminary" playoff round. If done, the highest remaining seed will
play the lowest remaining seed in the Regional semis.
(NOTE : If your Region has added the "prelim" round, your team will NOT
get to count bonus points from week 12 games. FOR EXAMPLE :
Northside hosts both Pulaski Co. & Salem. If the Vikings were to beat
both of those teams, they WON'T earn the 2 bonus points that would have
been guaranteed when those 2 teams meet on week 12, since that game will
not have been played when the Region III seeding takes place. The same
thing applies to the William Fleming-PH & Hidden Valley-Cave Spring games.
Northside will lose AT LEAST 3 & up to 8 points because of those games.
In Group AAA, the Northern & Eastern Regions have increased the number
of teams that qualify for post-season play to 8 in each Division.
In Group AA, Region III is going to a 6-team field.
The other 13 Regions will stay with the 4-team format.
And when the finalists are decided, most of them will be headed someplace new.
The VHSL Executive Committee voted in May to move the Group A football championship
games from JMU to Salem Stadium (now that it has FieldTurf) for at least 2 years,
while the AAA games move from out East to Scott Stadium at UVA for at least 1 year
(with an option for 2 more). The AA finals will remain at Liberty U.
And here's a review of the
college rules changes
from ESPN.
Due to the new alignment plan that was approved in the Spring of 2006, we have a lot of
schools changing Districts, mainly :
The Lonesome Pine District loses 2 schools : 1 to the Cumberland and 1 to the new
Clinch Mtn. Dist., which also has 2 former Hogo members and 2 former Highlands members. The
other 2 Highlands members re-join the Southwest District. The Clinch Mtn. has 2 teams that won
District titles last year : Lebanon & Va. High.
The AA Valley District has split into the Massanutten and Southern Valley Districts, with
both joining Region III, replacing the River Ridge District, which moves to Region IV, which
saw 4 schools drop to Group A.
WAS NOW
school Group Reg. District Group Reg. District
William Fleming AA III Blue Ridge AAA NW Western Valley
(Fleming returns to AAA after a 6 year absence)
Abingdon AA IV Highlands AA IV Southwest
Marion " "
(Marion was in the SWD from 1956-1988, Abingdon from 1970-1988)
Lee AA IV Highlands A D Clinch Mtn.
Va. High AA IV " " " "
John S. Battle A C Hogoheegee " " "
Lebanon A C " " " "
Gate City A D Lonesome Pine " " "
Coeburn A D Lonesome Pine A D Cumberland
Dan River AA IV Piedmont A B Dogwood
Appomattox AA IV Seminole A B "
Galileo Magnet (Danville) new A B Dogwood (soccer only)
Nandua AA I Eastern Shore A A Eastern Shore
Colonial Beach Capitol Area Football Conf. A A Tidewater
Chesterfield Community no football team A A Tri-Rivers
Riverbend AA I Battlefield AAA NW Comonwealth
Liberty (Bealeton) AA II Northwestern AAA NW Cedar Run
Loudoun Valley AAA National AAA NW Cedar Run
(for the past 2 years, LV's non-football teams were in the AA Dulles Dist.)
Skyline (Front Royal) new AA II Northwestern
Warhill (Williamsburg) " AA I Bay Rivers
Grassfield (Chesapeake) " AAA E Southeastern
Highlands Dist. AA IV scattered (see above)
River Ridge Dist. AA III AA IV
Valley District AA II AA III, split into :
Massanutten District - Broadway, Harrisonburg, Spotswood, Turner Ashby
Southern Valley District - Fort Defiance, Robert E. Lee, Rockbridge Co.,
Stuarts Draft, Waynesboro
And 2 private schools have started football programs -
Carlisle, of Martinsville, and Portsmouth Christian (Metro Conference)
And, of course, a few area teams will be in a different Div. than last year :
Region IV : new-comers Christiansburg & Hidden Valley move up to Div. 4,
dropping Martinsville & Tunstall to Div. 3
Region D : Castlewood moves up to Div. 2 (but may appeal, along with
Clintwood & Coeburn, via rule 68.8.3 to "play down"');
Haysi drops to Div. 1 while Lee & Va. High have dropped
from AA to Div. 2 (Lee was granted a special
"geographic hardship" exemption from the VHSL.)
Region C : Auburn moves up to Div. 2
Here's the state-wide breakdown from the VHSL :
Districts /
Divisions
Next, I have a site change to note. Due to this realignment, Roanoke's Northside is now the
western-most school in Region III, so I'm no longer doing the ratings for Region III, but I will
keep posting their weekly games, since they play a lot of Region IV & Region C teams.
ATTENTION : Hurley, Piedmont District Mtn. Empire District fans - for some reason, most
of these schools have a lot of 7:00 kickoffs this year.
Across the state lines :
Kentucky makes their first major change since adding a 4th class back in 1975, as the
Bluegrass boys have now jumped to a 6-Class system for their 220 schools (that's about 35 per
Class, each with 8 Districts of 4-6 schools apiece). They've also starting using a new
"scheduling calendar" that requires District games be played on weeks 9, 7 & 5, followed by
weeks 3 & 4 (for Districts with 5 or 6 teams). Schools in a 5-team District CAN play a
non-District game during their "open" week on the District calendar.
Tennessee has adopted the same "35 point running clock rule" that Va. implemented last
year. And the TSSAA also decided that 9 schools in a Region is too many, so they created a
Region 9 in AA, which TOTALLY messes up the brackets. Also, Tri-Cities Christian is
starting a football team this Fall.
One final note : The next realignment process begins immediately,
with the R&R Committee's first meeting set for Sept. 17th. The first draft of the 2009/10 -
2010/2011 alignment should be out in early Dec.