After a long and successful run that included, in 2015, the first state championship in program history, the Cazenovia football team is leaving the Class B ranks to go into Class C next fall.
A massive realignment of Section III football at all levels was finalized earlier this week, reflecting changes in both school enrollment and the way the New York State Public High School Athletic Association classifies those schools for this sport.
Cazenovia is one of the many schools moving from B to C, joined by reigning sectional champion Solvay and Bishop Ludden, the group now composed of 16 teams in two divisions based not on geography, but how they fared in recent seasons.
Thus, the Lakers are in the C-1 division with defending sectional champion Lowville, General Brown, Hannibal, Holland Patent, Jordan-Elbridge, Mount Markham and Southern Hills.
The C-2 division is where Solvay and Bishop Ludden went, joining Skaneateles (who won a state title in Class C in 2017), Canastota, Clinton, Little Falls, Sherburne-Earlville (who played eight-man football in 2019) and Westmoreland/Oriskany.
Cazenovia leaves behind a Class B East division that still has Chittenango, Camden, Oneida, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, Central Valley Academy and New Hartford, while B West still has Cortland, Homer, Westhilll, Marcellus, South Jefferson and Institute of Technology Central.
Still to be determined is when the regular season starts. Practices for all teams begin Aug. 24, with NYSPHSAA to vote in May on whether to allow teams to add a game to its schedule the first weekend of September without a scrimmage.
Either way, the regular season follows, leading to possible playoff openers Oct. 30-31, sectional semifinals a week later and the sectional title games Nov. 13 and 15 at the refurbished Carrier Dome.
Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium hosts the regional finals Nov. 19-20. Now the state semifinals are on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 27-28, with the state finals at the Dome on Dec. 4 and 5.
