For nearly two decades, the Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy football programs were part of the Class AA ranks, with varying degrees of success right up to CBA winning a state championship in 2004.
Now they are both on their way to Class A, joining East Syracuse Minoa in a newly formed division while Jamesville-DeWitt returns to the Class A ranks following a 2019 season spent in the Developmental League.
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.
Just six teams played Class A football a season ago. Now that total nearly doubles with the arrival of F-M and CBA and the return of both J-D and Fulton, who also was in the Developmental League last fall.
Grouping CBA, ESM and J-D together, the Class A American division also has Auburn and Indian River. F-M is part of a National division where Fulton, Whitesboro, Central Square and Carthage fill out the roster.
Bishop Grimes remains in eight-man football, where Adirondack is new, Sherburne-Earlville and Altmar-Parish-Williamstown have left and Weedsport remains, as does Cooperstown, Morrisville-Eaton, South Lewis, West Canada Valley and Pulaski.
There’s also a new schedule, which starts later and finishes later and could involve as many as nine regular-season games, depending on events of the next couple of months.
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.
