Solvay will not have an opportunity to defend its Section III Class B football championship – because, when the 2020 season gets underway, the Bearcats will have relocated into Class C.
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.
Those changes include a Class C lineup now full of local sides, with Solvay and Bishop Ludden joining a group that already included Skaneateles, who won the state Class C championship in 2017, and Jordan-Elbridge.
The 16 teams in the revamped Class C were placed into two divisions (there were three in 2019), with Section III grouping them based on their recent record instead of geography.
And the Class C-2 division has Solvay, Bishop Ludden and Skaneateles together, joined by Canastota, Clinton, Little Falls, Sherburne-Earlville and Westmoreland/Oriskany.
Meanwhile, Jordan-Elbridge is in the C-1 division, where Cazenovia is also a newcomer after moving from Class B, where it won a state title in 2015. Defending sectional Class C champion Lowville is here, too, as are Hannibal, General Brown, Holland Patent, Mount Markham and Southern Hills.
This is likely to break up many different local rivalries that were present in the Class B West division, where Solvay and Luden have left, but Marcellus and Westhill are still there, as are Homer, Cortland, Institute of Technology Central and South Jefferson.
Meanwhile, the changes affected Section III’s large schools, too, leaving West Genesee still in Class AA, but now in a single nine-team division.
With Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy moved to Class A, the Wildcats will now have a full regular-season round robin with AA’s remaining teams – Cicero-North Syracuse, Liverpool, Baldwinsville, Henninger, Corcoran, Nottingham, Rome Free Academy and Utica Proctor.
As if all this wasn’t enough, the regular season could move from seven games to nine, depending on what happens 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.
C-NS’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.
