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SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022
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Consequences for playing down
Football teams
playing down
a classifi cation
will be ineligible
for postseason
By NIK STRENG
The Oregonian
S
ALEM — A new topic of
discussion by the Oregon
School Activities Asso-
ciation’s Football Ad Hoc
Committee could have far-reaching
eff ects on the state’s football teams.
During its Jan. 5 meeting, the
committee held discussion on a
potential policy that would make
football teams playing down a clas-
sifi cation ineligible to compete in
postseason play.
Also in this discussion:
Games against teams playing
down will be part of the ranking
system and teams playing down will
be in the OSAA rankings.
Teams playing down could be able
to schedule an endowment game at
the end of the regular season, provid-
ing a postseason experience for the
teams.
Players and coaches that are on
teams that are playing down will be
eligible for all-league, all-state and
other postseason honors.
Potentially changing to an annual
review for teams that are playing
down.
The topic was only discussed by
the football ad hoc committee, and
nothing has been fi nalized. Its next
meeting will be on Jan. 19.
Currently, the OSAA allows a
football team the option to petition to
play down a classifi cation if the team
has an in-class winning percentage
of 22% or less over the previous
two years. The ability to play down
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Enterprise quarterback Jackson Decker (22) hands off the ball to running back Gunnar McDowell (44) during
the fi rst half Sept. 9, 2021, against the Rockets in Pilot Rock. A new proposal would mean Oregon high school
football teams that play down a classifi cation, such as 2A Pilot Rock playing 1A Enterprise, could not compete in
postseason play.
a classifi cation theoretically allows
for more success as teams rebuild
programs.
But what happens when teams
that are playing down are too strong
in their new classifi cation? In the
fall 2021 football season, 12 teams
that played down competed in the
postseason: Canby and McKay in
5A, North Eugene in 4A, Siuslaw,
Junction City and Philomath in 3A,
Gold Beach, Waldport, Lost River,
Bonanza, Enterprise and Myrtle
Point in 1A.
Siuslaw, a 4A school, won the 3A
state championship in 2021. It marked
the second time in a row where a
team from a 4A school competed in
the 3A championship game.
“I am not sure if that is really a fair
situation,” said South Umpqua coach
Steve Stebbins, whose Lancers lost
to Siuslaw in the 3A championship
game. “I was very interested when
OSAA came out with this plan and
am going to be very interested to see
where it goes.”
Stebbins said he is of two minds
about the OSAA’s playing down
rules. He said his fi rst coaching job
was in Vancouver on a team that
would have benefi tted greatly from
playing down. But he said it’s clear
that issues have been created as a
result of the policy.
And one of the keys, Stebbins
said, is that football is a sport depen-
dent on numbers and numbers can
OSAA committee nixes 9-man
By NIK STRENG
The Oregonian
SALEM — Just weeks
after proposing to revamp
football at the Class 2A and
1A level, the Oregon School
Activities Association’s Foot-
ball Ad Hoc Committee has
backpedaled.
On Jan. 7, the committee
announced it was support-
ing a model where 2A foot-
ball teams would compete
in 11-man football, while 1A
teams would play eight-man
football (or six-man for the
smallest 1A schools). The
reversal means little will
change with how small-school
football in Oregon has been
been run.
The committee’s recom-
mendation still faces a vote by
the OSAA Executive Board.
The change will not
prevent teams from playing
in nine-man competition, the
update reads, but these games
will be scheduled between
schools.
The committee also
formally supported adop-
tion of six-man football as an
OSAA sport. The commit-
tee’s recommendation will
need to fi rst be supported by
the OSAA’s State Champion-
ship Committee before going
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Ione Arlington’s Cedrick Dayandante (40) runs the ball April
8, 2021, during the Ione/Arlington Cardinals 60-14 loss to the
Pilot Rock Rockets in Pilot Rock. Oregon School Activities As-
sociation’s Football Ad Hoc Committee on Jan. 7, 2022, an-
nounced it backed off a proposal for nine-man football for
smaller high schools.
to the executive board.
On Dec. 20, the ad hoc
committee made a recom-
mendation of a new 2A and
1A hybrid classifi cation. This
would combine Oregon’s 2A
and 1A schools into three
groups: a nine-man foot-
ball Division 1 classifi cation
mostly made of 2A teams, a
nine-man football Division 2
classifi cation made of smaller
2A teams and bigger 1A
teams, and a six-man football
classifi cation for the smaller
1A programs.
During that meeting,
Nestucca head coach Jeff
Schiewe said that 2A programs
would prefer to play nine-man
football over eight-man, which
is currently only played at the
1A level. However, during a
Jan. 5 meeting of the ad hoc
committee, representatives
from 1A’s Adrian and Powder
Valley schools voiced their
concerns over a potential
change to nine-man football.
The next meeting of the
football ad hoc committee will
be Jan. 19.
ON THE SLATE
SATURDAY, JAN. 15
Prep boys swimming
Hermiston at Walla Walla, 1 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Dufur at Echo, 2 p.m.
Hermiston at Pasco, 3:15 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Heppner, 4 p.m.
Powder Valley at Griswold, 4 p.m.
Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m.
Klickitat/Glenwood at Ione/Arlington,
4 p.m.
Grant Union at Weston-McEwen, 4 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Dufur at Echo, 3:30 p.m.
Hermiston at Pasco, 5 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Heppner, 5:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Griswold, 5:30 p.m.
Wallowa at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
Klickitat/Glenwood at Ione/Arlington,
5:30 p.m.
Grant Union at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m.
Prep boys wrestling
Pendleton at Southridge Tournament,
TBD
Hermiston at Ellensburg Tournament,
9 a.m.
College women’s basketball
BMCC at Wenatchee Valley, 2 p.m.
EOU at Evergreen State, 3 p.m.
College men’s basketball
BMCC at Wenatchee Valley, 4 p.m.
College women’s wrestling
EOU at Oregon Wrestling Classic, Red-
mond, 11:45 a.m.
MONDAY, JAN. 17
Prep boys basketball
Umatilla vs. Douglas at MLK YODA Tour-
nament, Harrisburg, 1:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
BMCC vs. Northern Idaho, 2 p.m.
College men’s basketball
BMCC vs. Northern Idaho, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY, JAN. 18
Prep boys basketball
Huntington at Long Creek/Ukiah,
4:30 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 6:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Echo at Condon, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Irrigon at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 6:30 p.m.
fl uctuate a lot at smaller schools.
“And you really just need one
large class with some talent, and you
can make a run with a few pieces
around them,” he said.
Stebbins added he could see
schools losing some incentive to play
down if playoff s are not an option.
He said those coaches would have to
sell the endowment game as the play-
off alternative, but it wouldn’t be too
hard of a job.
“I do see that if you tell teams
that they are ineligible for the post-
season it may stop a few programs
from opting down,” he said. “Yet at
the same time, if you are truly trying
to turn your program around, you
have a discussion with your parents
and boosters and explain what you
are doing, and it could be a positive.”
Even though they were opponents
on the fi eld in November, Siuslaw
coach Sam Johnson agreed with
Stebbins.
Johnson, who has been the coach
for three years, said he is against
teams playing down in general.
“One of the biggest things would
be just leaving the schools alone,”
Johnson said. The decision to have
the Vikings play in 3A was in motion
before Johnson arrived in Siuslaw
and Johnson knew the team would
be good this fall.
As a school, Siuslaw will be
moving down to 3A next year.
Johnson added that he is not in
support of making teams playing
down ineligible for postseason play.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to
me,” he said. “To punish the kids by
making them miss the postseason.”
While Canby will not have to
think about this discussion — the
school will be dropping to 5A next
year — the Cougars are one team that
has benefi tted from playing down.
Head coach Jimmy Joyce said play-
off s were not a factor in the team’s
decision to play in 5A.
“While some people may have
focused on this issue in retrospect, in
December 2019, our concern was on
what was best for our players, school,
and community,” Joyce wrote in an
email to The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live. “When we made the decision to
pursue the move to 5A, our goal was
to revitalize our program and help
regain our footing as a proud football
community.”
Since moving to 5A, Joyce said
Canby has been moving in the right
direction
“Participation numbers are way
up, pride in football has returned to
the school and community, and yes
we made the playoff s and won a play-
off game,” he said. “But honestly, that
is just a small part of why I feel we
did the right thing.”