Soon, N.J. teams may get a shot at real state titles

options
 

His team's latest sectional title was barely 30 minutes old, but West Deptford's Clyde Folsom was ready to play another game. Or two.

"Who wouldn't want to play two more games?" Folsom asked after West Deptford stunned Haddonfield, 22-14, in the South Jersey Group 2 title game Saturday at Rowan University.

Depending on the outcome of a vote at the NJSIAA's general membership meeting on Monday, sectional champions might be playing two more football games as soon as 2013.

At the NJSIAA's meeting at the Pines Manor in Edison, representatives of the organization's 433 schools will vote on whether to change a bylaw in the constitution that prohibits extending public-school football playoffs to the state-championship round. A two-thirds majority is needed to change the constitution.

If the constitutional change is approved, a plan for the new playoff format would have to be proposed by the NJSIAA's football committee and presented to officials for review at four sectional meetings in the fall of 2012. Member schools would vote on the proposal in December 2012, but only a simple majority would be needed to approve the plan.

If passed, that plan likely would go into effect for the 2013 season.

NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko has not pushed for playoff expansion, although additional playoff contests likely would be a financial boost for an organization that has been operating in the red in recent years because of a law that limits tournament ticket prices.

There is believed to be strong momentum behind the proposed playoff expansion. That's especially true in North Jersey, where Thanksgiving Day football isn't as popular as in South Jersey.

But there also is sentiment for the change in South Jersey.

"I would love to see it," Folsom said. "You're talking about finally playing for a state championship."

Looking ahead. It's nine months until the start of the 2012 football season. Among the top teams - on paper, anyway - heading into next season should be Hammonton, Cherokee, Delsea, Williamstown, St. Joseph, Holy Spirit, Camden Catholic, West Deptford, and Washington Township.

But the preseason No. 1 might be Timber Creek. The Chargers will return a lot of talent from this year's 12-0 team, including defensive linemen Greg Webb, Dajaun Drennon, and Myles Nash (the projected quarterback), and running backs Khalil Pierce and Eric Church, among many others.

"It's going to be tough to replace some of our seniors, especially Quanzell [Lambert] and Calvin [Lowe]," Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson said. "But we're probably going to bring back eight or nine starters on both sides of the ball."

MORE FROM THE WEB
  • SCORES
  • SCHEDULE
  • HEADLINES
  • Blogs

PA
NJ

PA
NJ
LATEST RALLY VIDEOS

 
No matching results were found for More Like This Search.