Additional reporting by Les Houser
To better prepare for the 2020 varsity football season, the Iowa High School Athletic Association has developed a revised schedule plan, which allows for member school adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Football remains the only high school sport with regular season schedules and postseason qualifying managed by the IHSAA. The revised plan considers flexibility for school return concerns, geography, postseason qualifying, transportation and possible COVID-19 cases as rationale for changing previously announced varsity football schedules.
The first practice date of August 10 and first competition date of August 27 remain unchanged in this revision, as are the weeks for state semifinals (November 12-14) and finals (November 19-20). The revised plan was approved by the Board of Control on July 24, with the IHSAA planning to release further fall season and sport-specific guidance shortly. Team schedules will be compiled and released when available.
The plan calls for a seven-week regular season, with teams having the option of scheduling five, six or seven total games within that period. All teams in all classes will qualify for the postseason, with the brackets consisting of six rounds for each class. The IHSAA will determine postseason pairings based on geography, quality and team availability as primary considerations. This is intended to be a one-time measure for postseason formatting. Week’s one and two will be considered optional game dates. Opponents, locations and participation may be determined by member schools in 11-player football.
With all teams in Iowa allowed entry into the postseason, the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) will not be utilized for this fall to determine at-large berths or seeding. Teams in 3A, 2A, 1A and A will play their scheduled district games in the previously established order. This change means the prior Week 5 now becomes Week 3, Week 6 becomes Week 4, etc. in the revised plan. In Eight-Player, the teams will play Week 3 through Week 9 of their previously announced schedules in what is now Week 1 through Week 7. Due to the number of teams in the classification, Eight-Player has opponents schedule on the optional dates of Week 1 and Week 2. Teams in Eight-Player may opt out of those contests, but may not change opponents or locations unless an agreement is reached with all participating teams and the IHSAA.
Due to the potential of positive COVID-19 cases forcing players and teams to miss games in the 2020 season, the revised plan does not penalize teams with a loss or forfeit due to state, county or local health department determinations. A missed game due to COVID-19 will simply be considered a ‘no contest’ and will not be made up. Teams may work with the IHSAA and new possible opponents should they have open dates due to a scheduled opponent missing games. Providing for start dates as currently scheduled, the IHSAA requests member schools state their intent to participate in this fall’s football season and postseason by August 17.
Starting with Week 1 on August 27, the dates would be as follows: Week 2 of September 4; Week 3 on September 11; Week 4 on September 18; Week 5 on September 25; Week 6 on October 2 and Week 7 on October 9 with Week’s 3-7 being district games. First round playoff games would start October16, second round games would be October 23 and third round games October 30. The quarterfinals would be November 6, with teams then moving on to the UNI-Dome for the remaining games.
“I’m excited about the changes they made to the season to help us play,” stated new Cowboy head coach Tim Morrison. “I’m hopeful we can stay safe and have our student-athletes participate for a full season. We are going to take every precaution we can to ensure the safety of our players and look forward to competing this fall.”
