Section II football divisions have been changed for the 2014 season.
Niskayuna voluntarily dropped down from Class AA to become an independent Class A team this fall, which led to Bethlehem switching from the Empire to the Liberty Division.
“They (Niskayuna) requested to play down without the chance to play in Sectionals this year,” said Section II football chairman and Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk coach Gary VanDerzee.
Class A grew by a total of four teams in the new alignment, which is based on student population numbers reported to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Besides Niskayuna, Class A adds Green Tech, Lansingburgh and Scotia-Glenville from the Class B ranks. Those moves also resulted in a change for Schalmont, which switched from the West Division to the Reinfurt Division.
“Schalmont moved over because geographically speaking, they were the closest to us,” said VanDerzee, whose RCS Indians play in the Reinfurt Division.
Class C is home to both of Section II’s three-way merger teams. Catholic Central threw its football chips in with Bishop Gibbons and Saratoga Central Catholic, which fielded a merged squad last season. Meanwhile, Berne-Knox-Westerlo is sending players into the merged Schoharie-Duanesburg team.
VanDerzee said both three-way merged teams qualified for Class C status based on NYSPHSAA’s formula.
“You take the school with the highest enrollment … and then you take into consideration the other two schools and what classes they would normally play in,” said VanDerzee. “Then, you take 30 to 40 percent of their BEDS (enrollment) numbers and add that in, and that’s how you determine what classification that team plays in.”
To accommodate the addition of the two new three-way merged teams, Class C has been divided into three divisions. The North Division consists of Lake George/Hadley-Luzerne, Corinth, Granville, Greenwich and Hoosick Falls. The Central Division has CC/BG/SC, Mechanicville, Stillwater, Tamarac, Voorheesville and Watervliet, and the South Division includes Cairo-Durham, Chatham, Coxsackie-Athens, Fonda, Schoburg and Taconic Hills.
VanDerzee said all the changes with teams moving around made developing the 2014 schedule difficult.
“It’s a tough process every year,” said VanDerzee. “We start it in December, and we put it together based on what we think the divisions will look like. Then we wait for the BEDS numbers, which come out in February, and then you have to wait for any mergers. Once all of that happens, then you work out the schedules.”
The opening week of the 2014 football season includes a rematch of last year’s Class AA final when Shaker visits Christian Brothers Academy.
“Any opener is a tough game with anticipation on how the kids will play and how the younger kids will mesh with the older kids,” said CBA coach Joe Burke, whose Brothers defeated Shaker 14-8 in last year’s final. “And Shaker has been on top of the past three years. They’ve been very successful at the younger levels, so I think it should be a very good game.”
VanDerzee said the CBA-Shaker rematch wasn’t deliberately planned.
“That’s just the way it worked out. The double A’s have the opportunity to play inter-divisional games the first two weeks, and you try to get the best match-ups possible,” said VanDerzee.
Bethlehem has non-divisional games against Albany and Ballston Spa before playing its first Liberty Division contest in Week 3 against LaSalle at home. The only question remains, where will Bethlehem’s home field be? The main football field will be under reconstruction as a new drainage system is installed, which means the Eagles will be looking for other fields to play on. That could lead to some possible Saturday afternoon games, depending on where and when they can get field time, and they might end up playing all of their games on the road.
“That’s up to them when they play their home games,” said VanDerzee. “That doesn’t affect the (overall) schedule.”
The first week of football season is Sept. 5 and 6.