NCS to discuss tweaks to football playoffs in wake of wildfires' disruption

North Coast Section school officials will be meeting Friday at the section office in San Ramon and via conference call to discuss a proposed restructuring of this fall's football playoffs in the wake of deadly wildfires.

There are two proposals, one of which - if approved - could render the second proposal moot.

The first proposal would set aside, just for this season, the requirement that teams have a record of .500 or better to be considered for the playoffs.

That .500 record could be an overall record, league record or against opponents in the same NCS division.

The second proposal would be to push back the end of the regular season to the weekend of Nov. 10 and 11, and reduce the number of teams that qualify for postseason play, creating an eight-team bracket instead of the usual 16.

The extra weekend would allow teams to schedule makeup games or games against an additional opponent.

Teams could then use that extra game to reach the minimum requirement of a .500 record, either overall, in league play or division play.

In effect, a scheduling guideline that gave schools 11 weeks to play 10 games will give schools a 12th week to play as many games as they can.

Gil Lemmon, the NCS executive director, said both proposals will be discussed even if the set-aside of the record minimum is approved.

“Everybody wants to get back to normal,” Lemmon said, “but you go back to the schools and run into complications. A coach says he has five kids who lost their homes and they haven't been in contact since the fires.”

It is the uncertainty of a constantly changing situation that led to the North Bay League's on-again, off-again scheduling this week.

The NBL wiped out all of its games this weekend when Santa Rosa City Schools - which includes Santa Rosa, Montgomery and Maria Carrillo high schools - decided against practices and games this week. That also affected Santa Rosa district schools Elsie Allen and Piner in the Sonoma County League.

In North Central League I, tonight's scheduled game between St. Helena and Willits was postponed. Students have not yet returned to school, although St. Helena athletic director Tom Hoppe said they planned to resume school sports Monday.

In NCL III South, a scheduled game between Round Valley and Roseland Collegiate Prep was canceled because of the extensive damage at the Roseland Collegiate Prep campus at the former Ursuline High School on Old Redwood Highway in Santa Rosa.