The Maine Principals’ Association has changed course in its plans for high school football this fall by sharply reducing the number of teams in Class A.
Only the eight largest schools in Maine, with enrollments over 950 students, will be categorized as Class A. There will not be separate geographic regions.
In recent years, Class A consisted of 14 teams divided into North and South regions. And as recently as a month ago, the MPA’s classification committee approved a plan to expand Class A to 16 teams.
The eight Class A teams for 2019 (with their current enrollments) are: Thornton Academy (1,476), Lewiston (1,420), Bangor (1,202), Bonny Eagle (1,094), Oxford Hills/Buckfield (1,063), Edward Little (998), Sanford (982) and Scarborough (973).
Both Deering (932 students) and Portland (776), long-time Class A teams, will now be in Class B and their enrollment has been adjusted based on using the MPA’s co-operative school formula for students who attend Casco Bay. Previously, Casco Bay’s total enrollment was halved, and added to both schools.
This proposal was unanimously approved by both the MPA football and classification committees in a special meeting held Monday, said MPA assistant executive director Mike Burnham. The plan will go before the full MPA membership for final approval at an April 25 meeting.
The football and classification committees had been tasked by the Interscholastic Management committee to address five appeals to the Classification committee proposal of early March.
Following that proposal, Nokomis and Morse, which had been moved up to Class B, appealed to return to Class C. Those appeals were quickly granted on Monday, Burnham said.
The crux of the issue was what to do with Class A after Massabesic, Noble and Gorham had appealed to play in Class B. Massabesic, with 927 students, has been a Class A program that has struggled in recent seasons. Noble and Gorham were previously in Class B.
Going with eight teams seemed “like the natural break, based on the appeals that we had heard,” Burnham said.
There was some discussion about creating a 10-team Class A but that would have put Deering and Windham in Class A and Portland in Class B.
The new eight-man football division remains as it has been previously proposed, with a total of 10 teams split into separate five-team groups for larger schools (351-plus students) and smaller schools. Mt. Ararat is among the larger schools that will play eight-man football in the football.
Brunswick remains in Class B North, while Morse is joined by Freeport in Class C South. Lisbon/St. Dom’s is in Class D South.
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