The Board of Control of the Iowa High School Athletic Association is expected to announce a decision next month on the number of football teams per class that qualify for the playoffs. The number of qualifiers is currently 16 in each of the six classes of Iowa high school football, but at times is has been 32 per class. A proposal is on the table to go back to 32 qualifiers, but reduce the number of regular season games from nine to eight. Another proposal made to the Board asking to keep the number of regular season games at nine, but still go to 32 playoff teams per class was quickly voted down.
Caden Duncan is the head football coach for the Greene County Rams. He commented on the topic for Raccoon Valley Radio. “I’m OK with it. The pros are you’re going to get more teams into the playoffs and it seems like every year there’s a couple teams that seem like they’re deserving, but get left out. this past season, Nevada played us real tough, went 7-2 and had a good team with both losses to playoff qualifiers and they even beat a playoff team. Sigourney comes to mind in 1A. They went 8-1 and missed out on the playoffs. If they do go back to 32, unfortunately, we’ll see a few games that are very lopsided. I’m OK either way, but if you let a few more teams experience the playoffs, I don’t think that’s a bad thing for their programs.”
Greene County is coming off two playoff seasons with a combined 17-4 record. The Rams advanced to the Class 2A playoff quarterfinals in November before losing. A large and talented senior class will graduate in May 2020.