The District 3, Class A football playoff field just got a lot smaller.
The bottom five teams in the ten-team classification — a group that includes Fairfield — have all decided to opt out of the district playoffs. That means just five Class A teams will participate in the district playoffs, including York Catholic.
What does this mean for the Irish? It certainly gives York Catholic plenty of incentive to win its next two games, and thus hold onto its current No. 3 spot in the district rankings. That would give the Irish a bye week to rest up and get healthy for a semifinal game, most likely against Steel-High.
The Irish will be heavy favorites in their final two games. They host York County Tech tonight, and travel to York Suburban next week.
It’s not uncommon to see some bottom-rung teams in Class A opt out of the district playoffs. In Fairfield’s case, there was a good chance the Green Knights could have gone 0-9 this season and still been an eighth seed in the district playoffs. And really, what’s the point of running a winless team out there against Reading Holy Name or Steel-High?
Then again, seeing five teams opt out? That seems like a lot. Seven teams competed in last year’s Class A playoffs, including Camp Hill, who finished the regular season 2-7.
Littlestown and Lancaster Catholic are AA, not A
Yikes. That’s what I get for putting up a post at 12:55 a.m. The mistake has been corrected.