The overhauled WVC football schedule this fall will keep the rematch of 2019 state champions Wyoming Area and Southern Columbia but lose another marquee matchup between the Tigers and Berwick.
Times Leader file photo
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The annual Old Shoe Game between Back Mountain rivals Dallas and Lake-Lehman is now scheduled for Oct. 2, which is Week 4 of the updated WVC schedule.
Times Leader file photo
The revised Wyoming Valley Conference football schedule adds a week but loses a much-anticipated showdown.
WVC athletic directors approved a new eight-week football season on Thursday. Gone, though, is a matchup between neighboring rivals Berwick and Southern Columbia. The two teams haven’t played since 1965.
On a positive note, a game between two defending state champions is back on the docket as Class 3A champ Wyoming Area plays at Class 2A champ Southern Columbia. In a previous seven-week schedule proposal, that game wouldn’t have been played, but Berwick would have faced Southern Columbia.
The WVC athletic directors met via Zoom to go over the new football schedule — the fourth revision since the COVID-19 pandemic made the original one impractical — and other fall sports.
The PIAA pushed back the official start of fall sports from this past Monday to Aug. 24 in hopes of opening a dialogue with Gov. Tom Wolf, who said on Aug. 6 he strongly recommends no scholastic or youth sports be played until Jan. 1, a point he reiterated on Thursday.
The WVC voted 13-1 to accept the football schedule, with Holy Redeemer casting the only vote against.
Redeemer, a Class 3A school which has lost 28 of last 29 games, didn’t like losing a competitive game with non-conference Milton while picking up WVC Class 5A teams Crestwood and Pittston Area. Tunkhannock voted to approve it, although there was some reluctance because of the loss of its budding rivalry game with Towanda.
The WVC also struck down a motion to play only within its conference in all sports. The motion failed 13-4. Hanover Area, Nanticoke Area, Tunkhannock and Wilkes-Barre Area voted for the motion.
That’s not to say WVC schools will be able to find many non-conference opponents, as many leagues have closed ranks and elected to play league-only foes. The Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association is one of them. The LIAA supplies the WVC with many non-conference opponents in all sports.
Of course, everything depends on the WVC superintendents approving their athletic directors’ votes and the PIAA proceeding with fall sports.
The football season will start Sept. 11, a week sooner than a seven-week schedule proposed at the last meeting. Scrimmages will be either Sept. 4 or 5. Heat acclimation week starts Aug. 24.
Wilkes-Barre Area athletic director Mike Namey was one of the architects of the new schedule. He said there was an effort to accommodate all teams as best as possible, but admitted the results were imperfect. Hanover Area and Holy Redeemer play twice — in Weeks 2 and 7 — as do Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West, which open and close the regular season against each other.
There were also some concerns how the schedule would affect the 2021 season. Schedules in all sports are made in two-year cycles, meaning the 2020 and 2021 schedules are identical except for flip-flopping home and away dates.
Hazleton Area athletic director Fred Barletta said his school has a two-year contract with Harrisburg, its original Week 2 opponent, so they are locked in for Week 2 in 2021. Nanticoke Area athletic director Ken Bartuska said Shamokin, the Trojans’ original Week 4 opponent, has already agreed to play Week 4 in 2021.
While football dominated the meeting due to the complexity of yet another schedule, all other fall sports but cross country were addressed.
MMI Prep athletic director Vince Vella said he is getting feedback from the school administration that boys soccer and girls volleyball could be canceled, but other sports can be played. MMI also has teams in the golf, girls tennis and cross country.
Here is a rundown of the other fall sports:
Field hockey: Division 1 will move the three games scheduled for Sept. 9 to the end of the season, although no date was specified. It will then begin conference play on Sept. 14. Division 2 will start as scheduled on Sept. 11.
Also, games will consist of four quarters rather than two halves and there will be no timeouts.
Girls volleyball: The later start means 17 matches will have to be rescheduled and conference play will start Sept. 11. Efforts are under way to reschedule those matches.
Soccer: Both boys and girls were listed to start on Sept. 14 on the original schedule, so no adjustments will be necessary.
Girls tennis: Matches can begin Aug. 31 per the revised PIAA starting date. The five matches scheduled for Aug. 24 will be played Sept. 25. The six matches on Aug. 26 will move to Sept. 28. The six matches on Aug. 28 will be bumped to Sept. 30.
All other matches will remain as scheduled.
Golf: The sport can start Aug. 27 based on the PIAA’s new starting date. The seven matches on Aug. 26 will be shifted to Sept. 21. Three matches on Aug. 20 still need to be rescheduled. The rest of the matches remain where they were on the original schedule.
Efforts are being made to reschedule the Ted Tryba Golf Tournament, which annually opens the season.
Cross country: While not addressed, the boys and girls schedules have six meets each on Sept. 9 which need to be rescheduled.