MVC or districts? Majority of area ADs prefer status quo

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Today, they listened. Tomorrow, they'll vote.

And if an exit poll outside a classroom at Jefferson High School is any indication, the majority of area athletics directors will just say "no" to Class 4A district football.

"I still have to talk to (football coach) Tim (Lewis) and (principal) Mary (Wilcynski), but I'm leaning toward 'no,' said Cedar Rapids Kennedy AD Aaron Stecker. "It would be very hard to say goodbye to what has been a tremendous football conference."

Athletics directors from around the Mississippi Valley Conference met with Iowa High School Athletic Association assistant director Todd Tharp on Thursday, discussing the future of 4A football.

"I am not an opponent or proponent of (district football)," Tharp told the ADs. "I just want to give you information, accurate info from the horse's mouth, so you can go back and visit with your coaches and administrators and make an informative decision."

ADs of the 47 schools currently playing 4A football are asked to send surveys to the IHSAA by Friday, with their preference for 2012. The four options:

* Status quo, 4A conferences remain intact.

* Move to district football: eight districts with 5-6 schools each, top 4 advance from each district, just like the other classes.

* Move to district football, eight districts with 5-6 schools each. Playoff qualifiers determined by current point system, top 32 teams advance (16 East, 16 West), like current format.

* Move to district football, eight districts with 5-6 schools each. Each district champion is automatic qualifier, other playoff teams determined by current point system, top 32 teams advance (16 East, 16 West).

Iowa City West athletics director Marv Reiland already has cast his ballot: Status quo.

"We like the conference we're in and don't see any need to change it," he said.

Scott Mahmens (Linn-Mar), Paul James (Cedar Rapids Washington), Scott Kibby (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) and D'Anne Kroemer (Iowa City High) said they will vote against district football, and Prairie's Rocky Bennett seemed to lean the same way.

"I'll sit down with (Coach) Bob (Forsyth), and then I'll vote, but personally I think I'll vote no (to change), out of allegiance to our conference," Mahmens said. "I think our conference is the best in the state. But if the state tells us we've got to go to districts, we'll work it out."

Said James: "We'll roll with the flow. But our position is that the MVC has done a good job with football scheduling, and with the history of the league, it's been a stable part of fall.

"My vote will be for status quo, but we're prepared to go to districts if that's how it ends up."

And Kibby: "I prefer to stay in the MVC. Maybe it's the Jeff 1982 graduate in me, but I have a love of this league and I would miss it if district football passes."

Kroemer said, "City High is not in favor of district football. We love the MVC and feel the MVC has great football, top to bottom, year in and year out. It challenges us and has us prepared for the postseason."

Cedar Rapids Xavier and Dubuque Wahlert have the most at stake of MVC members in all of this. If district football passes, those schools would be classified as 3A.

"Right now, I'm open-minded," said Xavier AD Mike Winker, who said his school will not opt up a class to 4A if district football passes. "I've got to meet with (principal Tom) Keating and (Coach Duane) Schulte before I vote.

"I don't want to say anything off the top of my head that will be published. Right now, I have a lot to digest before I go back to my school."

Tharp said he understands loyalty to the MVC.

"I know you appreciate the conference you have," Tharp told the ADs. "Something would disappear, you wouldn't be a conference or divisional champion. I understand the pride you all have in that. Being a 'Class 4A District 3 champion' doesn't have the same pizazz to it."

The votes will be tabulated as a survey, not a decision. The IHSAA Board of Directors will have the final say, probably in November.

MVC commissioner Randy Krejci already has league schedules penciled out through 2013.

If district football passes, districts would be released in January, schools would have a two-week period in which to communicate with each other, and ADs would submit a top-five list of non-district teams they want to play.

"The goal is that (2012 and 2013) schedules would be released by the state wrestling tournament (in late February)," Tharp said.

Tharp handed out mock districts and schedules (see below), but added that they are "in no way, shape or form final. I can't say what they will look like for sure."

If district football passes, teams would play four or five district games at the end of the season, four or five non-district games early. That would provide some flexibility to play schools outside the MVC -- and outside 4A, for that matter.

If Xavier was a 3A school, for example, the Saints could still face 42nd Street rival Kennedy, if both teams desired.

"Xavier would be a tough rivalry not to have," Stecker said.

On the other hand, if playoff points were still a factor in determining and/or seeding the 4A field, 4A schools would lose 5 playoff points for each class down they played. For example, Kennedy would lose 5 points for playing 3A Xavier; Iowa City High or Iowa City West would lose 10 points to play 2A Iowa City Regina, if that ever came to pass.

Mahmens is open to restarting the Linn-Mar/Marion series if district football passes and if playoff points are not a factor.

"I was texting (Marion AD) Corby Laube during the meeting to see if they would want to play," Mahmens said. "I think that would be a huge gate.

"But if playoff points are in the mix and we lose points for playing down a class, I want to play a 4A schedule."

******************************************

Class 4A districts, presented by the IHSAA's Todd Tharp on Thursday:

District 1: Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, Sioux City East, Sioux City North, Sioux City West.

District 2: Ames, Ankeny, Ankeny Centennial (2013), Des Moines East, Fort Dodge, Urbandale.

District 3: Cedar Falls, Marshalltown, Mason City, Waterloo East, Waterloo West.

District 4: Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Dubuque Hempstead, Dubuque Senior, Linn-Mar.

District 5: Bettendorf, Clinton, Davenport Central, Davenport North, Davenport West, Pleasant Valley.

District 6: Burlington, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Iowa City High, Iowa City West, Muscatine.

District 7: Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines North, Indianola, Ottumwa, Southeast Polk, West Des Moines Dowling.

District 8: Des Moines Hoover, Des Moines Roosevelt, Johnston, Waukee, West Des Moines Valley.

******************************************

Mock schedules for Cedar Rapids/Marion and Iowa City football teams for 2012 and 2013, presented by Todd Tharp (*district games):

Jefferson -- Waterloo West, C.R. Xavier (3A), Pleasant Valley, C.R. Washington, *C.R. Kennedy, *Dubuque Hempstead, Waterloo East, *Dubuque Senior, *Linn-Mar.

Kennedy -- C.R. Xavier (3A), C.R. Washington, Davenport Central, Bettendorf, *C.R. Jefferson, Marshalltown, *Dubuque Senior, *Linn-Mar, *Dubuque Hempstead.

Linn-Mar -- Clinton, Davenport North, C.R. Washington, C.R. Prairie, Mason City, *Dubuque Senior, *Dubuque Hempstead, *C.R. Kennedy, *C.R. Jefferson.

Prairie -- Pleasant Valley, Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, *Muscatine, *C.R. Washington, *Iowa City High, *Iowa City West, *Burlington.

Washington -- Cedar Falls, C.R. Kennedy, Linn-Mar, C.R. Jefferson, *Burlington, *C.R. Prairie, *Muscatine, *Iowa City High, *Iowa City West.

City High -- Bettendorf, Clinton, Cedar Falls, Davenport Central, *Iowa City West, *Burlington, *C.R. Prairie, *C.R. Washington, *Muscatine.

West High -- Davenport West, Ottumwa, Waterloo East, Waterloo West, *Iowa City High, *Muscatine, *Burlington, *C.R. Prairie, *C.R. Washington.