Colonial Conference Meets Wednesday to Discuss Football Future

Haddonfield High School Athletic Director Lefteris Banos understands the current scheduling predicament facing the Colonial Conference.

The man who presides over a program involved in a 110-year tradition of playing Haddon Heights on Thanksgiving Day also sees the importance of maintaining the traditions associated with high school football.

Haddon Township Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Ward is open to the possibilities being presented.

The conference is currently evaluating how to improve the strength of schedule for its football teams.

With a week to go in the season, West Deptford was undefeated and ranked behind two teams with losses in the South Jersey Group II power points standings, although the Eagles did eventually surpass those teams and finish in fourth place.

Collingswood was 6-2 this season and missed the playoffs altogether. The Panthers were ranked four spots and 30 points behind Bridgeton, which had the same record.

The Colonial Conference did produce the South Jersey Group II champion, as Haddonfield, also 6-2 prior to the cutoff, defeated West Deptford, top-seeded Camden and No. 2 seed Woodstown en route to the title.

The power points standings, the sole basis by which the state selects teams to participate in the high school football playoffs, are based not only on a team’s wins, but strength of schedule.

A win over a team in Group IV is worth more points than a win over a Group I team. A team gains a point for each victory their defeated opponent has not only at the time, but for each win after the game as well.

A full explanation of the power points system can be found here.

The Colonial Conference is made up of seven Group I schools and five Group II schools. The Cape-Atlantic League, of which Bridgeton is a member, is made up of 11 schools classified in Groups III, IV or V, and seven in Groups I or II.

For the most part, administrators from the 12 teams in the Colonial Conference, established in 1946, want to see things change.

An option is a possible crossover with the Cape-Atlantic League. Colonial Conference teams would play their division rivals, two teams from the other division and two teams from the Cape-Atlantic League. One game against the Cape-Atlantic League team would be at home and the other would be away.

Banos opposes this option for a variety of reasons, including travel.

“Not having students travel to Lower Cape May is important to us,” Banos said. “It would increase our budget by having us travel to far away contests. We have an excellent level of play in the Colonial Conference. For so many years, we have been so unique, being made up of only Group I and Group II schools. Now we’re being asked to play Group III, Group IV and Group V schools, and why? It’s not the right thing to do right now.”

Five of the12 teams in the conference had winning records this season.

For Ward, “travel is a concern, but not a barrier.”

“We need to do what’s in the students’ best interests,” Ward said. “We need to give some of our Group II schools a chance to get power points and get into the playoffs, so I’m open to all possibilities.”

Haddon Township plays in Central Jersey Group I and was 2-8 this season.

On Tuesday afternoon, Collingswood Superintendent of Schools Dr. Scott Oswald expressed concern about the possibility of an imbalanced schedule if the conferences began playing each other.

“One of my concerns is making sure that if a Group II school is playing a Group III school, all Group II schools are playing Group III schools,” Oswald said. “Otherwise, you would have a schedule that’s not providing equity.”

If West Deptford or Haddonfield played Group III schools from the Cape-Atlantic League and Collingswood didn’t or vice versa, that could create an imbalanced schedule and put the team that doesn’t play any Group III schools at a disadvantage before the season even began.

Oswald and West Deptford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kevin Kitchenman saw potential cost increases for travel as minimal.

Another option calls for the possibility of changing the conference schedule. Currently, there are two six-team divisions, and teams play every other team in their division and play teams in the other division on a rotating basis.

This is the option Banos favors.

“We need to address strength of schedule so that we consider who can play who within the conference before we consider a crossover,” Banos said. “We need to fix it so that some teams can get more power points but traditions are very important to Haddonfield.”

A change to the schedule would mean teams would play teams from the other division comparable to them in record.

There also remains the possibility of changing Thanksgiving week games, an option Banos considers off the table for Haddonfield.

“We have no interest whatsoever in ever moving this game off Thanksgiving,” Banos said of his school’s rivalry with Haddon Heights. “One hundred years from now when we are gone from the schools, they’ll still be playing on Thanksgiving.”

The games played that weekend don’t count in the power points standings, as the first two rounds of the playoffs take place before Thanksgiving.

Haddon Heights is a Group I school, meaning that tradition aside, moving the game would do nothing to benefit Haddonfield in its quest for power points.

Colonial Conference administrators meet to discuss the issue again on Wednesday.

“Everyone’s going to take a look at what’s presented and we’ll need to come to a consensus,” Ward said.
We need to approve something soon so we can start working on our schedules.”

According to Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Steven Cicciariello, Cape-Atlantic League administrators were to meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue. Cicciariello oversees the school district that includes Absegami, Oakcrest and Cedar Creek.