SC set to modify high school sports schedule because of hurricane. These are options
The South Carolina High School League’s executive committee is expected to meet Tuesday to discuss options for how the rest of the high school football season will play out.
Hurricane Helene moved through South Carolina on Sept. 27 and forced the postponement of dozens of high school games in the Midlands and the Upstate. Some teams played a game before the storm moved through. But those that didn’t might have two games to make up — and possibly more for areas that are not yet in school.
The league’s executive committee must decide how to modify the regular-season schedule to get as many of those postponed games played as possible. SCHSL leadership could decide to add a week to a regular season that’s currently set to end Nov. 1, which would also reschedule the start and end to the playoffs.
Here are a few options that make the most sense.
Extend the season one week
The league chose this option in 2015 when the statewide schedule was altered because of flooding. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew forced the season to be pushed back two weeks, with state championships held in mid-December on the same day as the Shrine Bowl. The high school football season in 2018 was pushed back a week because of Hurricane Florence.
With a one-week extension, some regions won’t be able to make up all the games they missed, but this gives them an opportunity to make up at least one week.
Give a two-week extension
This option would allow all games missed to be made up — assuming those teams that have been out the longest get back to school.
The drawback for this: It pushes the playoffs back two weeks and creates an overlap with the state’s top two all-star games, the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl (week after state championship) and the Shrine Bowl (two weeks after state championship). This has happened in the past. In 2016, the Touchstone Energy Bowl was held during the playoffs, and the Shrine Bowl held on the same day as state championship games.
One-week extension, plus doubling up
The league can give the one-week extension as mentioned above, and regions can then craft revised schedules to fit two games in a week — playing on a Tuesday and again on Saturday — to make sure all region games get played.
No extension at all
This is unlikely, as the league has shown the willingness to extend the season before.
If it does happen, regions would have to find ways to determine region champions and which teams make the playoffs, since so many games will be missed. They could possibly use the MaxPrep RPI formula that’s going to be used to pick at-large playoff teams in Class 4A and 5A and also for postseason seeding purposes.
Pausing the season for two weeks
This is an option that was recommended by S.C. Athletic Coaches Association president Scott Earley: a full two-week pause to the sports season, not just a schedule extension.
Earley said this is the fairest option so teams would end the season on the same week. If not, some teams might have two or three weeks off before the playoffs begin.
“Postponing the playoffs by two weeks will not only allow affected schools the opportunity to resume practice safely, but it will also enable all teams to compete under equitable conditions,” Earley wrote in a letter to SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton last week. “Our student athletes deserve the chance to represent their schools and communities with the full support and safety that the league has always prioritized.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 7:40 AM.
