The excitement around a potential Bishop Dwenger vs. Snider postseason matchup has been squelched by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
Snider coach Kurt Tippmann confirmed to Outside the Huddle on Friday evening that due to a recent rules change by the IHSAA, the Panthers will remain in Class 6A instead of dropping down to Class 5A.
When the IHSAA announced the new sectional alignments in early April, Snider and Bishop Dwenger were both in Sectional 11 with North Side and Northrop.
In late April, the IHSAA board approved a series of rules changes for the 2019-20 athletic calendar. One of those involved football. In years past, a program that had been bumped up a class due to the Success Factor rule remained in that class if it earned three or more points over a two-year period. The new rule that was approved now has teams remaining up a class if they earn two or more points over a two-year cycle. Snider earned two points over the 2018-19, 2019-20 period, meaning it will remain in Class 6A.
According to Tippmann, the IHSAA will redraw new sectional classifications within the next few weeks. Snider is not the only program in the state that has been affected by the change.
“It is disappointing because this is such a late change with the sectional classifications already being released,” Tippmann said.
To say the change will disappoint northeast Indiana high school football fans is an understatement. Many were already anticipating a huge showdown in the postseason between two of the premier football programs in the entire state.
“I know the kids were already looking forward to maybe playing Bishop Dwenger, which was going to be a huge opportunity,” Tippmann said. “But it is what it is.”
The silver lining? Both Snider and Bishop Dwenger once again have the opportunity to make deep postseason runs instead of one knocking out the other in sectional play.
Assume Cathedral will stay 5A