PIAA rejects Thursday kickoff request for WPIAL football season
By:
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 | 1:19 PM
Mars running back Teddy Ruffner carries the ball during practice on Aug. 20, 2020, in Adams.
High school football season won’t start on a Thursday night.
The WPIAL had hoped to let some teams kickoff one day early — on Sept. 10 — but the PIAA denied that request, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said Tuesday.
The first date football teams can play a regular-season game is Sept. 11.
The WPIAL has encouraged schools to schedule some football games on Thursdays or Saturdays this fall to accommodate a shortage of officials.
Hampton and Mars were tentatively scheduled to play a Thursday opener, but that game will be moved to Sept. 11, Mars football coach/athletic director Scott Heinauer said.
The issue involves the PIAA bylaws, Scheuneman said. The bylaws say competition can’t begin until the 19th day of the season. Sept. 10 would be Day 18.
Teams can scrimmage later this week.
The PIAA requires 10 days of practice before a scrimmage and 15 practice days before a regular-season game.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
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