The Districts Are Out!

[KidSilverhair]

And boy, howdy ... not what I expected.

Okay, the seven 8-team districts, that I expected. Glenwood's district stretching east to Creston and Winterset, that was an option I foresaw.

But Xavier and South Tama in the same district as Decorah? Clear Creek-Amana, Center Point-Urbana and West Delaware heading east with Assumption? Solon getting matched up with Keokuk and West Burlington? Some real geographic head-scratchers there ...

(Sorry the district numbers are all mixed up - it's really tough to copy and paste on my tablet)

DISTRICT #1

Algona
Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City
Humboldt
LeMars
Sergeant Bluff-Luton
Spencer
Spirit Lake
Storm Lake

DISTRICT #3

Benton Community
Charles City
Decorah
Independence
South Tama County, Tama
Vinton-Shellsburg
Waverly-Shell Rock
Xavier, Cedar Rapids

DISTRICT #5

Fairfield
Fort Madison
Keokuk
Mount Pleasant
Oskaloosa
Solon
Washington
West Burlington/Notre Dame

DISTRICT #7

ADM, Adel
Atlantic
Carroll
Creston / O-M
Denison-Schleswig
Glenwood
Harlan
Winterset

DISTRICT #2

Ballard
Boone
Dallas Center-Grimes
Gilbert
Greene County
Iowa Falls-Alden
Perry
Webster City

DISTRICT #4

Assumption, Davenport
Center Point-Urbana
Central DeWitt
Clear Creek-Amana
Maquoketa
Marion
Wahlert, Dubuque
West Delaware, Manchester

DISTRICT #6

Bondurant-Farrar
Carlisle
Grinnell
Knoxville
Nevada
North Polk, Alleman
Norwalk
Pella

 

[KidSilverhair]

Checking it out a little more in-depth, that District 3 and District 4 setup is quite ... odd. The state passed on potential trips for Decorah of 74 miles (West Delaware), 85 miles (Center Point-Urbana) and 95 miles (Wahlert) only to give them trips of 105 miles (Xavier), 109 miles (Benton) and a whopping 123 miles (South Tama). Meanwhile, for their efforts CP-U gets a 102 mile trip to Assumption (admittedly, not a whole lot longer than that potential Decorah travel).

Then you've got Solon with a 113-mile trip to Keokuk, while Clear Creek-Amana is 99 miles from Keokuk but gets into District 4.

Obviously somebody had to get stuck with long trips to Decorah and Keokuk, but it looked to me like you could have gone with West Delaware, CP-U and Wahlert in District 3 (instead of Xavier, Benton and South Tama), and that entire district would be within 95 miles of Decorah. Instead you have trips of up to 123 miles in that district, plus CP-U and West Delaware get 100+ mile trips to Assumption.

Likewise for District 5 the best geographic fits for the final two members would have been Clear Creek Amana and Assumption/and-or/Oskaloosa, but instead Solon will drive right past Tiffin on their way to games in Fort Madison, Mt. Pleasant, Keokuk, etc. I suppose Oskaloosa instead of Assumption isn't a terrible choice, it's about the same distance-wise.

It does certainly go to show, there's no way to please everybody! But I am just going to shake my head over Districts 3 and 4 for the next two years ...

 

[Cyclone1968]

District 3 looks brutal. I am happy with my son's district.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Everybody in District 3 except Vinton-Shellsburg and Charles City made the playoffs last year. Two of them were district champions (Xavier, and South Tama in 2A). Xavier and South Tama lost one game apiece, Independence lost just two. Decorah and South Tama each won two playoff games. Waverly-Shell Rock has been solid the past few seasons. Yeah, it should be a pretty rugged district.

Oh, yeah, tiebreaker determinations. With 7 districts and 16 qualifiers, the top two finishers in each district are in. The following tiebreakers will determine the two "wild card" teams.

1. Any team considered a district champion (three-way tie, for example)
2. District record
3. Head to head (this would include the result of a non-district game, if pertinent)
4. Point differential (with the state going to a 17-point system, rather than the old 13-point one)
5. Alphabetical, with the starting letter determined by a random draw by the IHSAA

 

[screwloose]

That District 3 set-up was definitely strange. However, my guess would be that with this set-up, they're saying that Decorah's two non-district games are going to be West Delaware and/or Dubuque Wahlert. I suppose they could throw Calmar into that mix. That's about all I could figure.

I'm primarily a 4A, but that southeastern/eastern Iowa set-up boggle my mind. If Clear Creek-Amana and Solon were just switched it wouldn't appear as bad.

 

[IOU1]

I will play the role of "conspiracy theory guy"....Boone didn't want to lump the 3 parochial schools (Xavier, Wahlert, Assumption) into the same district.

 

[PNation]

Here is how I see it

District 1 is brutal travel wise with Algona and Humboldt going that west. My guess is that the district comes down to Heelan and Spirit Lake with Humboldt possibly in the mix.

District 2 Very nice travel wise, of course there are a lot of schools in central Iowa. I would say that Webster City is the clear cut favorite for the top spot, and then I would probably follow with Ballard, but DCG could have a say but they lost a lot.

District 3 is bad again travel wise, Decorah being on an island doesn't help. I would say that Decorah, Xavier and South Tama are the favorites, with Indee and Waverly making a push also. This is the biggest toss up district in my mind because I think just about every team could beat any other team.

District 4 Another odd travel district, kind of a mess for predictions as well, West Del and Assumption were really good but lost a lot, Maquoketa brings back skilled players but lost lineman, and CCA is kind of a question mark.

District 5 Probably the weakest district top to bottom, I would say you'll see Washington and Solon come out of the district

District 6 Pella and Norwalk and then everybody else

District 7 Harlan and Carroll will be alright it will be interesting if Glenwood continues to rise, and if Creston can get back to where they were a couple of years ago.

 

[KidSilverhair]

That District 3 set-up was definitely strange. However, my guess would be that with this set-up, they're saying that Decorah's two non-district games are going to be West Delaware and/or Dubuque Wahlert. I suppose they could throw Calmar into that mix. That's about all I could figure.

I'm primarily a 4A, but that southeastern/eastern Iowa set-up boggle my mind. If Clear Creek-Amana and Solon were just switched it wouldn't appear as bad.

I suppose the state might have had some non-district possibilities in mind by building districts this way. However, there's also the thought that schools may want to think about staying away from non-district games within their own class. With the third playoff tiebreaker being head-to-head, including non-district, Decorah (for example) may want to think twice about scheduling West Delaware as a non-district game, since losing that game in Week 1 or 2 might end up costing you a playoff spot if you end up tied with WD after Week 9. Also, my guess is Wahlert's non-district games will be Hempstead and Senior, most likely.

These eastern districts also allow Xavier and Assumption to continue with a non-district game, with the above consideration still in play. I don't know what other options Xavier has for their non-district schedule - I mean, within 3A CP-U, CCA, Solon and Marion are all right next door, but I am pretty sure none of those schools are putting Xavier on their preferred list. The Cedar Rapids 4A schools aren't playing them. Might it be Dowling again? I dunno.

Avoiding your own class in non-district play is kind of a stretch in thinking for me (how can you game out all the possibilities, for crying out loud?), but it was a point brought up in our local reporting.

 

[IOU1]

Agreed...projecting that stuff would be tougher than picking Powerball numbers. But just the same, I look for schools to avoid in-class non district games if at all possible.

 

[PNation]

I would guess that Xavier will have 2 of the following Wahlert, Assumption, Dowling, Regina, Iowa City High, IC West, CF, Bett

 

[screwloose]

CR Xavier versus Bettendorf seems unlikely to me. You know Bettendorf will play Davenport Assumption, I don't see the Bulldogs playing two 3A opponents. And Dubuque Wahlert will have both Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior.

 

[IOU1]

Xavier could easily go with last year's non-district match-ups of Regina and Dowling.
Some folks were talking about Decorah earlier...they will most likely pull from Cresco, Waukon, NFV rather than fellow 3A West Delaware.

 

[Hawksince73]

Everybody in District 3 except Vinton-Shellsburg and Charles City made the playoffs last year. Two of them were district champions (Xavier, and South Tama in 2A). Xavier and South Tama lost one game apiece, Independence lost just two. Decorah and South Tama each won two playoff games. Waverly-Shell Rock has been solid the past few seasons. Yeah, it should be a pretty rugged district.

Oh, yeah, tiebreaker determinations. With 7 districts and 16 qualifiers, the top two finishers in each district are in. The following tiebreakers will determine the two "wild card" teams.

1. Any team considered a district champion (three-way tie, for example)
2. District record
3. Head to head (this would include the result of a non-district game, if pertinent)
4. Point differential (with the state going to a 17-point system, rather than the old 13-point one)
5. Alphabetical, with the starting letter determined by a random draw by the IHSAA

Honest to God... Can't Boone do away with the alphabetical order method? Use a BC Moore strength of schedule computation for all I care but get rid of the alphabetical determination.

 

[screwloose]

Some folks were talking about Decorah earlier...they will most likely pull from Cresco, Waukon, NFV rather than fellow 3A West Delaware.

Yeah, I totally spaced Cresco earlier...Waukon too.

 

[Cyclone1968]

I suppose the state might have had some non-district possibilities in mind by building districts this way. However, there's also the thought that schools may want to think about staying away from non-district games within their own class. With the third playoff tiebreaker being head-to-head, including non-district, Decorah (for example) may want to think twice about scheduling West Delaware as a non-district game, since losing that game in Week 1 or 2 might end up costing you a playoff spot if you end up tied with WD after Week 9. Also, my guess is Wahlert's non-district games will be Hempstead and Senior, most likely.

The tiebreaker rules is causing issues for the teams that are expected to be really good next year.
Anyone who thinks they have a shot at third place can't take a risk getting beat in a non district game.

 

[La_Fleur]

I think one of the CR schools, probably Kennedy, will give in and play Xavier since they'll have four non-district games. Regina will want to play Xavier again and I think Xavier will put them down as well

 

[KidSilverhair]

Regina is a very likely opponent for Xavier. Nobody in 1A wants to schedule Regina, and the Regals can probably play Xavier and Solon and their non-district is filled.

Xavier's other opponent will probably be either Assumption or Dowling. Assumption is going to play Bettendorf for one non-district game, and they'll need to find another opponent somewhere. Could still be Dowling, though.

I'm pretty sure it won't be Wahlert, as they'll stay in town to play Hempstead and Senior.

I'd be stunned if Kennedy relents and plays Xavier. Two of Kennedy's non-district games are going to be Wash and Jeff, so they only have two slots to fill. They've been very clear the past two seasons that they only want to play 4A competition.

 

[La_Fleur]

I doubt it will be Dowling. The last two years they haven't had great weather for their games which resulted in a delay and a cancellation. I think both sides came out of it thinking that it was more of a hassle to play than anything else. Plus, Xavier's district is pretty spread out so I think they'll want to stay local if they can for non-district.

Assumption is tricky for both sides because of the tie breaker possibilities for both teams if they end up finishing third in their district and are looking for a wild card berth. I don't think either will want to risk it if they don't have to.

I hope one of the CR schools agrees to play Xavier. The public schools play the private schools in Davenport and Dubuque so I don't know why they wouldn't in CR. I know they don't have to and that it won't be the end of the world if they don't but I think both sides would benefit if they played. I think Kennedy is the likeliest of those schools but I could easily see them sticking to only playing 4A teams.

 

[IowaHSFootballFan]

Here are the mileages for each district's "Road Warrior", if you will... I'm pretty sure I have the right teams.

Low = Average travel distance/time minus the furthest opponent in terms of distance/time
High = Average travel distance/time minus the closest opponent in terms of distance/time




DISTRICT 1
From Algona

Heelan 146 miles 2:45
Humboldt 24 miles 0:29
LeMars 121 miles 2:19
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 157 miles 2:46
Spencer 51 miles 1:03
Spirit Lake 66 miles 1:20
Storm Lake 78 miles 1:30

Low 81 miles 1:34
Average 92 miles 1:45
High 103 miles 1:57



DISTRICT 2
From Iowa Falls-Alden

Ballard 63 miles 1:03
Boone 65 miles 1:10
Dallas Center-Grimes 87 miles 1:30
Gilbert 50 miles 0:52
Greene County 93 miles 1:37
Perry 91 miles 1:33
Webster City 36 miles 0:44

Low 65 miles 1:09
Average 69 miles 1:13
High 75 miles 1:18



DISTRICT 3
From Decorah

Benton 109 miles 2:12
Charles City 56 miles 1:10
Independence 69 miles 1:26
South Tama 122 miles 2:18
Vinton-Shellsburg 95 miles 1:57
Waverly-Shell Rock 69 miles 1:21
Xavier 105 miles 2:05


Low 83 miles 1:42
Average 89 miles 1:47
High 95 miles 1:53



DISTRICT 4
From Assumption

Central Dewitt 23 miles 0:28
Clear Creek 61 miles 1:02
CPU 95 miles 1:33
Maquoketa 39 miles 0:41
Marion 82 miles 1:28
Wahlert 71 miles 1:14
West Delaware 106 miles 1:47


Low 62 miles 1:04
Average 68 miles 1:10
High 76 miles 1:18



DISTRICT 5
From Oskaloosa

Fairfield 54 miles 0:58
Fort Madison 113 miles 1:49
Keokuk 123 miles 1:59
Mount Pleasant 79 miles 1:19
Solon 96 miles 1:36
Washington 54 miles 1:03
WB/Notre Dame 107 miles 1:42


Low 83 miles 1:25
Average 89 miles 1:29
High 95 miles 1:35



DISTRICT 6
From Grinnell

Bondurant-Farrar 46 miles 0:46
Carlisle 66 miles 1:05
Knoxville 47 miles 0:52
Nevada 55 miles 0:58
North Polk 56 miles 1:05
Norwalk 66 miles 1:05
Pella 35 miles 0:42


Low 51 miles 0:55
Average 53 miles 0:56
High 56 miles 0:59



DISTRICT 7
From Glenwood

ADM 129 miles 1:57
Atlantic 63 miles 1:10
Carroll 121 miles 2:04
Creston 77 miles 1:23
Denison-Schleswig 87 miles 1:35
Harlan 65 miles 1:06
Winterset 105 miles 2:00


Low 86 miles 1:32
Average 92 miles 1:36
High 97 miles 1:42


HIGH MILEAGE AWARD / BAD FORTUNE
Algona and Glenwood with an average of 92 miles traveled per road game.


LONG TRIP AWARD / BAD FORTUNE
Decorah with an average of 1 hour and 47 minutes on the bus per road game.






If I get a wild hair, which I'm sure will happen, I will do the shortest travelers version of this list.

 

[IowaHSFootballFan]

And of course all of my time spent formatting in such a way that it is easily legible is thrown out the window. Sorry about that...

 

[PNation]

I don't think the CR schools should have to play Xavier, if it were to happen all of the benefits would go to Xavier, if they want to play them, then play 4A football.

 

[Cyclone1968]

Where will the two wild cards come from? My guess is District 3 and 6.

 

[IOU1]

Not sure about one of the Wild Cards coming from D3...they will most likely have a team good enough to validate a spot, but I could see that district kicking the crap out of themselves and the #3 team might have a pretty record. If that makes any sense...

 

[wchawkeye44]

I could see one wild card coming from district 2. DCG, Gilbert and WC a combined 24-3 during regular season this year. All three should be solid next year.

 

[smallcenter]

Decorah will likely take on 2 of their 2A NEIC members, or NFV. I would lean towards Waukon, Cresco, New Hampton, in that order, with NFV after that. But then again...who knows. Maybe they end up branching out to another 2A in the Waterloo area.

 

[La_Fleur]

I don't think the CR schools should have to play Xavier, if it were to happen all of the benefits would go to Xavier, if they want to play them, then play 4A football.

Of course they don't have to but I think a kid at Kennedy would enjoy playing against Xavier more than he would against someone like North Scott. If they don't want to, that's fine. Who knows maybe Xavier has moved on from wanting to play them anyway and both sides wouldn't be interested.

 

[ronsss]

nice to see denison in district 7...i have allways thought they were out of place playing up north ....

 

[makelovenotwar]

The local newspaper quoted the West Dubuque AD as saying there is mutual interest in keeping the West Dubuque - Wahlert game going. If true, this really surprises me as this means an end to the traditional city title here in Dubuque. If this happens I would bet the dropped game is between Wahlert and Hempstead. The game a few years back got out of control with a series of totally pointless 4th quarter injuries.