Landon Dierks: Class 11AA schedules feel as unique as ever, but that's OK
· Yahoo Sports
Sep. 25—MITCHELL — Schedule construction for Class 11AA high school football programs for the next two seasons is ... interesting, to say the least.
For better or worse? It's hard to say for sure. But despite how messy it might look on paper, it works (at least, for now).
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For those unaware, some Class 11AA programs are still playing one crossover contest against a Class 11AAA opponent, which has largely become the standard in recent years. Others are playing a slate entirely contained within Class 11AA. A few are playing a Class 11A opponent.
Mitchell High School falls into the last category, as the Kernels host West Central this week.
"It is what it is, but it's way better than having an 11AAA team on the schedule," said MHS head coach Pat Larson. "An 11A school is closer to us enrollment-wise, and the roster size is closer to ours, too."
The schedule shift in Class 11AA stemmed from Sioux Falls-area Class 11AAA schools securing games against Omaha-area squads. Some, but not all, Class 11AAA teams got those long-awaited out-of-state matchups, leaving a few Class 11AAA teams that still needed a Class 11AA crossover to fill out the schedule. In turn, Class 11AA had to look to Class 11A for a few games to complete the slate.
In putting together the intricately overlapping schedules of Classes 11AAA, 11AA and 11A, there are geographic considerations and decisions influenced by average daily membership figures, according to Randy Soma, an assistant executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association. Soma is one of the SDHSAA leaders who helps craft the football schedules.
Spearfish and Sturgis naturally drew Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central, and Tea Area was paired with Sioux Falls Roosevelt mostly due to geography. Meanwhile, O'Gorman and Watertown were paired up despite a few better geographic options because of their proximity in the ADM rankings. Sioux Falls Christian and West Central were identified as Class 11A teams to play up to Class 11AA against Brookings and Mitchell, respectively, because of ADM.
However, Soma also acknowledged that some elements of creating schedules at a large scale are inherently random or coincidental. For example, Yankton, Huron and Pierre were the top three in the Class 11AA standings last season, yet all avoided a Class 11AAA matchup, as team success is not a factor.
"Is it different this year? Yeah. But it's never been totally equitable," Larson said. "That being said, it's probably as good as it's going to get until 11AAA gets to a spot where they've got enough teams to be self-contained."
To the credit of Soma and the schedule-makers at the SDHSAA, Friday's matchup between Mitchell and West Central feels like a sweet spot. Both teams have ample reasons to believe they can emerge with a win, which is how it should be, particularly for West Central, the side forced to play up a division.
This isn't the first time in recent history for crossover between Class 11AA and Class 11A. In 2019 and 2020, before Aberdeen Central and Watertown rejoined Class 11AA from Class 11AAA, most Class 11AA teams had multiple contests against Class 11A opponents. By Larson's recollection, the overall win-loss record for Class 11AA versus Class 11A was basically even. Mitchell was 1-3, playing two games each against Sioux Falls Christian and Dell Rapids.
"When we had those 11AA-11A crossover games, it was right around .500 when all those games were played," Larson said. "That should tell you that 11A football and 11AA football are not vastly different.
"So, is it perfect for everybody? No," Larson concluded. "But it hasn't been for a while, so we play who we play."