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Schools

After Sandy, High School Athletic Tourneys Delayed

An optional bye for high-school football teams throughout the state will push the playoffs back a week. NJSIAA cross-country sectionals will have to wait until Nov. 10.

As families and school districts throughout New Jersey continue to rebuild, the New Jersey State Insterscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) will postpone the remainder of its regular-season football schedule as well as sectional cross-country championships.

High schools are still allowed to play football games this weekend if both schools taking part agree, while others will simply have a bye week.

The decision to push the season back means the opening round of the playoffs will now be held the weekend of Nov. 16-17. The semifinals have been scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, with the state championships tentatively slated for the weekend of Dec. 7-8.

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The NJSIAA released a statement saying the decision was made because many schools throughout the state are still without power and many coaches have been unable to get in contact with players because of phone service issues.

'We just have to take it in stride'

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As of Wednesday night, the Collingswood High School football team was still planning on hosting Haddon Heights on Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m.

Panther football players returned to practice Wednesday after losing two days of preparation. To compensate, head coach Jack McConnell said, the team will have a more in-depth practice Friday, as opposed to a walk-through.

Other than that, there is little he or any other football coach can do.

“It’s been difficult,” McConnell said.

“We have a lot of things going on with the storm and juggling stuff with the teacher conference coming up. There’s not much we can do about it; we just have to take it in stride.”

Regional qualifier conflicts?

Meanwhile, the sectional cross-country championships have been pushed back to Nov. 10. The postponement means that the group championships scheduled for Nov. 10 at Holmdel Park will now be held Nov. 17.

The Meet of Champions was originally scheduled for No. 17, but has now been moved to a time and place yet to be determined. A confirmation on the location will not be made until officials have a chance to survey the condition of the course.

Moving the Meet of Champions to Nov. 24 would conflict with the Nike and Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships, which both are scheduled for the same day. Those regionals are qualifiers for national championship races, so the top runners would certainly be conflicted as to which to enter.

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