HCHS Football Preseason Notes

Cyclones’ New Home: Class 3A, District 9
 Every two years, the Iowa High School Athletic Association reclassifies the state’s football schools according to enrollment size and issues new district assignments. Class 3A will consist of 54 teams during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, with nine districts of six teams each.
 Harlan Community has been assigned to Class 3A, District 9 along with the following opponents: Adel-DeSoto-Minburn, Creston/O-M, Glenwood, Lewis Central and Winterset.
RPI to determine at-large playoff teams
 The IHSAA Board of Control in January approved changes to the state’s football playoff-qualifying system, including a new Ratings Percentage Index which will be used to determine at-large qualifiers. As has been the case the past two years, 16 teams will qualify for the playoffs in each of the state’s six classifications: 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, A and 8-Player.
 In Class 3A, the nine district champions, along with all ties for first place, will automatically qualify for the playoffs. The remaining playoff teams - up to seven - will be determined using the new RPI formula, which replaces the previous 17-point district tiebreaker system.
 All nine regular-season games will be factored into a team’s RPI score as follows: A) team’s overall win-loss percentage accounts for 37.5% of the index; B) team’s opponent’s win-loss percentage accounts for 37.5%; C) team’s opponent’s opponent’s win-loss percentage accounts for 25%.
New uniforms, new start times
 The Cyclones debuted their new Nike home uniforms for Thursday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Merrill Field, marking perhaps the most drastic change to the program’s look in two or three decades, according to head coach Curt Bladt. While the primary colors are still a red jersey with gray pants, the overall look has been modernized with tapered numbers and lettering on the front and a small Cyclone logo across the chest.
 Another change for 2018 is that all regular-season varsity games - with one exception - will start at 7:00 p.m. The Week 3 game at Carroll will start in the old 7:30 time slot.

 
 

 

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