Colonial Conference Adopts New, In-Conference Scheduling Format

Colonial Conference High Schools rejected a plan to add non-conference football games against Cape-Atlantic League schools by a vote of 7-5 this week.

Superintendents and athletic directors decided to err on the side of tradition and keep the contests among familiar rivals, Haddonfield Athletic Director Lefteris Banos said Wednesday afternoon.

"Those who voted against the CAL proposal were of the same thought, that we need to maintain traditions," Banos said.

"We have a great setting in the Colonial Conference, and we should try to implement the formula for strength of schedule within the conference before we abandon our traditions," he said.

The formula the conference decided on is based on each team's success over the past three years, and looks like this:

* The top two teams in each division will play the top four teams in the other division.

Based exclusively on 2012 standings, West Deptford and Sterling (Liberty Division) would play Paulsboro, Woodbury, Audubon and Haddon Township (Patriot Division). Paulsboro and Woodbury (Patriot) would play West Deptford, Sterling, Haddonfield and Collingswood;

* The middle two teams in each division will play the top two and bottom two teams in the other division. Once again, using last year's standings, this means Haddonfield and Collingswood would play Paulsboro, Woodbury, Gateway and Lindenwold; Audubon and Haddon Township would play West Deptford, Sterling, Overbrook and Haddon Heights; and

* The bottom two teams in each division would play the bottom four teams in the other. Based again on 2012 rankings, Overbrook and Haddon Heights would play Audubon, Haddon Township, Gateway and Lindenwold; and Gateway and Lindenwold would play Haddonfield, Collingswood, Overbrook and Haddon Heights.

All teams will continue to play all the other teams in their division.

The schedule alterations were done to strike a more competitive balance within the conference, Banos said, including helping the more successful teams play against teams of comparable size and ability while allowing the less successful teams to compete against each other.

With one week to go in the regular season, the West Deptford High School football team was undefeated and behind a Bridgeton team with two losses and a Cinnaminson team with one loss in the South Jersey Group II power points standings.

Fortunately for the Eagles, they were able to move into third place following a win over Haddon Township.

However, the rankings heading into the final week of the season illustrated a flaw that needs to be fixed, West Deptford Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman said during the December 16 Board of Education meeting.

The power points standings are based not only on a team’s wins, but its strength of schedule. A win over a team in Group IV is worth more points than a win over a Group I team. A team gains a point for each victory their defeated opponent has not only at the time, but for each win after the game as well.

A full explanation of the power points system can be found here.

West Deptford competes in the Colonial Conference, which consists completely of Group I and Group II teams. Bridgeton competes in the Cape-Atlantic League, where it competes against teams from Group III, Group IV and Group V, one reason it was ahead of West Deptford in the standings with a week to go.

“A win over an 0-7 team in Group I doesn’t help us,” Kitchenman said. “We want to play tougher competition and the weaker teams don’t want to play us anymore,” Kitchenman said.

There had been some initial discussion of possibly moving some Thanksgiving games to earlier in the season, as games played on Thanksgiving don't help in the race for the playoffs. According to Banos, no Thanksgiving traditions have been altered.

West Deptford’s Thanksgiving rival is perennial Group I powerhouse Paulsboro. The games played that weekend don’t count in the power points standings, as the first two rounds of the playoffs take place before Thanksgiving.

“It would be better if we played them in October,” Kitchenman said Monday.