By Eric. F. Epler
Following the PIAA Board of Directors’ decision on Wednesday, here are 5 surprise takeaways from a historical moment in Pennsylvania high school football.
1. The vote: After hundreds of hours of research and countless discussions on potentially expanding the football playoffs to six classifications, there was enough steam to suggest the PIAA Board of Directors were leaning in favor of the shift. That said, a finally vote of 26-4 caught everyone off guard.
“I was surprised at the strength of that vote, yeah,” said PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Lombardi. “I thought there was a number of people that were very, very interested, but obviously the membership has gotten a hold of their representatives and said ‘this was important to us.’” Only the three voting members from District 7 (WPIAL) and District 8 Chairman Michael Gavlik voted against the recommendation.
