YAIAA football Week 6: One of the league's top teams still can't find a game. Why?

There are 22 schools in the YAIAA. Twenty-one of them will play football games this Friday.

The lone exception is York High — one of the league's biggest schools and most successful teams with six consecutive District 3 playoff appearances. The Bearcats have a bye this week and only have nine regular-season games scheduled for the second consecutive season.

Why can't the Bearcats find a 10th game like every other team in the league?

"We can't find anybody to play us," York High athletic director Jeff White said. "Our (open) week is at a bad point in the schedule, and every other team in the league has a game already. Most teams in the state are already fielding a game this week or don't want to play us."

What's led to the scheduling issue?

Two seasons ago, there were 23 schools in the YAIAA with eight teams in Division I and Division III. Those schools played three non-conference games to start the season and seven divisional contests after that.

Division II only had seven schools meaning those teams had to find a fourth non-conference game in the middle of the season — often from a team in Berks County or even the State College area since the Lancaster-Lebanon League and Mid-Penn followed a similar structure to the YAIAA.

But Gettysburg's departure to the Mid-Penn left both YAIAA Division I and Division II with seven teams. That ensuing hole in each teams' schedule has mostly been filled with league crossover games. For example, South Western plays West York, Dallastown plays Dover and Northeastern plays York Suburban.

Those matchups feature a Class 5A school playing a 4A squad or a Class 6A playing a 5A and were determined by which schools had the same open week once divisional schedules were set.

But Class 6A York High had the same open week as Class 4A Kennard-Dale, which had already scheduled fellow Class 4A Fleetwood from Berks County for Week 6. Playing a school two classes smaller wouldn't help the Bearcats in the District 3 power points and would hurt them greatly if they lost.

"We don't have any interest in playing a Class 4A team," said White. "But they weren't raising their hand to face us."

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The Bearcats aren't the only Class 6A school that prefers to play bigger opponents. Division I's Central York and Division II's New Oxford could have played a crossover game Week 9, but Central found a non-conference matchup with fellow Class 6A Reading. New Oxford is playing Maryland's Fort Hill that week.

When Berks County merged with the L-L League two years ago, the ensuing restructure left its two biggest divisions with seven teams, just like the YAIAA. But the two schools with an opening in their schedules this week are Wilson and Gov. Mifflin — who decided to schedule each other in a classic Berks County rivalry game.

White said he reached out to District 1's Haverford, which also has an opening this week, but the Class 6A school told him it would rather have a bye this week.

"Right now I'm scrambling trying to find a game for next year," White said. "It's good to have a bye if your kids are beat up, but we want to keep playing."

Any possible solutions?

While playing a team from a smaller classification wouldn't help York High's power points much, the Bearcats don't necessarily get an advantage by sitting out a week — which prevents them from losing points but also doesn't gain them any. They went 6-3 last year and got the No. 7 seed in the District 3 Class 6A tournament. They went 7-2 due to a COVID cancelation in 2021 and got the No. 4 seed.

Playing an out-of-state opponent doesn't count toward the power points and could be a major travel cost.

York High is currently the No. 4 seed with a 4-1 record.

"The part that stinks is it doesn't matter how good we finish the season (after the bye), we're probably going to be a lower seed," York High coach Russ Stoner said.

More importantly, York High's players miss out on an opportunity to play the game they train year-round for.

White said he'd like the YAIAA to mandate crossover games between Division I and the Division II schools in Class 5A (New Oxford and Dover) moving forward. Stoner said he'd like the league to create one large "section" with all of the 6A and 5A schools including York County Tech, which currently plays in Division III.

YAIAA executive director Chuck Abbott said the league has no plan to mandate anything and "it's up to each school" to fill its schedule.

Until someone changes their opinion, York High will continue to search for a bigger Pennsylvania school in need of a game Week 6.

"Our league has to step in and do something," Stoner said. "It's not fair to us or even Central York to find a game middle of the season. We are sort of stuck here."

Extra points: Seven more questions that need to be answered this week

Who will win the battle of Division I recruits?

Central York (5-0) is the favorite at home against Dallastown (2-3) Friday, but the Panthers still need to stop junior Michael Scott. The versatile wide receiver just picked up his sixth scholarship offer from Old Dominion and has over 600 total yards and seven total touchdowns this year. Of course, the Panthers have their own star in star tailback and Pitt recruit Juelz Goff. Could these two have a back-and-forth battle the way Jahiem White and Kenny Johnson did for York High and Dallastown the past two years?

Will Division III’s classic rivalry game be competitive this year?

Delone Catholic and York Catholic have had some great battles in recent years. The Irish have gone 6-4 against the Squires over their last 10 matchups with most of those games helping decide the YAIAA Division III title. However, the Irish (1-4) are clearly down this year and Delone (2-3) is surging after a tough non-league slate. Can the Irish keep some momentum after beating York County Tech last week or is Delone clearly the better team?

Can York Suburban upset Dover?

Keep an eye on this matchup at Dover. Suburban (2-3) started slow this season but played competitively with undefeated New Oxford in the first half of last week's 35-14 defeat. Dover (3-2) entered this season as a clear playoff contender but were outclassed by the Colonials, 30-7, before bouncing back with a win over an improved Susquehannock team last week. Both teams feature strong offenses led by talented quarterbacks (Dover's Aric Campbell and York Suburban's Rylan Bratton) so this could be a fun one.

How does Michael Fox handle his toughest test yet?

The Susquehannock senior running back has had an incredible year with over 700 rushing yards in five games. He's topped 100 yards four times and still gained 91 against an excellent Manheim Central team. Can he power the Warriors to a competitive game against undefeated New Oxford? The Colonials gave up 167 yards to York Suburban's C.J. Rissmiller last week. Still, New Oxford prevailed by 21 points. The Colonials are that good this season.

Can Red Lion bounce back from last week's loss?

The Lions (3-2) were confident last week would end with a thrilling victory over a talented but young York High squad. Instead, the veteran team couldn't overcome a tough first half offensively and lost, 30-6, at home. Red Lion remains in the District 3 Class 6A playoff picture is likely the favorite in every remaining game except for Week 8's matchup with Central York. Still, the Lions don't have an easy game Friday on the road against South Western (2-3). The Mustangs have lost three in a row to strong opponents (New Oxford, Dallastown, Central York) but played Central tough last week in a 29-7 loss. They beat Red Lion the last two years and aren't going to roll over at home.

Which YAIAA Division I team gets its first divisional win?

Spring Grove (1-4) is hosting Northeastern (0-5) coming off its first win of the season over Eastern York. The Rockets will likely be the underdog against most Division I opponents this season but are certainly the favorite this week. Can Northeastern end its winless start to the season? Things won't get easier with a road game against Central York next week so this Friday is an opportunity the Bobcats will need to take advantage of.

Will Eastern York's dream season get back on track?

After the first 4-0 start in program history, Eastern came back down to earth with a 55-13 loss to Spring Grove last week. Can they get back to their winning ways on the road against West York (0-5)? The Bulldogs have shown some promise this year but haven't sustained it for four quarters. They trailed Kennard-Dale by one point in the third quarter last week but eventually lost by 18. Eastern beat Kennard-Dale, 26-20, in Week 4 so the Golden Knights probably have the advantage this Friday.

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: YAIAA football: Why can't York High find a team to play Week 6?