Although spring sports are in full effect in the Verde Valley, there is never a bad time to think about football.
The Arizona Interscholastic Association implemented a new reclassification football model allowing schools to move up and down starting in the 2020-21 school year.
Schools from 2A to 6A were previously placed based off of student body population.
“I think the biggest thing is that they are trying to go away from basing it solely off enrollment,” Mingus coach Robert Ortiz said. “I think they can take sheer numbers alone into consideration along with schools with more kids to pull from.”
The mock model would include the MaxPreps ratings of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons to determine
the divisions.
“The AIA is basing the alignmentoff of past success, so we will see where we end up,” Ortiz said. “They ran a mock model that was based off your last three years that would have promoted Mingus from 4A to 5A for the next season.”
Under the new model, the Grand Canyon region would be disbanded.
“I think the old worked well for us 4A schools up north because there is not regional play in the new model,” Ortiz said. “We have a competitive league up north and it is nice knowing you will play those schools but that will go away.”
Though Ortiz said he does not believe any specific rule changes should be made, he does believe in slight alterations.
“I just think there are certain things the AIA could take into account, such as enrollment for Mingus,” Ortiz said. “If we were moved up to the future 5A division,we would have to compete with schools from 7A with double our enrollment.”
The Marauders went 9-3 last season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
“Not that we cannot compete with those schools but it definitely makes things more competitive,” Ortiz said. “In comparison, it would be like playing a Bradshaw, Prescott or Mesquite game on a weekly basis.”
To Ortiz, enrollment is the biggest issue surrounding football teams north of Phoenix.
“If you were to look at the Grand Canyon region, Mingus had the third-lowest enrollment of all seven schools,” Ortiz said. “The fact that we can compete with 1,200 kids to a Prescott or Bradshaw’s 1,700 is great but your work is cut out for you.”
Mingus Union currently has 1,183 students for the 2018-2019 school year, according to publicschoolreview.
com
“I think consistently enrollmentis what hinders the northern schools more than most valley schools,” Ortiz said.
Though Phoenix is home to many Arizona powerhouses, Ortiz said he does not anticipate Mingus to schedule too many valley schools.
“It is not that you would not want to schedule Phoenix area schools but now we are talking travel costs,” Ortiz said. “The school would have to account for it then.”
The rule allows the Marauders to schedule opponents that are one division higher or lower than them.
“In our current model, Coconino, Lee Williams and Mohave drop to the future 3A division,” Ortiz said. “We would be unable to schedule them but we could still play Flagstaff, Prescott or Bradshaw.”
Though the Grand Canyon region may implode soon, Ortiz and the other coaches will make sure the Grand Canyon rivalries never die.
“If we were still able to schedule each other, we would just because of competitive nature amongst the local communities,” Ortiz said. “Cottonwood has always been playing Flagstaff and the Prescott schools from little league up, so the rivalries should stay in tact.”
Mingus won the Grand Canyon region last year after finishing 5-1 in sectional play.
The Marauders defeated Bradshaw Mountain 28-6 on
Oct. 12, 2018, yet the Bears hosted the playoff rematch between the two.
Though Mingus finished the regular season 8-2 to Bradshaw’s 7-3, the Bears were given the edge based off of power points.
“It is really about power points, it seems like the AIA is making a big push for more competitive games,” Ortiz said. “Outside of the big eight that make the full title run, teams would be playing for the conference title.”
