Font ResizeHe pondered whether or not he is in favor of the new PIAA District 3 playoff format.
This year, for the first time, the playoff field for Classes A and AA schools will grow from four teams to eight. Likewise, the number of Class AAA and AAAA playoff qualifiers will grow from eight squads to 16.
According to Garman, whose team is in Class A, the move has positive and negative effects.
"I think it's a touchy issue and a couple of our players looked back at last year and the No. 8 team for single-A was 3-7," Garman said. "I told our team that 3-7 I don't think deserves a playoff bid. Of course if we have a district bid and we're under .500, we're going to take it, and we're going to play, and we're going to hope to win."
Hanover is one of 11 Class A schools in the district. Under the new format, only four teams would not make the playoffs, and Garman said that might water down the play.
"You may run into some issues where you have a Steel-High playing against a school with three wins and that could
York Suburban head coach John Knowles also had concern about too many teams in the playoffs.
"I'm kind of torn because I wish we would play the same number of games and add more divisions," Knowles said.
Knowles said the answer might be to change the breakdown by making five or six enrollment classifications.
Delone Catholic's Denny Frew said he thought the changes should have been made years ago.
One reason to make the change, he said, is that the number of playoff teams in District 3 is comparable with other districts.
"There are 26 AA schools and only four made the playoffs because of the state alignment," Frew said. "Now, with having that extra week, we're getting the proportionate number of teams in the playoffs. On the other hand, you have districts like (District) 11 and they only have around eight teams and they were getting four teams in the playoffs.
"I just think what it's doing is evening out the playing fields according to the numbers in each district."
Central York coach Brad Livingston is also happy with the change. He's not worried about a longer season because teams already prepare enough, he said.
"The plus side is you get to play a football game in a completely different level of intensity than the regular season," Livingston said. "I think it's good that more kids are going to be able to experience that."
According to Garman, there's one more benefit. Having those extra teams make the playoffs means coaches have one more carrot they can hold out in front of their kids to keep them working hard.
"That's definitely a benefit of it," he said. "If we can hold that in front of them that, 'Hey, if we win this game or if we win these last two games, then we have a district berth,' that's something that could keep a team fired up the whole way."
- The Daily Record/Sunday News contributed to this report.
District 3 classes
542-2,000 boys, grades 10-12
| Reading | 1,909 |
| J. P. McCaskey | 1,334 |
| Cumberland Valley | 981 |
| Chambersburg | 971 |
| Hempfield | 945 |
| Harrisburg | 866 |
| Penn Manor | 796 |
| William Penn | 793 |
| Central Dauphin | 762 |
| Wilson | 720 |
| Manheim Township | 705 |
| Dallastown | 685 |
| Red Lion | 666 |
| Carlisle | 657 |
| Cedar Crest | 646 |
| Central York | 632 |
| Central Dauphin East | 629 |
| Cedar Cliff | 616 |
| Lower Dauphin | 613 |
| York Co. Tech | 604 |
| Warwick | 597 |
| Governor Mifflin | 572 |
| Waynesboro | 561 |
| Conestoga Valley | 547 |
| Muhlenberg | 401 |
| James Buchanan | 361 |
| Bishop McDevitt | 307 |
338-541 boys, grades 10-12
| Exeter | 541 |
| Solanco | 540 |
| Spring Grove | 536 |
| Garden Spot | 535 |
| South Western | 523 |
| Red Land | 521 |
| Twin Valley | 518 |
| Ephrata | 517 |
| Cocalico | 495 |
| Elizabethtown | 495 |
| Gettysburg | 491 |
| Mechanicsburg | 487 |
| Daniel Boone | 469 |
| New Oxford | 468 |
| Lebanon | 467 |
| Hershey | 447 |
| Manheim Central | 435 |
| Shippensburg | 432 |
| Susquehannock | 432 |
| Big Spring | 432 |
| Dover | 425 |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 424 |
| Northern | 422 |
| Conrad Weiser | 419 |
| Susquehanna Township | 416 |
| West York | 411 |
| Greencastle-Antrim | 406 |
| Kennard-Dale | 396 |
| West Perry | 379 |
| Donegal | 369 |
| Hamburg | 355 |
| Palmyra | 355 |
| East Pennsboro | 345 |
| Northern Lebanon | 341 |
| York Suburban | 338 |
198-337 boys, grades 10-12
| ELCO | 335 |
| Fleetwood | 332 |
| Susquenita | 329 |
| Eastern York | 318 |
| Middletown | 304 |
| Littlestown | 294 |
| Lancaster Catholic | 294 |
| Boiling Springs | 282 |
| Bermudian Springs | 281 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 270 |
| Wyomissing | 253 |
| Kutztown | 248 |
| Juniata | 247 |
| Biglerville | 237 |
| Pequea Valley | 233 |
| Milton Hershey | 229 |
| Delone Catholic | 226 |
| Trinity | 223 |
| Annville-Cleona | 219 |
| Columbia | 198 |
| York Catholic | 171 |
| Newport | 153 |
Up to 197 boys, grades 10-12
| Hanover | 197 |
| Fairfield | 188 |
| Steelton-Highspire | 183 |
| Halifax | 158 |
| Upper Dauphin | 152 |
| Millersburg | 138 |
| Camp Hill | 137 |
| Holy Name | 134 |
| Carson Long | 131 |
| Reading Central Catholic | 119 |
| Scotland | 68 |
