Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

Dec 8, 2023 By Jim Downey 3 min read

The Connellsville football program was on the upswing after a 5-5 overall record this past fall season.

The Falcons competed in Class AAAA, but the newest enrollment cycle, altered by the method of counting students, pushed the program back into Class AAAAA.

After careful debate and consideration, Connellsville has opted out of the WPIAL schedule for the upcoming two-year cycle and joins the ranks with fellow county schools Albert Gallatin, Brownsville and Uniontown as at-large teams.

“This is not something new. Every two years this comes up,” explained Connellsville athletic director and interim superintendent Rich Evans.

The issue has been on the plate long before the recent reclassification news.

“Two years ago, the Future of Falcon Football committee was formed with the school board, coaches and members of the community, a lot of different voices, and we talked about the exact thing.

“We’ve been struggling since the 2000s. What are the options?”

Evans continued, “There are pros and cons to every decision you make. In the end, the opinion (at that time) was to stay the course, but keep fighting.”

The way students are now counted increased Connellsville’s enrollment.

“They counted the technical school students at 10 percent, students who don’t play sports. All of the sudden, we’re the 13th-biggest school in the WPIAL,” said Evans. “That sparked the debate a little louder. Playing 5A football, it’s brutal.

“Our coaching staff in the past was split. This year they are looking forward to the move.”

The WPIAL schedules all games except for Week Zero, making putting an at-large schedule together challenging.

But, Evans had a plan in place and pieced a schedule together.

“We talked with schools in a similar situation. One of the biggest concerns (of withdrawing) is where are we going to play? It rules out WPIAL schools because they don’t have an open date,” said Evans.

“But, as we were finalizing plans over the past few days, I put in preliminary work and we have a scrimmage and nine games. It’s a pretty good schedule.”

The roster was bare bones at the end of the last season playing in Class AAAAA.

“Three years ago when we played in 5A the roster was in the 20s at the end of the season. We were on life support,” explained Evans. “This year, we had 72 on the sideline. That was the concern (with roster numbers). Would we revert back to three years ago?”

The decision to withdraw from football can be revisited in the next two-year cycle, and does not affect the other WPIAL-sponsored boys and girls sports.

“We can make the decision in the fall of 2025, around December and January, if we want to return,” added Evans.