DIAA approves football realignment

DELAWARE – The competitive balance, or lack thereof, in DIAA’s new football realignment has been studied for two years. Now the board believes a few alterations to the current structure will create a more level playing field.

The big news for the Henlopen Conference to come out of Thursday’s vote is Laurel’s move from 1A up to 2A. This is no surprise given the Bulldogs’ dominance over Class 1A the past two seasons.

Class 1A is expanding from 14 to 16 teams for the 2023 season.

Laurel, back in the 1A championship game Saturday against St. Elizabeth, has not lost a game against 1A opponents. Their overall regular season record stands at 18-2, plus a 5-0 postseason mark. Both of those losses came at the hands of 2A schools (Delmar, and Woodbridge).

The Bulldogs will move into District 3 in Class 2A next season, while Caravel and Red Lion will move over to District 1. Laurel joins Delmar, Lake Forest, Milford, Sussex Tech, and Woodbridge in the refreshed structure.

The Odessa Ducks was approved to make the jump to Class 2A from 1A thanks to growing student population.

Brandywine, Conrad, McKean, and A.I. duPont will make the move down in classification in an effort to balance out the number of teams in each level.

St. Mark’s drew the short straw and will move up from 2A to 3A next fall. The Spartans just finished off a 9-1 season.

To make room for the Spartans St. Georges will slide over to District 2, and bring Class 3A to an even twelve teams. The Hawks will join five Henlopen teams in the reformed division.