FOOTBALL PLAYOFF BULLETIN
Division I, II, III Seeding Saturday, November 7 9:00 am @ Section Office, Conference Room
First Round Friday, November 13 2:00 pm or 7:00 pm – higher seed school
Quarter-Finals Friday, November 20 7:00 pm – higher seeded school home site
Semi-Finals Friday, November 27 7:00 pm – higher seeded school home site
Division III Saturday, December 5 Cerritos College – 11:00 am
Division II Saturday, December 5 Cerritos College – 3:00 pm
Division I Saturday, December 5 Cerritos College – 7:00 pm
8-Man Seeding Saturday, November 7 8:30 am @ Section Office, Conference Room
Semi Final Friday, November 13 7:00 pm – higher seeded school home site
Final Saturday, November 21 1:00 pm – Birmingham Charter High School
SEEDING MEETING
The seeding meeting for Divisions I, II & III will be held on Saturday, November 7, at 9:00 AM, in the Section Office, Conference Room, 10660 White Oak Ave., Suite 216, Granada Hills, CA 91344. The Seeding Committee will be comprised of two non-coaching representatives from each region (Coastal, Eastern, and Valley), two representatives of the football advisory and a representative of the Section Office. The Seeding Meeting will be a closed session and only committee members will be allowed admission. Playoff brackets will be distributed to coaches and media at the conclusion of the seeding for each division.
Brackets emailed to head coaches and posted on Section website:
8-Man 8:30 AM
Division I 10:30 AM
Division II 11:30 AM
Division III 12:30 PM
All playoff brackets will be posted on the Section website www.cif-la.org by 1:00 PM of the same day.
SEEDING CRITERIA
The 11 man Football Seeding Committee will determine the entries into the playoffs for Division I, II & III based on the following criteria:
1) MaxPreps official rankings for the LA City Section will be used as a tool by the Seeding Committee to seed all divisions. The MaxPreps Rankings will be posted on the Section website prior to the seeding meeting.
2) Seeding must remain within two ranking places for the MaxPreps Ranking
3) Head to Head – when schools being considered for the same seed have played during the season.
4) Common opponent – when schools have considered for the same seed have played common opponents.
The 8-Man Football Seeding meeting will be held Saturday, November 7, at 8:30 AM, in the Section Office. Seeding committee members will be composed of the first and second place coaches from each 8-Man Football Leagues, and a representative from the Section Office. The committee will seed the number one team based on MaxPreps Ranking, and the first place teams from each league will play the second place team from the opposite league. The higher seed will be the home team.
Automatic Berth:
Every league champion from Division I, II or III will have an automatic berth to the playoffs.
Ties in league will be broken using the MaxPreps Rankings to determine the league finish.
HOME SITE FOR ALL ROUNDS
The team with the higher seed or rank will be the “home team” in all rounds of the playoffs. The Section Office may determine that a particular site will not accommodate the anticipated attendance and direct the game to be moved to an alternate location. The selection of an alternate site will be a collaborative decision between the Section Office and the principal of the home team.
SCHEDULING OF PLAYOFF CONTESTS
If the higher seeded team facility is without stadium lighting, they have the option to host an afternoon game in the first round only (Friday, November 13). All afternoon games will start at 2:00 PM. All first round game starting times will be confirmed at the first organizational meeting (see below). All subsequent playoff games will be scheduled for 7:00 PM start times. Schools advancing to the second round of the playoffs that do not have stadium lighting may choose to secure an alternate facility with stadium lighting for all ensuing playoff games or may arrange for temporary stadium lighting in advance of the second round game. All schools selecting to use temporary lighting systems also accept full financial responsibility for all lighting and additional security expenses caused by the change to a night game; as this expenditure will not be included in the profit/loss computation. Only official portable stadium lighting systems set to regulation height standards will be approved for use.
PLAYOFF ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGS
Athletic Directors and/or Athletic Administrator from schools advancing in the playoffs must attend the weekly Playoff Organizational Meetings per Section Bylaw 1917-5 or will forfeit their profit share for the playoff game. The Organizational Meeting for the 8 Man Division will be held on Monday, November 9, 1:00 PM in the Section Office. The Organizational Meeting for Division I, II, and III will be held Monday, November 9, at 4:00 PM at Bernstein High School, Library. Directions to Bernstein HS – 101 freeway, exit Sunset Blvd., go to this URL: http://mapq.st/1rL848z. Parking located on Fountain Ave., near Wilton.
Playoff Organizational Meetings
First Round (All Divisions) Monday, November 9 @ 4:00 PM, Bernstein HS - Auditorium
Second Round (DI, II & III) Monday, November 16 @ 4:00 PM, Bernstein HS - Library
8-Man Football Championship Monday, November 16 @ 1:00 PM, Section Office
Division I, II & III Semi Finals Monday, November 23 @ 1:00 PM, Phone conference
Championship Organizational Meeting – Division I, II, III
The organizational meeting for the Division I, II, & III Championship game will be held Monday, November 30, 2:00 PM, location TBA. It is required that the Assistant Principal responsible for athletics and the Athletic Director attend the organizational meeting for the championship game.
PROGRAMS
For all rounds, except the finals, the HOME SCHOOL MUST PRINT A GAME PROGRAM. Visiting schools must provide a current team roster to the Athletic Director of the home school at the Monday Organizational Meeting or as coordinated. Schools not providing roster information will forfeit their profit share for the game. The HOME school will be responsible for program sales. One copy of the program must be brought to the following administrative organization meeting.
TEAM PROGRAM ROSTERS, PHOTOS, AND SCHOOL LOGOS
All schools advancing to the second week of playoffs must post electronic copies of team rosters, team photos and school’s logo no later than November 17. Go to www.cif-la.org use the Playoff / Championship button in the middle of the home page. Click on Football Program Roster Template or go to: http://www.cif-la.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=337074&type=d&pREC_ID=755188
Team Rosters must include player’s name, number, position and grade level. In addition, a list of coaches, administration and athletic director’s names and titles should be included on the team roster. Team photo must be in JPEG format. All information must be sent to Sports Information Director Dick Dornan at
COACHES REQUIREMENT
Coaches are required to post all game scores each week of the season and playoffs on the MaxPreps web site http://www.maxpreps.com/section/ca/football/los+angeles+city+section.htm. The final league game score must be posted on MaxPreps prior to 7:00 AM of November 7. This information will be used during the seeding meeting to develop the ranking data for the playoff brackets.
FILMS or HUDLE EXCHANGE
Teams selected to participate in the Section Playoffs are required to exchange video, or provide online video exchange with opponent once the playoff brackets are released. Coaches should go to www.cif-la.org to verify seeding, Division I, 10:30 AM; Division II 11:30 AM; Division III 12:30 PM. Head coaches are required to make contact with their opposing head coach to arrange the exchange. Per Section rule, this exchange must include two of the last three games played as selected by the opposing coach. It is the responsibility of each head coach to contact the Section Office if any discrepancy with the film exchange are experienced. Any coach that is unable to contact the opposing coach and arrange for the exchange by 1:00 PM must notify the Section Office. Every attempt will be made to contact this coach. The Section will contact the Athletic Director and the coach will have 30 minutes to contact the Section and the opposing head coach. If no contact is made, an alternate will replace the school in the playoffs.
Film/DVD exchange between advancing teams in the playoff must be completed for each subsequent round no later than 9:00 AM of the day following the previous round. The exchange should take place at the home school campus unless other arrangements are agreed to by both head coaches. The previous two games films are required. DVD or online exchanges is the formats that schools are required to exchange unless mutual head coaches agreement is attained. If schools are exchanging online formats, no meeting is required.
MEDICAL ATTENDANT
During round 1 and 2 of the playoffs, it is the responsibility of the HOST school to provide a medical attendant. Medical Attendant fees are equal to the highest paid official plus a twenty dollar supply fee. Medical Attendant fees will be included with game expense. The Section will provide a medical attendant for the Semi-final and Championship games. To meet all medical emergency needs, it is required to have all medical services and equipment on the sideline (AED and back boards), and emergency transportation arranged in advance. In the event the visiting team has a medical attendant, it is required that the medical staffs from each school meet before the game to discuss game protocol.
OFFICIALS
Officials will be assigned by the Los Angeles Football Officials Association Assigner with the approval of the Section Office. No official will be assigned to the same school twice during the first three rounds of the playoffs. Five officials will be assigned to each game of the playoffs. Coaches’ evaluations submitted during the season to the Section Office will be used to select officials for the semifinal and final rounds. With both schools agreement, seven man crews can be requested for the first and second rounds. Seven man crews will be used for the semifinal and final rounds.
Officials Fees:
Playoffs (all rounds except finals)
Referee $84.00
Other officials $82.00
Finals $95.00
Note: 8 man football will use 5 officials in all playoff games
OFFICIAL FOOTBALL
NIKE is the Official Ball Sponsor for the CIF Los Angeles City Section in the sport of football. Teams that qualify for the playoffs will receive one (1) NIKE Vapor One football (model - FT0222-201) at the conclusion
of the seeding meeting. Following the seeding meeting, you will be able pick up the football at the weekly organizational meeting. Prior to the game both teams will present their ball to the officials of the game to use
as the official game balls. Only NIKE footballs will be allowed in play during LACS football playoff games.
An additional ball will be distributed to Division I, II, & III teams that advance to the Semi-Final game.
ANNOUNCER
HOME schools will provide the public address announcers for all playoffs, except the championship game.
The public address announcer is to inform, in an impartial manner, necessary game details and public announcements without narration or partiality. Management is encouraged to use the public address announcer to enhance sportsmanship, crowd control measures, and crowd convenience items, such as restrooms, concessions, exits and emergency information. Required announcements of CIF State Sponsors are to be read at appropriate intermissions in the game. A script containing all required announcements is provided in this bulletin (announcer’s script on last page of this bulletin).
PARKING
Parking is dependent on the facility hosting the event.
PRE-GAME AND HALF-TIME ACTIVITIES (ALL GAMES)
During team warm up, teams are restricted to the area from the 40 yard line to the back of the end zone, on their assigned side of the field. By rule, the field is to be cleared ten minutes before the scheduled start time of the game and the National Anthem played prior to the game start time. Both teams are required to be on their respective sideline in a respectful manner during the playing of the National Anthem. Violation to this requirement will result in a 15 yard penalty to the violating team. Halftime will be 15 minutes in duration (without exception). In the event both bands will be performing during the halftime, each school is allocated seven (7) minutes for their half-time performance; the remaining one minute is for band positioning.
By NFHS Rule, three minutes will be added to the clock after half time expires for an undistracted team warm-up before the start of the second half. The home school will make all arrangements for half-time performances.
TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES FOR ALL ROUNDS OF THE PLAYOFFS
The CIF Los Angeles City Section authorizes the “25-Yard Line Overtime Procedure” with all NFHS rules will apply as outlined in the Gold Book. The tie breaker procedure will be used for all playoff contests, to include the Championship games.
ADMINISTRATIVE & FACULTY SUPERVISION
Schools participating in each round of the playoffs will be responsible for providing supervision of their spectators. Participating schools are to assign faculty & staff to supervision of the event as agreed to by the administrators of the participating schools during the first two rounds of playoffs. The Section will issue 10 supervision passes to each school for the Semi-Finals and Finals. It is imperative that no unauthorized personnel (student or staff) attempt to enter the field area at anytime before, during or after the playoff and championship games. The consequence for this action will be severe and may result in forfeiture of the school’s share of the proceeds. It is each school’s responsibility to maintain their sideline supervision. Administrators and Athletic Directors must take necessary precaution to ensure that unauthorized individuals do not enter the field or sideline area.
ATHLETIC PASSES
The 2015-16 CIF Los Angeles City Section Athletic Courtesy Pass, Coaches Pass, Administrative Pass are valid for admission to all section playoffs but will not be honored at the championship games. The Section Media Pass, Executive Pass, Lifetime Pass, and CIF State Passes are valid for admission to all section playoffs and championship games. No other Section or individual school passes will be honored at any playoff game.