The 2024 fall sports season just got a little longer for some sports.
The South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) has extended the football season by a week. This means that regular season games will end Friday, Nov. 8, instead of Nov. 1.
Playoffs will begin on Friday, Nov. 15 with five rounds culminating in a state championship the weekend of Dec. 13 at S.C. State University.
“We want to keep things as close to the original schedule as possible,” said Jerome Singleton, SCHSL director.
The executive committee voted to move forward with this plan by a 9-4 vote. They also approved that any school that didn’t make the playoffs could add an extra game the week of the first round if they wanted.
There had been talk of limiting the number of playoff rounds from five to four, but that idea was voted down.
These changes were made because of the impact to the state from Tropical Storm Helene. Some school districts like Greenville County missed the entire week last week due to no power. Schools like North Augusta High School in Aiken County just got power back on Tuesday.
Over the past two weeks, 36 high schools around the state didn’t play football. And four regions have missed games the last two weeks.
Volleyball and tennis were also pushed back by a week to end their regular season a week later before starting five rounds of playoffs.
No dates were changed for cross-country, swimming, and golf. Those regular seasons will still end as currently scheduled and their respective state championships will be held as currently scheduled.
The state swimming championships are the first up and will be held next week in Columbia on the campus of the University of South Carolina.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
