The Northern California Football Association announced a realignment in community college football conferences, which will introduce Gavilan to some new league foes.
The Golden Coast League went from six to seven teams in the Northern California realignment that condenses the three-division format used last year down to two. And instead of six leagues, there will be five in the 2014 season.
Gavilan coach Spencer Gilford was pleased with the change, noting that teams will have more evenly competitive schedules across the NorCal leagues.
“It’s a good thing for all of NorCal football to move in this direction,” Gilford said. “… It’s great for all programs in terms of having competitive schedules.”
The change, according to a press release by the NCFA, will match a Southern California playoff system.
The two divisions are split in the National Division — which features the Bay 6, NorCal and Valley leagues — and the American Division — which features the Golden Coast League and the Pacific 7 League.
The new playoff system will feature the league winners and a wild card all from the National Division.
Previously, the champions from the two Division I leagues determined who would face off against the Southern California champion — who had to emerge from a four-team playoff — for the state title.
What will remain is the ability of teams in the lower division to move up to the top division if their records over two years show they can handle to higher competition.
Likewise, teams in the National Division can be bumped for the same reason.
Gavilan will keep league rivals Cabrillo, Hartnell and Monterey. Lost from the league are San Jose and West Valley. Merced, West Hills and Reedley will join the Golden Coast to round out the seven teams.
Along with the conference realignment , the NCFC adopted a new rule for end of the game situations to match the NCAA and NFL rules.
Under the new rule, if a team commits a penalty inside of the final two minutes of play without a timeout, 10 seconds will be run off the clock unless its declined by the opposing team to preserve time.
