NIAA makes another change to Open Division football playoffs
There was another change to the Southern Nevada high school football playoffs.
Foothill has been placed into the Open Division, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association said Monday, replacing Las Vegas High.
NIAA executive director Tim Jackson wrote in a letter sent to member schools that a team had not reported that its loss earlier in the season was turned into a forfeited win.
The letter said: “Late Sunday evening, and confirmed this morning, the NIAA received information indicating that a member school had participated in a game against a California opponent earlier in the season, resulting in a loss. The California school later forfeited this contest to the Nevada school. This contest took place in August but had not been previously reported to the NIAA. As a result of this forfeiture, the recalculation of Harbin Points has affected multiple schools and altered the final standings.”
Foothill suffered a 27-14 loss to Millikan (California) on Aug. 15. A few weeks later, Millikan had to forfeit the game for using an ineligible player, according to reports.
That change was not reported to the NIAA and has caused for a change in its HRM score to move the Falcons into the Open Division.
The NIAA HRM sheet and playoff brackets have been updated to show Foothill in the Open Division at No. 4 and Las Vegas into the Class 5A Southern Region playoffs.
Foothill has the same HRM score (5) as No. 5 Shadow Ridge (5), but the Falcons were placed at No. 4 in the tiebreaker of MaxPreps ranking (No. 10 compared with Shadow Ridge’s No. 14).
Foothill will now play Bishop Gorman in an Open Division state semifinal Nov. 14.
Las Vegas has dropped to No. 6 in the NIAA’s HRM rankings and will be the No. 2 seed in the 5A Southern Region playoffs. The Wildcats will host Mojave in a 5A region quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Thursday.
That change also impacted the other Open Division state semifinal. Arbor View and Liberty have swapped rankings, and the Patriots, now the No. 2 seed, will host No. 3 Arbor View in the other state semifinal.
Liberty was No. 3 in Sunday’s rankings, and Arbor View was No. 2. As a result of Foothill’s added win, Liberty received more Harbin points and jumped back to No. 2.
There were no other changes in the 5A Southern Region playoffs.
This change comes after Sunday, when the NIAA had to revise its rankings after MaxPreps made an update in its state rankings the NIAA was not aware of, impacting team’s HRM score.
Shadow Ridge was in the Open Division in the original final rankings, but was replaced by Las Vegas after the NIAA adjusted its HRM scores following an update to the MaxPreps rankings.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
