Football: WJFL prepares for CAL teams

By Phil Anastasia

Inquirer Staff Writer

The West Jersey Football League held its annual coaches meeting/media day on Wednesday at Lenape High School.

This season will mark the sixth for the league that has dramatically changed the landscape of football in South Jersey. And more change is on the horizon.

While everyone is focused on the upcoming season -- with practices for most squads set to being next week -- a big topic of discussion is the pending addition of the Cape Atlantic League, which will join the WJFL for the 2016 season.

WJFL president Bud Kowal, the AD at Ewing High School, said Wednesday that the league's executive committee met before the coaches arrived and began preliminary discussions on division alignments and schedules for the 2016-17 cycle.

Kowal said the WJFL's scheduling committee -- which includes five members from each of the conferences that make up the super conference -- likely will meet in late October or early November to try to firm up divisional alignments for what will be an 83-team league when the CAL schools join the fold.

Kowal confirmed that the 17 CAL teams are likely to enter the WJFL in three divisions of six, six and five teams.

Kowal also said it was likely that the three CAL non-public teams -- Holy Spirit, St. Augustine and St. Joseph -- would be placed in separate divisions.

Although nothing is set, this is one possible alignment of the 17 CAL schools in three divisions under the WJFL umbrella:

Atlantic Division: Absegami, Atlantic City, Egg Harbor Twp., Millville, St. Joseph, Vineland.

Pacific Division: Cedar Creek, Mainland, Oakcrest, Ocean City, St. Augustine.

Ocean Division: Bridgeton, Buena, Holy Spirit, Lower Cape May, Middle Twp., Pleasantville.

The middle division is the most likely to have five schools as those teams -- which would play just four division games -- can play cross-over games both up and down with familiar rivals in close geographic proximity.

What will be most interesting will be the cross-over games that the WJFL assigns to the CAL non-publics, all of which have been among the strongest programs in South Jersey -- with St. Joseph, in particular, ranking among the best of the best in the area.

It's likely that all three teams will play each other, which would account for two cross-over games.

But it will be interesting to see if St. Joseph renews its annual Thanksgiving rivalry with Hammonton -- Kowal said that would happen if both schools request it -- and/or if the Wildcats get a cross-over game with public power such as Timber Creek or non-public program such as Camden Catholic.

The same goes for St. Augustine -- which would seem a natural rival with Paul VI -- and Holy Spirit.

Some public school teams have misgivings about playing non-public powers. Williamstown coach Frank Fucetola, for instance, said Wednesday that he would be opposed to playing those non-public schools because they have athletes from the Williamstown district.

Fucetola is not alone in taking that position, which will be a bit of a complication for WJFL schedule-makers later this year.

Kowal said with 83 schools the WJFL would be able to give full, 9-game schedules to 82 teams, with one school getting 8 games.

If Wildwood is unable to field a team -- an annual concern for the small-school Warriors -- the league would have 82 teams with full schedules.

-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com

-- Folow @PhilAnastasia on Twitter