Football Committee weighs Super Bowl lengths

The MIAA Football Committee agreed in principle to a new format to be forwarded to the Tournament Management Committee, but they left the meeting with some questions.

In dispute is the length of Super Bowl games at Gillette Stadium. As of now, any Super Bowl games at Gillette are to be played with 10-minute quarters — allowing six games to be played in one day.

That contradicts National Federation rules that require regular season and playoff games leading to a state final have 12-minute quarters.

Former St. John’s Prep athletic director and football coach Jim O’Leary was one of two members who abstained from the vote (15-0-2 in favor).

“The committee voted 18-0 in the past to stay consistent with the 12-minute quarters throughout the season,” O’Leary said. “We did vote on this and it was unanimous in this committee.”

Milton head football coach and committee member Steve Dembowski agreed with O’Leary. He said the coaches are merely looking for consistency across the board.

“Eight less minutes is major,” Dembowski said. “Altering it after playing 11-12 games with 12-minute quarters to get (to the Super Bowl) is major. We have to remain consistent moving forward.”

MIAA football liaison Richard Pearson, the point man in all negotiations with Gillette Stadium, said the Kraft family (which owns the bowl games’ broadcast rights) has been adamant in wanting six games on Saturday.

The contract expires following the 2021 season. Pearson vowed to committee members he would work closely with them while addressing the issue of playing five games instead of six at Gillette.

Another topic of discussion concerned point differential for power rankings. A subcommittee agreed that there should be a 14-point cap placed on any game; if a team beats the other by more than 14, they would only get credit for a 14-point win.

The committee OK’d the measure 16-0-1 for the time being. Dembowski asked if that number could be revisited down the road and was told it could be. When he pressed on how they came up with 14 points, O’Leary said it was a sportsmanship issue.

“Fourteen points is not a lot,” Dembowski said. “In today’s game with the offenses, that can be made up pretty quickly.”