BY DENNIS CHASE and MIKE ECKERT
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TRAVERSE CITY — St. Francis will become an independent in football, beginning with the 2012 season.
Superintendents in the Lake Michigan Conference recently approved a plan that would force the Gladiators out in football, but would still give the two-time defending Division 7 state champions four games against league teams every season. St. Francis would remain in the Lake Michigan Conference in all other sports.
In addition, superintendents voted to extend an offer to St. Ignace to join the league in 2012 for all sports.
League principals and athletic directors have been directed to "look at the league bylaws and make changes to allow this to happen," said outgoing Boyne City superintendent Robert Alger. The principals and athletic directors are meeting in August.
"It's tough for the kids, tough for the program, tough for the history of the Lake Michigan Conference," said Tom Hardy, St. Francis athletic director. "We've been a proud member of the Lake Michigan Conference for 20 years and to see football come to an end is tough."
Elk Rapids and Grayling agreed to play St. Francis on an annual basis, while the remaining league schools would be on a three-year rotation.
The move was necessary, Alger said, to keep the league together. Some schools had voiced frustration about St. Francis' dominance — and margin of victory. The Gladiators have not lost a league game since 2001. And St. Francis outscored its seven league foes by average 50.85 points last season.
"If something couldn't be addressed in football, then some schools were going to start leaving," Alger said. "That wasn't going to be good. There were a lot of different things thrown out on the table. We were trying to come up with an option that would work best for everybody. I think this was the best solution. A lot of schools would lose if the league disbanded. The goal was to try and maintain the league."
Alger said Boyne City was among the schools that had "concerns" about competitiveness within the league.
"Whether or not they (concerns) are valid is neither here nor there," he said. "They were heartfelt. Some of the schools were looking at different options.
"We (Boyne City) have a board of education and an athletic advisory group comprised of parents and coaches that had concerns for the league the way it was with respect to football and the few number of times Traverse City St. Francis has been defeated. My personal take didn't have any bearing. I was the leader of a district and the district took a particular position and that was the position I conveyed.
"I believe the board of education is supportive of this outcome. I think it's in the best interests of all the schools."
Elk Rapids superintendent Steve Prissel, however, preferred the status quo.
"My position, and I have said this from day one, I didn't want to see the conference changed," he said. "I have stuck to that position. (St. Francis) has had, obviously, a very successful football program. At Elk Rapids, we're trying to get to that level. Our coaches and kids think we can do that. So we're going to continue to play them and shoot to be the best."
Prissel said he felt St. Francis was being penalized for its success, but he eventually voted for the plan when he realized it was probably the only "solution" that could appease all parties.
"It's not the best case scenario," he said, "but when I look at it we're still able to play St. Francis every year, and that's what we wanted, and it keeps the Lake Michigan Conference intact. We felt that was the only option at that point."
Prissel voted against adding St. Ignace to the league because of travel concerns.
"I think I was the only no vote," he said. "St. Ignace was part of the equation for this three-year rotation. But I wasn't in favor of driving 21/2 hours (for games) and having my kids get back at 12:30 or 1 o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday night."
Charlevoix superintendent Chet Janik, a former St. Francis administrator, said the decision came down to striking a competitive balance.
"They've (Gladiators) been very dominant and it just was not a very competitive league," he said. "We said we wanted to maintain the league and keep the competitive edges. We wanted to keep St. Francis in the league (for other sports), but give other schools the chance to participate for league titles."
Although league athletic directors did not vote on the issue, East Jordan's Steve Hines said there was plenty of discussion.
"It was mixed," he said. "There were a couple schools in the conference ready to find someone else to play other than St. Francis. There were a couple of schools in the conference still interested in playing them. There were a couple of schools that it didn't really make a whole lot of difference to.
"My personal belief? I didn't feel it was necessary to not play them in football. They've got a great program. They work hard. It's just one game for us during the season. Playing programs like that, hopefully, can rub off. But I know for a lot of people it was difficult to see the lopsided results for such an extended period of time. The percentage of games St. Francis has won since it's been in the conference is pretty amazing."
At least one coach thought St. Francis piled it on.
Hines didn't go that far.
"It's just they were good," he said. "Not only was their first string good, but so was their second, third and fourth. They have a solid program."
Jim Standerfer, the Elk Rapids athletic director, said he "feels" for St. Francis.
"It was no issue for us," he said. "We stood beside St. Francis and still do. We want them in the league and we want to play them every year. Playing St. Francis is good for Elk Rapids. It's good competition and we want to continue that.
"They're a great program. Sure it's nice to win the league, but the ultimate goal is a state championship. I feel, and our coaches feel, that we need to play a program the caliber of St. Francis if we want to succeed in the playoffs. We think it's a great rivalry. Obviously, they've had the upperhand on us, but we've given them some pretty good games the last few years. We want our program to be at that level (so) we need to see it and we need to play at that level. It's a no-brainer for me. I feel bad for them because now it's going to be hard for them to schedule games. With the playoff scenario, where you have to get six wins to get in, I don't know what schools in the state will want to pick up St. Francis because most likely St. Francis may beat them. They're going to have a hard time."
Hardy realizes that, too.
"Next week got a lot bigger," he said of his return to school for the fall. "The reality is football schedules are planned five to 10 years out. You have to in football or you're behind the eight-ball."
What about possible games with West and Central?
"Wouldn't that be something," Standerfer said. "If they did, what a gate that would be. All schools would want to have that."
St. Ignace, meanwhile, will now mull its options.
"St. Ignace is always interested in looking at other options because we're small with 225 kids and getting smaller," school athletic director Martin Spencer said. "My question to the Lake Michigan Conference is this — would they be adverse to having a Class D school in there because that's what we'll be soon?"
The Saints currently play in the Straits Area Conference with Rudyard, Rogers City and Newberry.
"With any upgrade for football, I'm all for it," Spencer said. "But there's still a lot out there we don't know yet."
St. Ignace has opened the season with Charlevoix since 1995 and has played East Jordan in Week 2 each of the last four seasons.
"It's a quality league," Spencer said. "We'll look at it. We'll never shut the door on anything. It's intriguing and it definitely would cut our travel down."
