Blake Marsh and Warsaw will be on the move again in football after the state announced a new set of alignments for the next two sectional tournaments. (File photo by Mike Deak)

INDIANAPOLIS – Going back over its facts and figures, the IHSAA made a final set of adjustments to its football sectional alignments, and Warsaw is among those in the realm of changes.

The Tigers will stay in the Region for 2019, dwelling in the four-team grid of Class 6-A Sectional 2 with Penn, Chesterton and Portage. This differs from where Warsaw was originally slated to go for 2019, which was to the Fort Wayne area sectional with Homestead, Fort Wayne Carroll and Noblesville. The Fort Wayne group will instead welcome in Fort Wayne Snider.

Snider and Indianapolis Cathedral were two teams that state had to assess among its Tournament Success Factor ruling. Per the IHSAA in a release Monday morning, “Due to the recent change in the Tournament Success Factor point system, an updated version of the 2019 and 2020 football state tournament assignments in Classes 6A and 5A was approved Friday by the IHSAA Executive Committee.

“The modification to the Tournament Success Factor at its April 29 meeting lowered the number of points needed (from 3
points to 2 points) by a school already playing in a higher classification to continue playing in that same class for another
two years. Schools that win a regional championship in a single season or a sectional championship in back‐to‐back seasons
would remain in that same higher class. The rule previously had required three points (two sectional titles and a regional
title) to continue in that class.

“With that rule change, both Fort Wayne Snider and Indianapolis Cathedral each accumulated two points over the last two
seasons, enough to remain in Class 6A and 5A, respectively. The sectional assignment announcement released on April 29
had Snider in Class 5A, Sectional 11 and Cathedral in Class 4A, Sectional 22, the same day the new tournament success
factor rule was changed. Snider has now been assigned to 6A, Sectional 3, while Cathedral will be in 5A, Sectional 13.

“That rule change coupled with Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial consolidating to form a new and larger Elkhart High
School which will compete in 6A in 2020, affects several teams from one year to the next. One of those is Zionsville, which
will compete in 6A, Sectional 5 in 2019 but 5A, Sectional 12 in 2020. Previously, Valparaiso had been that school which
would split time between classes but will now spend both years in 5A, Sectional 9. Another is Carmel which will compete in
Sectional 4 in 2019 but Sectional 5 in 2020.”

The 2020 format will see Elkhart take Warsaw’s place in Sectional 2, with Warsaw shifting to Sectional 3 with Carroll, Homestead and Snider, and Noblesville shifting to Sectional 4. Carmel, with everyone shifting right, would move to Sectional 5 in the south, which should be of interest to those in the southern half of the state, where the rest of the Metro Interscholastic Conference resides.