New FCIAC Football Schedule to Have Major Impact on Traditional Fairfield Warde, Ludlowe Thanksgiving Day Game

The FCIAC Board of Directors approved a new football schedule Tuesday night that will move the traditional Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe rivalry game off Thanksgiving Day.

The Board of Directors voted 11-2 to keep the annual championship game, which will now be played on Thanksgiving Day and pushes the traditional rivalry games to the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Under the new schedule, which covers the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, all 17 member schools will play a nine-game regular season and the league will be broken into two divisions and the division winners will play in the FCIAC Championship.

The winner of each division will be determined by overall record. If two teams in a division have the same record, the tie will be broken by head to head competition. If head-to-head record cannot break the tie, CIAC power points will then be used. If power points still do not reveal a division winner, the tie will be broken by determining which team beat the highest-ranked team.

According to a press release, the schedule was approved by a vote of FCIAC football coaches on April 8 and athletic directors on April 24, and confirmed by the league’s Board of Directors on Tuesday, April 28.

The football coaches were 9-1 in favor with one abstention. Six coaches did not attend.

Athletic Directors were 10-7 in favor and the Board of Directors confirmed by an 11-2 margin.