New Jersey Votes In Favor of Statewide High School Football Playoff

New Jersey is a step closer to crowning overall state champions in high school football.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association membership voted 318-12, with six abstentions, in favor of allowing a playoff system. The playoff will allow the Garden State to crown a single state champion in all of the state’s groups.

The vote removes a decade-old clause in the governing body’s constitution that prohibited the crowning of a state champ.

The next step will be to establish a structure that allows for a complete state championship. The New Jersey Football Coaches Association has proposed an 8-game regular season with 32-team brackets in the five public school divisions.

The NJSIAA’s advisory committee will need to approve the playoff structure, which could be put into play in 2022 at the earliest.

New Jersey crowned high school football state champions until 1931.