Southern California High Schools Cancel Football Playoffs

The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) has canceled the high school football playoffs due to rising COVID-19 cases in Southern California. 

California's high schools delayed fall sports seasons from fall 2020 to spring 2021. The CIF-SS, which at over 600 schools is California's largest section, is scheduled to begin fall sports seasons on Jan. 25 — but the season is expected to be delayed further due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. 

“Today, I must regretfully announce that we are cancelling our 2020-2021 CIF Southern Section Fall Sports Championships due to the COVID pandemic,” said Rob Wigod, CIF-SS Commissioner, in a letter.

The state is using a four-tier system for high school and youth sports during COVID-19 — purple (widespread), red (substantial), orange (moderate) and yellow (minimal). Football can’t begin until a county reaches the orange tier.

“There has not been enough progress made from the purple tier toward the orange tier for football," said Wigod. "Subsequently, there will not be sufficient time to conduct viable league play, which is necessary for us to be able to conduct section championships in those sports."

Currently, the CIF-SS 11-man regular season is scheduled to run through April 17, while 8-man programs can play until April 3.

Photo: AP/Kirby Lee