The Marquette Senior High School football team takes the field for its homecoming game against Escanaba at William R. Hart Stadium in Marquette on Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The addition of girls field hockey as a sponsored postseason championship sport is the most significant changes to fall sports involving Upper Peninsula schools as practices are set to begin Monday for an anticipated 100,000 high school athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools.

There are several rules changes, however, affecting the most popular sports for boys and for girls during the fall season.

In fall 2024, there were 36,210 football players, nearly all boys, among MHSAA schools, while there were 19,679 girls playing volleyball.

The most noticeable will probably be a shifting of the state finals in 11-player football at Ford Field in Detroit.

This year, instead of playing on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), the finals will be on the Friday and Sunday that follow Thanksgiving, since Michigan State’s college football team will host Maryland at the Detroit Lions’ home field on Saturday, Nov. 29.

Negaunee receiver Weston Yesney crosses the goal line to score a touchdown on a pass reception in the first quarter of a West PAC game played against Houghton at Miner Stadium in Negaunee on Oct. 18. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

The even-numbered divisions will still play the first day, Friday, Nov. 28, with the odd-numbered divisions on the second, now Sunday, Nov. 30.

Another playoff change comes in eight-player football — semifinals in both divisions will be played at neutral sites rather than being hosted by the team with the highest playoff-point average.

For the regular season, football teams that forfeit games will no longer receive playoff-point average strength-of-schedule bonus points from those opponents to which they forfeited.

Beginning practice this week are players from those sports, along with girls and boys cross country, boys soccer, U.P. girls tennis and the new sport this year, field hockey.

Competition can begin Friday in cross country, soccer, tennis and field hockey; Wednesday, Aug. 20, for volleyball; and Thursday, Aug. 28, for football.

Field hockey will be joined by boys volleyball as new MHSAA sports this school year, with boys volleyball being played in the spring.

Not too surprisingly, no U.P. team is on the list of 37 that will play field hockey this fall. There will be one playoff division, with the first MHSAA regionals beginning Oct. 8 and the first championship awarded Oct. 25.

Some changes in boys soccer address sportsmanship.

The first allows officials to take action against a team’s head coach in addition to any cautions or ejections issues to players and personnel in that team’s bench area — making the head coach more accountable for behavior on the sideline.

The second change allows for only the team captain to speak with an official during the breaks between periods (halftime and during overtime), unless another coach, player, or other team official is summoned by the official — with the penalty a yellow card to the offending individual.

A few more game-action rules changes will be quickly noticeable to participants and spectators:  

• In football, when a forward fumble goes out of bounds, the ball will now be spotted where the fumble occurred instead of where the ball crossed the sideline.

• In volleyball, multiple contacts by one player attempting to play the ball will now be allowed on second contact if the next contact is by a teammate on the same side of the net. 

The 2025 fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the U.P. Finals in girls tennis during the week of Sept. 29 and wrapping up with the 11-player football finals right after Thanksgiving.

Other fall finals involving U.P. teams are the following:

• Cross country — U.P. Finals, Oct. 18

• 11-player football — Selection Sunday, Oct. 26; district semifinals, Oct. 31-Nov. 1; district finals, Nov. 7-8; regional finals, Nov. 14-15; semifinals, Nov. 22; state finals, Nov. 28 and 30

• 8-player football — Selection Sunday, Oct. 26; regional semifinals, Oct. 31-Nov. 1; regional finals, Nov. 7-8; semifinals, Nov. 15; state finals, Nov. 22

• Boys soccer — district tournaments, Oct. 8-18; regionals, Oct. 21-25; semifinals, Oct. 29, state finals, Nov. 1

• Girls tennis — U.P. Finals, Oct. 1-4

• Volleyball — district tournaments, Nov. 3-8; regionals, Nov. 11 and 13; quarterfinals, Nov. 18; semifinals, Nov. 20-21; state finals, Nov. 22