News from the Minnesota State High School League, "Mercy" Rules Approved For Football And Basketball

From Kyle Gylsen, Vikinglandsports.com =

On Tuesday, the Minnesota State High School League's board of directors approved mercy rules for football and basketball, but decided not to cut the number of wrestling classes.

In basketball, the mercy rule will go into effect when a team has a 35-point lead in the final nine minutes of a varsity game. The clock will go to running (non-stop) time. The game will return to stop time when the margin is 30 points or when a timeout is called.

In football, when the lead is 35 points in the fourth quarter, the clock will go to running time. The clock will return to stop time when the margin is trimmed to 30 points. The rule will go into effect this fall.

The MSHSL rejected two motions designed to reduce the number of weight classes from the current 14. The first motion was to drop to 12 weight classes on a two-year trial basis. A second motion was to drop to 13.