East Central quarterback Holman Edwards carries the ball in the Warriors' 2019 season opener against Northwest Mississippi Community College Aug. 29 in Decatur.

The East Mississippi and East Central football teams will begin their seasons in September and play one less game after the MACJC member school presidents voted Tuesday to make schedule changes within the conference, commissioner Steven Martin confirmed. 

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the presidents approved a two-week delay to the start of the 2020 regular season, pushing Week 1 back to Sept. 10. The 14 community colleges with football programs will also play eight games instead of nine, losing one non-division contest but keeping their six-game division slate. The postseason format will remain unchanged, consisting of a four-team tournament played over two weeks.

“It’s set in stone unless something changes due to COVID-19,” Martin said. “But if things relatively remain the same, that’s what we’re going with, and that was the vote on the recommendations from the presidents.” 

Schedules that were initially released more than two months ago are now being revised, Martin said, as schools raised concerns over their home-away splits. While teams rotated between having five home games and four home games year to year, some found themselves with only three home games after the changes eliminated one contest. The conference will look to give every squad a four-four split between home and road matchups, though it might not work out for everyone.

“Some schools may not get it. We’re going to work very hard to get there, and that’s our goal,” Martin said. “We’ve got a couple small issues to work out with the schedule, but I don’t think it’s anything monumental. These are some unusual times, so obviously we have to make some unusual adjustments.” 

Other sports, such as soccer and basketball, will likely see schedule changes as well, Martin added, with approvals slated to be finalized Tuesday. The NJCAA announced last week that schools will be permitted to allow all student-athletes to return to campus July 18, and that practices for fall sports can begin Aug. 1 with competition starting Aug. 20.