DES MOINES - The Iowa High School Athletic Association's Board of Control voted Monday to adopt a nine game regular season schedule and a 16-team qualifier field for all football classes in the playoffs starting in 2016.

The change means a reduction from 32 teams which currently qualify for the post-season in each class.

The schedules for this fall and the 2015 regular season and playoffs remain unchanged as previously published at www.iahsaa.org.

The move came after review of the current playoff system which allows fewer days of rest and recovery between each game in the post-season. In a nod toward player safety and risk-minimization, the IHSAA had been looking at several options.

"Today's actions put in place a scenario for the football post-season which allows for one week between games," said Alan Beste, IHSAA executive director. "The driving force behind this decision is player safety and keeping the best interest of our students at the forefront."

At their meeting April 29, the IHSAA Board of Control had a discussion regarding the football start date and schedule beginning with the 2016 season. The Board considered many options at that meeting, but decided to gather further input from the IHSAA membership through the IHSAA Representative Council, Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association (IHSADA) and Iowa Football Coaches Association (IFCA).

Football is the largest high school participation sport in Iowa among males with 20,630 participants, according to the 2013-2014 IHSAA annual participation survey.