Officials at Norwich Free Academy will decide soon whether their football program will leave the Eastern Connecticut Conference, league spokesman and Stonington High School athletic director Bryan Morrone wrote in a press release Wednesday afternoon.

Morrone and his colleagues met Wednesday to discuss the future of football scheduling and which schools, if any, would participate — football only — in the Southern Connecticut Conference. No decisions were made, other than the announcement that Woodstock Academy's program will leave the ECC and play an Independent schedule.

Sources in the SCC said Wednesday their league would be willing to accept NFA as their 20th member. The league would also take Ledyard, East Lyme, New London and Fitch, likely adopting a three-division, strength-based scheduling format.

ECC sources said Wednesday it is unlikely that any school other than NFA will leave for the SCC. The sources said while Ledyard and East Lyme would be amenable to leaving, Fitch and New London are not, thereby leaving the same scheduling issues that currently exist.

To wit: Several ECC schools are unwilling to play crossover games against the aforementioned five schools, leaving Fitch, East Lyme, Ledyard, NFA and New London with only six guaranteed conference games for next year. One source called scheduling four nonconference games "a major headache."

"Should NFA choose to stay in the ECC, the format would be three divisions," Morrone wrote in the release. "Division I (NFA, New London, East Lyme, Fitch and Ledyard); Division II (Montville, Stonington, Bacon and Waterford) and Division III (Plainfield, Windham, Killingly and Griswold).  Division I schools would get six games; Div. II schools would get eight to nine games and Division III would get six or seven games."

NFA's departure would leave the ECC with 12 schools and potentially two divisions of six. Division I would feature Fitch, East Lyme, New London, Bacon, Ledyard and Waterford); Division II (Stonington, Killingly, Plainfield, Windham, Montville and Griswold). The schedule would guarantee either an eight- or nine-game configuration.

Morrone said a concept of three divisions was also discussed.

"The ECC will support either decision NFA football makes," Morrone wrote.

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter: @BCgenius