The Kentucky High School Athletic Association has tweaked the football mercy rule for a second time since its implementation over two decades ago.
At its Wednesday Board of Control meeting in Lexington, the KHSAA lowered the threshold for a running clock from 36 to 35 points.
Under the 36-point format, teams scoring a fifth touchdown in a shutout had to go for a two-point conversion to trigger the running clock. That will no longer be the case.
The KHSAA adopted a 45-point mercy rule in 2001 but lowered it to 36 points in 2013 after a survey showed Kentucky had one of the highest thresholds in the country.
The Board of Control also approved changes for the football classification period to two years for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
A survey of the 51 state associations showed that 34 utilized two-year alignment periods while just six, including Kentucky, utilized four years.
In Kentucky, the only sports affected by classifications are football, track and field, and cross country.
