High School Football Thread 2012-13

[JonInMiddleGA]

While discussion may not be quite as intense as it was during Skydog's tenure at Tucker, I think we've still got enough fans of high school football to warrant a thread. Of course we've got coaches here but I'm not sure if we have any parents with kids playing yet. Not limited to those with direct involvement, if you're keeping up with your alma mater or just run across something you wanted to share then this thread seems like a good place for it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm not bashful, so I'll start with the game nearest & dearest to me.

It's "week zero" but Athens Academy travels to Glascock County to open the 2012 regular season tonight. My son & his two cohorts will have all the action as one of the longest-running student produced webcasts in the nation heads into its 12th season of coverage. Pregame starts at 715p, kickoff at 730p
Spartans Webcast (https://sites.google.com/a/athensacademy.org/athensacademywebcast/)

First trip there for all of us (teams have met twice in the late 90s) so not sure what we're going to find in the 4th smallest county in Georgia (pop just over 3,000). We're hoping for sufficient bandwidth to do our usual full video production but are prepared to go old-school & do audio-only if necessary. The kids love seeing web traffic from all over the country so a click during the coverage would be appreciated.
--------
How about this matchup: 2-time defending GISA Class AA champ Piedmont Academy at 2-time defending GISA Class A champ Westwood Academy, both teams riding 26 game winning streaks. Believed to be the most consecutive wins to face each other in state history but one of those streaks has to end tonight in Camilla.

This is the small (or even tiny) private school league instead of the dominant association but how often does a matchup like this happen? And how many coaches would be willing to put their streak on the line in a non-region season opener? Piedmont is where my son started school many years ago, I know players, coaches and parents who are involved in this one. Pre-season reports seem to make Westwood a pretty heavy favorite at home, graduation hit Piedmont hard after last season.
----------
The #1 HS team in the nation - Grayson - opens the season against McEachern in the Georgia Dome as part of the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. If you wonder why they're so highly regarded, look no further than the defense Grayson could have seven FBS signees on its defense this season. What's the record? We don't know. But Grayson's seven will line up something like this - DE Robert Nkemdiche (Clemson), DE Jack Banda (Arizona), DT Zach Barnes (Tennessee), OLB Wayne Gallman (Clemson), DB David Kamara (Clemson), DB Ryan Carter (Ole Miss offer, and others) and DB Kasey Gaines (offer from Penn State). "And that doesn't include one of our best players, Jordan Germany," said Grayson coach Mickey Conn, who expresses amazement that Germany doesn't have similar offers. "He's unbelievable." Germany is the outside linebacker opposite Gallman and also plays running back.

[BYU 14]

We open tonight against #9 Mesa Red Mountain on the road. This is the first time in 6 years Westview has not been ranked in the top 10 pre-season, so we have something to prove.

We are a young, junior laden team, so that will be part of the storyline in this one as we will be looking for leaders to emerge early. Our lone returning starter in the backfield is a good one as Senior TB Seivion Morris has a chance to become our leading all time rusher, entering his senior season with over 2500 career yards.

Key matchup will be our speed against their size.

[albionmoonlight]

Taking my four-year old to his first live football game tonight. The local high school (to which I have no connection other than the fact that it is five minutes from our house) is playing its first home game.

It will be his first football game ever any my first high school game since 1994. Very much looking forward to it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I guess I ought to at least thumbnail what I'm expecting from Athens Academy this year.

On paper things looked pretty tough. We go into the spring with no experience at QB at all, only one undersized RB, were looking at starting a freshman at MLB.

Meanwhile a D1 recruit RB transferred from a 4A school to one of our newest rivals (George Walton Academy) I don't see anybody in the region who can hope to stop him, most won't even be able to slow him down. Then our crosstown rival (Prince Avenue Christian) was coming off a final four appearance led by their coach's son who was region PotY last season ... except that LB/RB and two other starters withdrew from school after "violation of rules" (widely known to be drug related, it was withdraw or be expelled) and set them back considerably although they still return a lot of experience. Add in a rebuilding traditional powerhouse (Commerce) and the enigma of the dirtiest recruiting program in the state (Athens Christian) and it looked like a 5 team race for the post-season.

Confusing things further is the brand new public/private split that only applies to the playoffs. Instead of top 4 region finishers going into a 32 team playoff bracket, now it's region winners only guaranteed, with a "power rating" system to determine the at-large berths in each of the separate 16 team fields.

As so-so as our season looked in the summer, it might be at least a little brighter after watching the scrimmage against a bad but larger school last week. Just days before camp opened we got a big addition, a lightning fast basketball star whose parents are decidedly not thrilled with him risking his future playing football. He caught 2 TD's in the scrimmage, simple routes where he just outran everybody. With our all-state kicker (with remarkable speed) starting at the other WR, suddenly we become a team that looks a little dangerous offensively ... IF a thin OL holds up and IF the starting QB can learn on the job very quickly.

[rjolley]

Jon, would that basketball player be E Williams?

[Poli]

De Soto (MO) hosts Pacific. I'll be filming for De Soto for my fourth year now, with a few gamedays off here and there.

De Soto's best player is/was supposed to be at SEMO now. Our QB is a decent athlete but unless something's changed for us I expect it to be a long year for the Dragons.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jon, would that basketball player be E Williams?

It is indeed ... and it almost worries me that you knew that ;)

I watched Eric do things on a football field in 8th grade that were just shocking. (I think I may have recounted those in some thread or another at the time). He was at such a different level than the 7th-8th grade competition that he literally ended up being told not to score, resorting to running the width of the field one evening once he got to the 20 or so.

Last year was a lost season for him, a football novice with reluctant parents, he sat out until just after camp & then (with considerable conversation amongst players & coaches) was allowed to join the team. He never really caught up from being out of the loop for so long.

This year there was apparently more communication & a plan, and he looks like a different guy vs last year. Still green as hell, but at this level speed like his isn't easy to find ... or match.

[rjolley]

LOL I know him because he plays on the AAU team I coach. I knew he played football and was very good, but didn't know he'd decided to play in high school.

Hope he does well and stays healthy. The kid has a lot of potential in basketball and is a very good athlete overall. Just needs more confidence.

[JonInMiddleGA]

LOL I know him because he plays on the AAU team I coach. I knew he played football and was very good, but didn't know he'd decided to play in high school.

Hope he does well and stays healthy. The kid has a lot of potential in basketball and is a very good athlete overall. Just needs more confidence.

OMG, so you're the guy that I've been cussing all summer "if it wasn't for that $#%@$% AAU team he'd have been here getting ready ..." :D

The most interesting thing here is your comment about him needing more confidence. While he isn't the cockiest player to ever pass through these parts by any means, maybe the biggest problem I've seen with him on the hardwood is keeping him playing within himself and nothing that really hinted at a lack of confidence.

Dang it's a small world.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I think it's the cast of players on the team that causes me to say that more than him. And the confidence issues weren't there this year as much. We as coaches just see what he can do when he's confident and wish we could see that all of the time.

And yes, we're the one's keeping him from being at summer camp. Any kids that can score like he did as a freshman on varsity needs to get some exposure on the court over the summer. :)

I'm going to try to catch one of his football games this year. I'm definitely going to make a couple of the basketball games as well. Have a few other players who are playing football that I need to see as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm going to try to catch one of his football games this year. I'm definitely going to make a couple of the basketball games as well. Have a few other players who are playing football that I need to see as well.

Check out the webcast tonight for a bit of a preview. If things go as they should (against one of the historically worst football programs in the state) then he might just find himself with an opportunity to show out considerably :)

We aren't likely to do much that isn't pretty vanilla but that might be all it takes if the talent gap is as big as I suspect it will be.

[JonInMiddleGA]

41-7 Athens Academy win over poor Glascock County. More stressful for the webcast crew (and me in particular) than for our players & coaches. But that's not really a HS football issue.

Game story is here
http://onlineathens.com/sports/prep/2012-08-24/schulte-leads-athens-academy-over-glascock-county-season-opener

Highlights: new QB abused fair weak team, threw for two TD's (both to our big TE who rumbled for great YAC) and ran for two more.
Lowlights: four fumbles, three of which we lost

Best moment at a game in a long while: Turned out to be the last play of the game, freshman 3rd string QB in just to take the snap run into the line & get tackled. Somebody didn't quite clue the defense into the plan, kid bounced off one guy, then another & another and found himself outside & alone. 74 yards to the end zone. Why does that make me so happy? That's my son's best friend & a genuine good kid. 1 varsity play, 74 yards rushing & 1 TD. Heck of a box score for your debut :)

One other note, despite what you might expect, there isn't an ounce of quit in those kids from Glascock. Lot of character from a short roster than has such a poor football history that losing by 34 is somewhat of a moral victory. The were still bringing it as hard as they could on that last play as they did on the kickoff, something that I honestly have a hard time comprehending.

[Poli]

De Soto wins over Pacific, 26-13. Pretty ugly game for both teams.

De Soto took the ball on the opening drive and probably surprised everyone with a no-huddle, wing-T look. During pregame I was a little surprised to find I out I was 'snapping' under center rather than from shotgun. Then we broke out the option series and I went from little surprised to very.

Coach Thompson's is starting his 6th season at De Soto. The first year, he ran a very simple near/far offense and just tried to kill the clock. They had 1 victory on the season. The next season, the offense was changed to a spread veer. The team won 8 games. I came onboard after that...I believe we have won 19 games over the past three years running essentially the same stuff.

We score on the first drive and miss the extra point. 6-0. Pacific, led by former NFLer George Hinkle (his son being a DE and OT on the team) answered on the next drive and hit the XP. 7-6. De Soto's next score would come from a PICK 6 by the De Soto quarterback/corner. The 2 point conversion would be no good. That would be the score at the half.

De Soto would aid in Pacific's efforts with a fumble and then a miscue in the secondary. The result was a touchdown pass that put the Pacific Indians up 13-12. The extra point clanged off the left upright.

The Dragons would march down the field to close out much of the 3rd quarter. A surprise deep ball to the endzone resulted in a very smart pass interference play. The defensive back ran right into the waiting arms of the receiver in the endzone rather than try and turn to find the ball. A 15 yard penalty is better than risking giving up the score, in my opinion anyhow.

It paid off as the Dragons turned the ball over on downs at the Indian 5 just before the 4th quarter started.

It looked like the Indians could potentially seal this game off as they moved the ball slowly up field, but the soph QB fumbled the ball away at the Indian 35. A few wing-t plays later, the Dragons pulled out a trick play and threw a halfback pass to the endzone. The pass floated allowing the defense to react. The end caught the pass, but was quickly knocked down and the ball bounced away. The referees discussed it briefly and then ruled it a touchdown. Considering it was the winning score, it was a critical call by the referees, and I'm not sure it was the right one. I wish I was in the film room now to see it (instead I came home for baby duty). The 2 point conversion was good. 20-13, De Soto.

The Indians moved the ball well but stalled around the Trojan 40. With a 3rd and 15, the Indians were called for holding on an incomplete pass. Instead of declining the penalty, the Dragons chose to take the 3rd and 25. I personally didn't like that decision. They're down a score with 9 minutes to go. They're likely going to punt and try to stop you on offense. Even if they don't I like my chances of them not gaining 15 yards on one play.

The Indians come out with an empty formation, the first time they showed it all game. I expected a time out to be called, but it didn't happen. Just as I expected, the coverage was broken as a result. They didn't get all 25...just 20.

Ball on the 30, 5 yards to go...Hinkle elects to pooch punt. I have to assume he regrets that decision now. It was honestly a great pooch punt. It died at the 5 yard line. 8:30 to go. De Soto took 8:26 to score the final touchdown, running the ball the entire drive. 26-13.

Normally, Coach Thompson doesn't try to score that last touchdown and takes a knee to end the game. I've seen him do that at least three times in my time there. I think there may have been some payback from last season in that.

Last season, Coach Thompson put in the 2nd string while up 39-14. Turning the ball over on downs deep in Pacific's territory, Coach Hinkle kept his starters in and everyone ran fly routes. They connected to score just before the end of the game.

[VPI97]

The #1 HS team in the nation - Grayson - opens the season against McEachern in the Georgia Dome as part of the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. If you wonder why they're so highly regarded, look no further than the defense Grayson could have seven FBS signees on its defense this season. What's the record? We don't know. But Grayson's seven will line up something like this - DE Robert Nkemdiche (Clemson), DE Jack Banda (Arizona), DT Zach Barnes (Tennessee), OLB Wayne Gallman (Clemson), DB David Kamara (Clemson), DB Ryan Carter (Ole Miss offer, and others) and DB Kasey Gaines (offer from Penn State). "And that doesn't include one of our best players, Jordan Germany," said Grayson coach Mickey Conn, who expresses amazement that Germany doesn't have similar offers. "He's unbelievable." Germany is the outside linebacker opposite Gallman and also plays running back.
We're heading to the Dome to watch the game this morning...I know Grayson is all this and all that, but don't count out McEachern. I've watched the boys in the junior class play ball since they were little guys (my daughter is a junior cheerleader for McEachern) and have never seen a more talented bunch of kids...IIRC, that age group was undefeated all the way from pee wee football all through JV. The QB, Ty (Tee) Clemons, is phenominal, but for his first varsity start to be against the #1 high school defense in the nation...in the freaking Georgia Dome...is probably going to be a bit overwhelming for him. If Tee can keep his head on straight, they have chance...if not, it may be a long day for the Indians.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City (MO) extends their state record regular season winning streak to 82 games with a 44 - 3 win over Carl Junction. It is also the 31st win in a row for the back-to-back state champions.

And Joplin (MO) gets off to a great start by beating Glendale 50 - 7. Joplin lost to Glendale 55- 37 last season, will be interesting to see if Joplin has improved that much or if Glendale is just that bad.

[Senator]

Next Friday, ESD plays its first game of the season under a new head coach, (my brother) and it's offensive coach (me) and it's new ball boy and tee holder (my 6 year old son). It will be a fun family affair. If we win. If not, the wives and grandmothers, and moms will be in our ear.

[BYU 14]

Tough start for us and the area of concern, a very young and inexperienced secondary (Lost all 4 starters from last season) was our downfall. We led Red Mountain 26-20 halfway through the 3rd and then gave up 26 unanswered to lose 46-26 to a legit top 10 team. There will be plenty of good to take from this and our secondary has a whole season to improve and be tested for the playoffs. We will be top 10 by seasons end I have no doubt.

The bad though. The opposing QB threw 5 TD strikes and 3 came over the top in third and long situations.
80 yard strike on 3rd and 13
79 yard strike on 3rd and 23 (UGH)
48 yd strike on 3rd and 12

Plays like that just take your soul after you have put a team in a whole. Our run defense was solid, they had negative yards at the half and finished the game with around 35, but that goes out the window when you are riddled for nearly 500 yards through the air :banghead:

[Ben E Lou]

Taking my four-year old to his first live football game tonight. The local high school (to which I have no connection other than the fact that it is five minutes from our house) is playing its first home game.

It will be his first football game ever any my first high school game since 1994. Very much looking forward to it.Our 3-year-old accompanied us to a couple of Charleston Southern games when she was 6ish months old, but hasn't been to a game since. I was just thinking last night that I'll be taking her to see the Hanahan Hawks at least once this fall. She loves watching football on TV (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2576062&postcount=198) with Daddy. I checked the schedule and they were out of town last night, but I'll no doubt take her to a game in the next few weeks. I randomly popped in on a high school basketball game with her last winter and she absolutely loved the crowd, cheerleaders, etc., so I'd expect a similar reaction. (By randomly, I mean that we were in the car heading home from somewhere else, and I saw all the cars and said, "Hmmm...she might like this.")

Hanahan has gone through, for them, a down cycle after moving up to Class AAA a few seasons ago. They had a streak of 8ish straight Region Titles before the move. The population of our little municipality grew by more than 40% from 2000 to 2010, the growth mostly fueled by the huge new development in which I live. My general observation about the development as a whole is that the population of high school kids who grew up playing football is probably relatively low, so basically my guess is that the school has added numbers, forcing them to play at a higher level, but without really adding much talent. The development is very large, and is heavily populated by parents of younger kids. There's simply no way the school will support the population as these kids grow up. If we're living in this house 11 years from now when Carter is a freshman, I expect she will be attending a high school that doesn't exist today (unless she goes to private school.) So for now, we will be Hanahan fans, but we're not donating to the QB Club of the likely eventual enemy. ;)

The Hawks play rival Bishop England at home this Friday night. BE is a private Catholic School that's fairly nearby. Heading toward the beach, it's the closest high school to Hanahan, and it may be the closest one period. The Bishops are still AA, so this is no longer a Region game. The wife and kid are heading to the in-laws' on Thursday for a long Labor Day Weekend and it's a busy time at work, so I need to stay here. Serendipitously, they're trying to start YoungLife at Hanahan with a very young leadership team, so the local director has called on the wise old retired vet to take the college kids to dinner before a game, impart some wisdom, and show 'em how to meet kids in the stands at a high school football game without coming off like a stalker. ;) Should be fun.

[albionmoonlight]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/vows.png

[JonInMiddleGA]

Our QB was named local Prep Player of the Week. And, somewhat incredibly, we're actually getting talked up by the Atlanta media as a possible top ten team. Umm ... I think they ought to remind themselves who we played.

http://onlineathens.com/sports/prep/2012-08-28/prep-player-week-schulte-sparks-spartans-season-opening-rout

[sterlingice]

Texas school to open $60M football field of dreams - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/texas-school-open-60m-football-field-dreams-181823328--spt.html)

Wow- just wow. And, as one commenter said:

"About 63 percent of voters supported a $119 million bond package in 2009..."

Can't even yell at misdirected government for this one.

SI

[tarcone]

Our home opener has the game time switched from 7 pm to 5:30 pm due to Isaac rolling through. They want to get it in before the heavy rain hits.

Im outside of St Louis, by the way.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Southwest Atlanta Christian (one of the state's smallest private schools fielding a football team) has forfeited tomorrow's game against North Cobb Christian, a pair of teams that went 1-9 last year. The story began as something about SWAC having sent out their pads & helmets to be reconditioned but they haven't come back yet. The growing rumor seems to be that they're down to 14 players and are planning to forfeit the entire season.

Why is this notable? Our NBA fans here may recognize the name Dwight Howard ... his dad Dwight Sr. is the AD at SWAC.

[CU Tiger]

hell 14 is enough to field a team, my Junior year in HS we lost in the SC state 3A championship game with 13 players on the roster.

BTW really looking forward to watching Grayson v Miami Central game tomorrow night. Me and about 50 friends who are going to party in ATL on Saturday are dropping in on the way down...a total of 5 Clemson committs will be on the field between the two teams and we are going to show the Orange as best we can. :)

No hundred dolla hand shakes tho

[JonInMiddleGA]

hell 14 is enough to field a team

Field one yes.
Field a competitive one at this particular school? Not really.

In four seasons of football they're posted a 4-36 record. Only 6 of their last 20 games have been decided by less than two touchdowns. It borders on being a counterproductive use of resources for them, they look pretty clueless on the field (we played them last yr & yr before as the season opener).

[BYU 14]

Our varsity had such a lopsided game tonight it was not even fun. Tolleson used to be our big rival, but they have fallen on hard times. We ran a total of 14 plays in the first half and led 48-3 at Halftime. Final was 61-3 with the backups playing from the end of the second quarter on. Not much to say after a game like that, we just totally outclassed them.

And on top of that, next week we play Maryvale, who Tolleson beat 27-13 in their opener....It will be another short night for the starters.

[Senator]

My brother won his first high school head coaching game tonight 42-17. I helped.

[JonInMiddleGA]

WTG BYU 14
WTG Senator (and Senator's bro)

[CraigSca]

This thread is awesome. Love to hear reports about the upcoming games and of course, the results.

Senator, what's ESD stand for? What city, state? Congrats to your brother!

[fpres]

Texas school to open $60M football field of dreams - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/texas-school-open-60m-football-field-dreams-181823328--spt.html)



Allen pretty much dominated Southlake Carroll (the defending Texas 5A Div I state champ), 24-0, last night. Great way to open their new stadium.

[Senator]

This thread is awesome. Love to hear reports about the upcoming games and of course, the results.

Senator, what's ESD stand for? What city, state? Congrats to your brother!


Dallas, Texas.

[cougarfreak]

The school I teach at has a pretty big time prospect at QB. He's a jr., name is Drew Barker. He made some Nike elite 11 list (I'm ignorant of football "lists" and such), and has picked up some pretty big time offers from the likes of South Carolina, Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, and WKU. A lot of big time schools are showing interest as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The school I teach at has a pretty big time prospect at QB. He's a jr., name is Drew Barker. He made some Nike elite 11 list (I'm ignorant of football "lists" and such), and has picked up some pretty big time offers from the likes of South Carolina, Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, and WKU. A lot of big time schools are showing interest as well.

He'll be tired on Monday, err Tuesday.

From espn.com Insider ...
There will be a big 2014 quarterback taking in the Ohio State game on Saturday as Drew Barker (Hebron, Ky./Conner) will watch the Buckeyes play Miami (Ohio) on an unofficial visit.

He will then travel to Louisville on Sunday to watch the Cardinals play Kentucky.

Barker camped at Ohio State’s Friday Night Lights on July 27 and walked away very impressed as did Ohio State coaches.

[cougarfreak]

Yeah, OSU is supposed to be very interested as well, but haven't made an offer.

[cougarfreak]

Our team the last few years has really ramped up the offense, but our D leaves a lot to be desired. We won 67-21 this past week against a team that won state in AA last year, but is a bit down this year. Just for comparison's sake, we are 5A. Our school has about 1250 students.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just for comparison's sake, we are 5A. Our school has about 1250 students.

Is that your 9-12 enrollment? I ask because 1250 is about the middle of Georgia's 5A (of 6 classes) ... but that only includes grades 9-11, so actually is around 20% higher give or take.

Just trying to figure out what size you'd be here. Guessing around 1,000 9-11 which would be about the middle of 4A.

Always interesting to see how things differ from state to state.

[cougarfreak]

Is that your 9-12 enrollment? I ask because 1250 is about the middle of Georgia's 5A (of 6 classes) ... but that only includes grades 9-11, so actually is around 20% higher give or take.

Just trying to figure out what size you'd be here. Guessing around 1,000 9-11 which would be about the middle of 4A.

Always interesting to see how things differ from state to state.

Yeah, that's total 9-12 enrollment. KY has 6 classes. We were in 6A, but a few years ago, they opened a new HS in our county (the 4th), and we went down to about 1050. 4 years later, we are back up to 1250. In our county, there are 2 schools in 6a, and 2 schools in 5a. I would imagine we are real close to going 6a again when they realign. In 5a, we've got a legit shot at a state title. In 6a, we've got no shot, with Louisville Trinity in the state. Our school has won one state title in our history, in 1983. School has been open since 1970.

[cougarfreak]

Is that your 9-12 enrollment? I ask because 1250 is about the middle of Georgia's 5A (of 6 classes) ... but that only includes grades 9-11, so actually is around 20% higher give or take.

Just trying to figure out what size you'd be here. Guessing around 1,000 9-11 which would be about the middle of 4A.

Always interesting to see how things differ from state to state.

So, in GA, they don't count the Srs.? That is weird to me. In our state, if you are all boys, or all girls, they double your enrollment to figure out your respective class.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So, in GA, they don't count the Srs.? That is weird to me. In our state, if you are all boys, or all girls, they double your enrollment to figure out your respective class.

Nope, haven't counted them in years (if ever, although I think they used to).

It's based on enrollment numbers from the DOE delivered around mid-year last year (i.e. we just realigned for 2012-13 and 2013-14, based on figures from Fall 2011) and those seniors won't be around, so they aren't counted.

And the 5 single gender HS (2 male military, 1 male, 2 female) are subject to a 2x multiplier.

[JonInMiddleGA]

From the random file of good quotes, this one from Whitefield Academy (Region 5-A) head coach after losing the season opener to their nearby rival

“I don’t care if it’s preseason, out of season, hunting season,” Fields said. “Losing is awful. I’m not going to sit here and say you learn from a loss. What we’d better learn is how much we hate losing. It’s unacceptable.”
The Marietta Daily Journal - Whitefield makes too many mistakes to overcome Pace (http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story_sports/20000399/article-Whitefield-makes-too-many-mistakes-to-overcome-Pace?instance=prep_sports_news)

For some context, he's speaking after penalties shut down their triple option that looked good to open the game & then fell apart. They've had back to back losing seasons after 9 straight playoff appearances so he's got a little reason to be tense.

[CU Tiger]

Grayson has an amazing defense...and a bland wing-t rocket/loop sweep inside ho hum high school offense.

At least from what I saw Friday night.
I was really, really surprised at their offense. It was generic, a tad sloppy at times, but damn effective.

Now defensively....thats another story. The fictitious water boy would never crack the field for that team. Swarming defense would be an insult to the other 8 guys that piled on top of the 3 making every tackle....and when Miami did try to pass..I swear Grayson had 17 defenders on the field with every wr double covered and the QB gettign hit by 5 guys before he released the ball...it was quote entertaining.

ANd the Germany kid for Grayson who has no D1 offers....needs some. Now. I hope Paul Johnson doesnt see him because he is exactly the type of kid GT will sign who will give Clemson fits for 5 years.

[Senator]

They interviewed the team we beat last week, and the coach had a typical coach speak moment,

"Unfortunately, the scoring would end then, as the team was shutout the rest of the game in the 42-17 loss."

"Everybody's still working on what they'll be doing once conference games hit," Gaffney said. "We're going to check the game tape early tomorrow, but I don't think we were beaten tonight. I think we lost."

Funny in a 42-17 beating/loss.

Speaking of loss, our Mr. Glass all world receiver is out this week. He had 2 tds last week. Bad for us, but adapt or die.

[Ben E Lou]

I confess that I don't follow my alma mater as closely as I used to, particularly since moving out of state. It was easy to pop down to Columbus to catch a game on Tucker's off weeks, or if Tucker played on Friday and Brookstone Saturday (or vice versa.) But now that I haven't seen them play in person in 6 years, it's mainly a case of out of sight, out of mind. There is a live stream of games, so if I'm home on a Friday night, I'll catch that sometimes.

That said, an email I just received from a classmate who still lives in Columbus made me burst with pride. Little Class A Brookstone played our first game ever against AAAA Columbus High School this Friday night and won 35-8.

High school football weekly wrap: Brookstone takes 1st meeting with Columbus team | Valley Preps Blog | Columbus Ledger Enquirer (http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/09/01/2183729/high-school-football-weekly-wrap.html)

Granted, based on their average of 2 wins per season over the last 5 years, it doesn't appear that we spanked a world-beating squad, but the fact remains that Columbus very likely has more kids in its Senior Class than Brookstone has in the entire High School (usually in the 250-280 range.) Go Cougs!

[JonInMiddleGA]

That said, an email I just received from a classmate who still lives in Columbus made me burst with pride. Little Class A Brookstone played our first game ever against AAAA Columbus High School this Friday night and won 35-8.

Well crap, I almost msgd you when I saw the score Friday night but figured you'd knew even before I did.

There was a pretty good article in the Ledger or somewhere in the run up to the game about how the (now former) AD who scheduled the game talked about it just making sense because the two schools were actually pretty similar demographically (which I didn't realize).

[Ben E Lou]

Well crap, I almost msgd you when I saw the score Friday night but figured you'd knew even before I did.

There was a pretty good article in the Ledger or somewhere in the run up to the game about how the (now former) AD who scheduled the game talked about it just making sense because the two schools were actually pretty similar demographically (which I didn't realize).Hmmm...unless they've done some really funky redistricting of Columbus schools, I don't see how that could be the case. Columbus High is physically located maybe a half mile or so from the Columbus Country Club, so I'm sure you can imagine the demographic in the school's immediate vicinity. ;) However, some high-profile black athletes have gone there, most famous amongst 'em being The Big Hurt. There are quite a few working-class black neighborhoods within 3ish miles of the school, in pretty much every direction, and a few very poor black and white neighborhoods as well that range. You'd have to be trying pretty hard to make it look like a private school in order to set the districts in a way to have Brookstone and Columbus have similar demographics, I would think. Although the other factor the former AD may be referring to could be just pure racial percentages. Since the mid-80s, BHS has been unapologetic and aggressive about attempting to raid the public school system for its best black students and student-athlete types, and of course over time more black people of financial means have emerged who might just send their kids there anyway. Judging from the prom pictures of their kids and kids' friends that some friends have posted on FB, the school appears to have a significantly larger black population than it did when I was there. However, with tuition approaching $15K per year, I'm guessing that they're not getting the same black demographic that traditionally goes to CHS. ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hmmm...unless they've done some really funky redistricting of Columbus schools, I don't see how that could be the case. Columbus High is physically located maybe a half mile or so from the Columbus Country Club, so I'm sure you can imagine the demographic in the school's immediate vicinity. ;)

I went back & found the quote, appears I may have used some mental shorthand there. It was the Columbus coach, and he didn't say demographically, he said
"We're similar schools from an academic perspective and we have the same kinds of kids

The comment from former Brookstone coach Mark Harrison was Harrison said. "I do know that both schools are good academically, have a good reputation and the only difference between the two is their size.


Here's the whole article (http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/08/30/2181848/high-school-football-columbus.html), fwiw

[Ben E Lou]

OK, this is freakin' hilarious:"When it comes to scheduling, most people try to stay away from the week of Carver-Spencer," Marino said. "But we didn't think we'd lose much of our crowd to that game. To understand the context there, Carver and Spencer are the only remaining segregation-era black schools in Columbus. (My mother graduated from Spencer in 1944ish.) Black people from her age (84) on down still go to Carver-Spencer every year as a "reunion" of sorts. Reading between the lines of that article and in the comments, perhaps there has been some change to the districts after all. Basically he's saying "white people ain't going to Carver-Spencer anyway, and Brookstone-Columbus ain't drawin' too many bruthas no matter when we play, so who cares about going up against that game????";)

[JonInMiddleGA]

OK, this is freakin' hilarious

Having been to some Carver games when I was doing pbp for Griffin, I totally got that & chuckled pretty good myself :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

So tonight it's Athens Academy (1-0) hosting Pace Academy (1-0). In week one we beat a really bad team a lot worse than they beat a typically decent team, not sure if that tells anybody anything about tonight. First football meeting ever between the two schools, prompted (I suspect) by the impending retirement of our headmaster after 30 years at AA. The first 20 years of his career were spent at Pace, his children graduated from their, etc. and the bonds have remained strong between him & his old employer. This game seems to be as much a nod to that relationship as anything.

Webcast as usual, pre-game starts at 715p, kick-off at 730p. Watch live at
Spartans Webcast (http://bit.ly/aWyR3s)

Elsewhere ...

More than a dozen games webcast tonight at GHSA Network Video Portal (http://www.ghsa.tv)
including Thomas Co Central at Marist, Tucker at North Atlanta, Gainesville at Buford and in what could be a good smallest classification game Clinch County at Eagles Landing Christian.

Not online that I know of but notable tonight are a couple of class A playoff caliber matchups, George Walton vs Aquinas and defending state champ Savannah Christian at Prince Avenue. A fair bit of the face of the private school bracket will take shape after those games are done.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Some nights it seems your team can do no wrong & the other team can do nothing right. We had one of those nights, a 42-7 laugher that just missed a shutout when they got a late TD pass against our freshman team.

Was 42-0 at the half, 321 yds total offense for us, had to be close to some single half school records (if anybody actually kept track of such things).

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City (MO Class 4A) jumps out to a 48-6 halftime lead over Carthage and cruises to a 67 - 20 win for their 83rd regular season win in a row. Last week they beat Springdale Har-Ber, Class 7A, ranked #4 in Arkansas, 30-15.

Joplin has lost their last 2 games, losing last night to Springfield Hillcrest 33-21.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Today was a big day for HS football in Georgia ... the release of the first-ever "Power Rankings", which will determine playoff teams in Class A under the new split public/private bracket scheme.

They're being computed under contract by MaxPreps, who will provide the absolutely official information every Wednesday.

It took less than a half hour for the first errors to be spotted by fans, took about 90 minutes for the GHSA to pull them down for correction.

So far we've found:
-- a class AA team with a scrimmage erroneously counted as an actual game, that screwed up the SOS component for a class A team
-- schedule discrepancies for at least 3 teams compared to the "OFFICIAL" schedules released by the GHSA. That same team that had their scrimmage counted by MaxPreps is actually shown by the GHSA as having 11 regular season games (the limit is 10), and would have played 12 regular season games if the scrimmage had actually been included too.

Combined with a thorough lack of understanding on the part of the public about how these "ratings" work both in general (they're expressed as an average, not YTD) and in detail (like the point limit on what can be earned vs opponents playing non-region schedules; i.e. not playoff eligible) ... it's all a very predictable clusterfuck.

[Poli]

De Soto MO has been crushed the past two weeks while I've been gone. It won't get better with Festus coming up this week.

At least I will be there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

National #1 Grayson just got stunned by Parkview 22-7. Grayson scored on a big play on their first possession & got nothing else the rest of the night. (edit to add) 4 turnovers and 109 pen. yds killed Grayson.

And this is not the usual powerhouse Parkview team either. They lost to Norcross 20-0 last week and had beaten P'tree Ridge 3-0 in their opener.

Ain't ever easy to play in The Big Orange Jungle.

(Close observers will note the irony of Nkedimche losing to a team that pretty much looks like Clemson from head to toe)

[rjolley]

Man, I missed the Grayson/Parkview game? That sucks. My friend's son, who plays on the team that E Williams plays on, plays OG on Parkview and I wanted to see him go up against Nkedimche.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saw an interesting comment from the peanut gallery tonight to the effect that "Dabo was at the game to keep an eye on his recruits but they played more like they had their eyes on him"

[BYU 14]

Third straight blowout win for Westview tonight 54-14 over Alhambra. We will be heavily favored in the next 2 as well, then comes a huge game against Brophy.

[Poli]

Desoto MO blown out again, 34-0, at Festus. 20 points came in less than a 2 minute spurt at the end of the first quarter. The kids folded like they were a paper airplane.

Lot of reasons for it, effort being the key.

Davin attended his first game and the word is he would fuss unless he was watching the game. Lots of former parents and players at the game. I always enjoy seeing them. That's also the reason Dav made it.

[cougarfreak]

Conner comes back from a 28-6 deficit to win 35-28. QB barker throws for over 370 yards in the comeback win.

Barker leads Conner past Campbell County | NKY.com | cincinnati.com (http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20120914/SPT030201/309140139/)

[CU Tiger]

Saw an interesting comment from the peanut gallery tonight to the effect that "Dabo was at the game to keep an eye on his recruits but they played more like they had their eyes on him"

Haha. Thats great. But.

Dabo was not at the game.
RB coach Tony Elliott and DE coach Marion Hobby were in Grayson.

Coach Swinney and OC Chad Morris and DC Bent Venebles had dinner together in Clemson with a local friend on Lake Keowee.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City extends their winning streaks to 34 overall and 85 regular season wins with a 48 - 7 win over Republic.

Joplin gets back to .500 with a 29 - 25 win over Rolla. Joplin scored a TD to take a 16 - 13 with under 9 minutes to go, five plays later Rolla is up 25-16. Joplin gets a quick 44 yd TD pass and then go on 9 play, 74 yard drive and get the winning TD with 29 seconds left.

[cartman]

An Oregon high schooler ran for 643 yards and scored 10 TDs in a game last night. Wow!

Aloha's Thomas Tyner scores 10 touchdowns, rushes for 643 yards in 84-63 win over Lakeridge - OregonLive.com (http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/news/article/-1946564383230255207/alohas-thomas-tyner-scores-10-touchdowns-rushes-for-643-yards-in-84-63-win-over-lakeridge/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Haha. Thats great. But.

Dabo was not at the game.
RB coach Tony Elliott and DE coach Marion Hobby were in Grayson.

Coach Swinney and OC Chad Morris and DC Bent Venebles had dinner together in Clemson with a local friend on Lake Keowee.

Sorry 'bout that.

Us po' folks can only work with what we read from presumably decent sources.

(especially when the first one includes a picture of Sweeney purportedly taken in the parking lot at the game)
Michael Carvell
@RecruitingAJC
Dabo Swinney scouted Nkemdiche & Co. tonight MT
Photo by heys_rowan • Instagram (http://t.co/sFkO70xl)

and

Dabo at Grayson - The Clemson Insider Forums (http://www.theclemsoninsider.com/mb/showthread.php?p=118625)

[CU Tiger]

Sorry 'bout that.

Us po' folks can only work with what we read from presumably decent sources.

(especially when the first one includes a picture of Sweeney purportedly taken in the parking lot at the game)
Michael Carvell
@RecruitingAJC
Dabo Swinney scouted Nkemdiche & Co. tonight MT
Photo by heys_rowan • Instagram (http://t.co/sFkO70xl)

and

Dabo at Grayson - The Clemson Insider Forums (http://www.theclemsoninsider.com/mb/showthread.php?p=118625)


I hope you know my post was with my tongue stuck out
But that said Robert McRae (tci) is no friend of the program...in fact he is banned from media event s on campus.

[Matthean]

The school I went to has always been historically bad for what has to be about 25 or so years. Maybe about 5 years ago the team got decent and then the coach got hired away. For reasons I'm not sure, it looks like this year's team has forfeited two of its games and been outscored 90-0 in the other two. The town has always been a small farm town around 2K people. I don't think there has ever hardly been 30 kids on a team let alone 22 to fill out both sides of the ball. I remember a number of seasons with 15. Yet, at some point the football stands got upgraded to where it looks like a decent small town football stadium.

[CU Tiger]

Wanted to post up and take my lumps.
Just found out this AM that coach Swinney did in fact change plans late friday and go down to the Grayson game.

The aforementioned dinner plans were in place around 12p on Friday...but something caused a change of plans and Swinney and Hobby made the short ride together while Coach Elliot made a previosuly unplanned trip to see current UGA commit Trammel Terry , but dont read anything into that he is still 100% firm to UGA ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wanted to post up and take my lumps.
Just found out this AM that coach Swinney did in fact change plans late friday and go down to the Grayson game.

I kinda figured the pic confirmed him (not figuring anybody was bored enough to forge that pic on that AJC forum), but I appreciate you following up.

And, just FTR, I wasn't ticked or nothing. I was just providing my sourcing (so it didn't look like something I totally pulled out of my own arse or anything).

[JonInMiddleGA]

If the GHSA were a TV show the phrase "Hilarity ensues when ..." would be their hallmark.

Long story short, the GHSA Executive Committee voted Sunday to change the new power rating formula that determines Class A playoff teams DURING THE SEASON.

Note to GHSA: you are not "correcting erroneous information" when you change something that you approved 5 months ago (and that teams used when making out their schedules), you're just changing the playing field yet again. But I guess that doesn't sound so good.

So far I've found 19 (of 72) teams in the classification that are affected by the sudden change, which involves removing games against opponents that are playing non-region schedules. (this is something new/struggling programs do frequently, in order to avoid 0-10 seasons with losses of 50-70 points every week).

[JonInMiddleGA]

So for us the week brings a new challenge: how to stop an ESPN 150 prospect. Athens Academy (2-0) hosts Our Lady of Mercy (3-0). OLM feature lots of motion, lots of bodies in & out, but none of those bodies is more dangerous than Rashard Fant. The RB/WR currently has offers from: Utah, Kentucky, Florida State, Ole Miss, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Penn.

You can watch live tonight, pre-game at 715p, kick off at 730p
Spartans Webcast (https://sites.google.com/a/athensacademy.org/athensacademywebcast/)
------
At the risk of sending viewers away from my own child, there's also a dozen games or so available at ghsa.tv, including Tucker at Dunwoody, Marist at St.Pius, Woodward at Westminster, and Lassiter at Cherokee. There's also live webcast of SD's alma mater (http://www.brookstoneschool.org/live) Brookstone as they travel to Wesleyan.
----
Lot of other good games going on as well, but hey, I've probably run on long enough here :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Best HS football game I've seen in at least two years.

Athens Academy beats Our Lady of Mercy 10-7, thanks to a 73 yd TD pass with 5 mins to play. Or more specifically, a 10 yard dump off and 63 YAC from Eric Williams who just outran everybody. Somehow our defense held a team averaging 40 ppg coming to nothing ... nada ... zip ... zero. Their only score was a 26 yd pick six.

Amazing game to watch, and an out of the world performance by our defense to control a D1 prospect RB all night ( frankly I think their coaching staff does a better job of controlling him than anybody's defense. Not nearly enough touches for him)

I do NOT want to see OLM again this year, we are way too evenly matched.

[rjolley]

Best HS football game I've seen in at least two years.

Athens Academy beats Our Lady of Mercy 10-7, thanks to a 73 yd TD pass with 5 mins to play. Or more specifically, a 10 yard dump off and 63 YAC from Eric Williams who just outran everybody. Somehow our defense held a team averaging 40 ppg coming to nothing ... nada ... zip ... zero. Their only score was a 26 yd pick six.

Amazing game to watch, and an out of the world performance by our defense to control a D1 prospect RB all night ( frankly I think their coaching staff does a better job of controlling him than anybody's defense. Not nearly enough touches for him)

I do NOT want to see OLM again this year, we are way too evenly matched.

Was going to ask you how Eric was doing when I saw you'd updated tonight. Nice to see him make a big play. The kid has tons of talent and athletic ability and may be able to pick his sport and college, especially if he grows a bit.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Was going to ask you how Eric was doing when I saw you'd updated tonight. Nice to see him make a big play. The kid has tons of talent and athletic ability and may be able to pick his sport and college, especially if he grows a bit.

Heh, I was gonna PM you in a minute to make sure you saw this. One guy missed an ankle & he set sail. Was a beauty of a play by both QB (who never looked at Eric, locked on the RB for a screen & then whipped it almost sidearm to EW about 5 yards inside of the back instead) and receiver. They did everything but catch him, he just wasn't gonna be caught.

[rjolley]

Thanks for thinking of me. I'm a big fan of all of the kids I've been fortunate enough to work with on the basketball court, and quite a few of them play football as well. When basketball season starts up, I'll be at a few AA games as I check out the guys and see if they're putting some of the things we've talked to them about to use in these games.

[cougarfreak]

Good god, Conner can't stop anyone on defense. They lost last night 63-57. Barker made a couple mistakes, and threw 2 pick sixes, but good grief, their D is embarassing.

[Poli]

DeSoto wins their 2nd game of the season last night, 35-14. Windsor took a 14-0 lead with 3 minutes to go in the first half and kicked onside...a move I'll never understand. DeSoto expected and recovered the kick...and promptly scored before the half.

They came out in the second half and scored on the next three drives...and a pick 6 before the end finished the deal.

Always weird playing Windsor as the head coach was the defensive coordinator at DeSoto my first year here.

[BYU 14]

We won over Trevor Browne 63-0 last night. The wins are great, but the level of competition the last three weeks hurts us more than helps. Starters out early and you can get by without perfect execution, which can form bad habits if you let it slide just because you are rolling. We ran for just under 400 yards and pretty much moved at well, with two backs over 100 yards and two more over 70.

Next week St Mary's who can score a little, but is less than stellar on defense. They won 73-38 last night, so at least we can avoid a running clock hopefully.

The big one for us is in two weeks against Brophy

[JonInMiddleGA]

For your Friday night viewing pleasure, here are the game available this week on GHSA Network Video Portal (http://ghsa.tv)
* Bleckley Co. at Putnam Co. ... Blessed Trinity at Woodward ... Callaway at Jackson, Atl.
* Cartersville at Coahulla Creek ... Drew at Starr's Mill ... Heritage, Con. at Gainesville
* Lakeside, Atl. at Tucker ... Lowndes at Colquitt Co. ... Morrow at Rockdale Co.
* Mt. Vernon at Landmark ... Stephenson at SW DeKalb ... Towers at St. Pius ... Woodstock at Lassiter
Also online Athens Academy at Lakeview Academy (https://sites.google.com/a/athensacademy.org/athensacademywebcast/)

Here's this week's GHSA Associated Press Top 10 (http://www.macon.com/2012/09/25/2191402/georgia-ap-high-school-football.html) for each classification (AAAAAA down through A)
#1's are Camden County, Tucker, Sandy Creek, Peach County, Calhoun, and Eagle's Landing Christian. We (Athens Academy) just missed the poll, top team among those also receiving votes, so we're #11 (yay us)

[Ben E Lou]

For your Friday night viewing pleasure, here are the game available this week on GHSA Network Video Portal (http://ghsa.tv)
* Bleckley Co. at Putnam Co. ... Blessed Trinity at Woodward ... Callaway at Jackson, Atl.
* Cartersville at Coahulla Creek ... Drew at Starr's Mill ... Heritage, Con. at Gainesville
* Lakeside, Atl. at Tucker ... Lowndes at Colquitt Co. ... Morrow at Rockdale Co.
* Mt. Vernon at Landmark ... Stephenson at SW DeKalb ... Towers at St. Pius ... Woodstock at Lassiter
Also online Athens Academy at Lakeview Academy (https://sites.google.com/a/athensacademy.org/athensacademywebcast/)

Here's this week's GHSA Associated Press Top 10 (http://www.macon.com/2012/09/25/2191402/georgia-ap-high-school-football.html) for each classification (AAAAAA down through A)
#1's are Camden County, Tucker, Sandy Creek, Peach County, Calhoun, and Eagle's Landing Christian. We (Athens Academy) just missed the poll, top team among those also receiving votes, so we're #11 (yay us)Tucker-Lakeside is an old and storied rivalry. The two schools are roughly five miles apart, and if coming from LHS to THS, you don't even have to make a single turn. (From THS to LHS you take a fork in the road.) The rivalry has been a joke for the last decade-ish. Lakeside has dropped off considerably since their run to the.state title game in 1997. I just checked, and the last four meetings have an average score of Tucker 53, Lakeside 10. I'm guessing it's being shown online because of a combination of Tucker's D1 prospects, #1 rating, and the name recognition of the rivalry. If you're looking for a competitive game, I might suggest you look elsewhere. ;) Without looking at this year's records, I'd guess that Stephenson-SW DeKalb and Lowndes-Colquitt would be the most entertaining of that list.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just checked, and the last four meetings have an average score of Tucker 53, Lakeside 10. I'm guessing it's being shown online because of a combination of Tucker's D1 prospects, #1 rating, and the name recognition of the rivalry. If you're looking for a competitive game, I might suggest you look elsewhere. ;) Without looking at this year's records, I'd guess that Stephenson-SW DeKalb and Lowndes-Colquitt would be the most entertaining of that list.

Eh, it's being shown online because one school or the other is paying $3k a year to the GHSA's streaming partner & they've got a crew to do it. There are now some 75 schools paying PlayOnSports for the opportunity but only somewhere between 12-24 actually do anything substantial with it. But it's certainly provided a rapid expansion of the number of HSFB webcasts statewide, the GHSA.tv participants now significantly outnumber the schools (like us & Pace Academy to name a couple) that do their own thing, and those still (I think) outnumber the games shown live by local TV/Cable.

The quality of the webcasts vary pretty widely - from 4 camera shoots with 3-4 announcers to nothing more than a no-audio feed of a single coach-cam. Scheduling is also kind of erratic, some schools are on every week, others produce only 1 or 2 games a year (and if recent history is any indication then at least 3 or 4 of the games listed above won't actually air a thing)

[Ben E Lou]

Eh, it's being shown online because one school or the other is paying $3k a year to the GHSA's streaming partner & they've got a crew to do it. Ahhhh....I was thinking this was the old way of doing "GOTW" type broadcasts sometimes. Gotcha. If it's just $3K a year, then I can make a pretty safe guess as to where the money is coming from--actually a former LHS starting QB from the 70s, but whose kids went to Tucker, and he's probably still Tucker's biggest financial booster. ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ahhhh....I was thinking this was the old way of doing "GOTW" type broadcasts sometimes. Gotcha. If it's just $3K a year, then I can make a pretty safe guess as to where the money is coming from--actually a former LHS starting QB from the 70s, but whose kids went to Tucker, and he's probably still Tucker's biggest financial booster. ;)

I looked it up, both school's are shown as ghsa.tv participants as a several (most? all?) of the DeKalb publics. I figure it's Tucker's deal though, since I noticed the Tucker-Dunwoody game listed previously. Wouldn't be surprised if they negotiated a package deal around the county & got quite a few on board that way.

Only reason I know the standard pricing is the annual sales pitch they've made to us for the past couple of years (happily even they admitted privately that there's really nothing they can offer other than the promotional value of their central hub that we don't already have/can't already do). Lots of systems throwing cash away on that deal though -- including Central & Cedar here locally -- paying for it and then doing nothing at all with it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The local paper sums up most of the highlights for this week.

Athens Academy (4-0) scored its first touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Austin Schulte to Eric Williams midway through the first quarter, and Williams scored again with 8:01 before halftime on a 76-yard punt return. Williams also recorded an interception in the first half. We added another score the 3rd with a 4 yard run by our QB, gave up a TD late and won 21-6. That's the highlights.

The lowlights were quite a few. A 100% completely meaningless game (see up the thread for rule change that means this game counted not one iota in the standings nor the power ratings that determine playoff berths), we lose a DL/LB to a broken leg + broken ankle that I really don't want to describe in any detail. Suffice to say that I'm told the ankle was completely separated from the shin bone. Discovering that the ambulance & crew had left the stadium at halftime was something I've seen happen only a couple of times in my life (so a half hour or more passes before we can get that agonized young man out of there for treatment. And the asshole opponent + idiot refs tried to restart the game with the ambulance still on the field, our stands erupted with enough of a furious roar that the officials realized their mistake & sent the teams off once again.

It's a hell hole of an excuse for a stadium (8 yard end zones) and although I've criss-crossed the for football state several times in my life, it's the only recently constructed "press box" I've come across that was built without a single inch of space intended for the media. Add in some of the rudest, most ignorant, most thoroughly unlikable people I've come across in many years & it's just a miserable experience all the way round.

[JonInMiddleGA]

from the AJC.com (easier to copy/paste theirs than try to rewrite them myself. Just thought some largest classification football was worth a mention, especially with the big name taking the beating.

If anyone thought Camden was ranked No. 1 by default after 2011 champion Grayson was upended by Parkview, the Wildcats showed otherwise Friday, routing Valdosta 43-6. It was Valdosta’s most lopsided in its historic Bazemore-Hyder Stadium since 1974, when Thomasville, led by a pretty good back named William Andrews, defeated the ‘Cats 40-0. This was Camden’s first game in Region 1 after years of dominating weak 3-AAAAA. Make that 87 straight region victories for Camden. AJC Super 11 halfback/cornerback J.J. Green ran the opening kickoff back for the first of his two touchdowns. He also had two interceptions.

[Ben E Lou]

The rivalry has been a joke for the last decade-ish. And it still is.Tucker 67, Lakeside-DeKalb 7: The Tigers mixed a little pass with a running game by committee approach to cruise past neighbor Lakeside-DeKalb at Adams Stadium. Juwaan Williams and Joe Farrar combined for 115 yards and three passing scores. Chauncey Rivers caught one of Williams’ touchdown throws and added a 20-yard fumble recovery for another score. Even though no Tucker back rushed for more than 100 yards, the team totaled 397 yards on the ground.

[cougarfreak]

Barker had a big game for Conner, going 13 for 18 for 86 yards (they didn't throw down the field all night), and rushing for 140+, as Conner defeated archrival Cooper. South Carolina's OC was in attendance, as they are playing in Lexington tonight.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120928/SPT0302/309280159/Big-first-half-leads-Conner-past-Cooper?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

[BYU 14]

Beat St Marys at Homecoming last night 64-20, we made the local highlights show Friday Night Fever.

Our clips starts at 1:51

http://www.azcentral.com/video/1867285864001

[JonInMiddleGA]

AJC rankings for the week came out this afternoon and, as expected, we enter the Class A poll at #8 (I figured we'd be 9 or 10 actually). That comes just in time for us to play at big rival Prince Avenue, currently ranked #2 in the state.

Our last appearance in the top 10 was about this time last season ... just in time to get shutout by Prince Avenue at home (a win that propelled them to a 13-1 season & a trip to the final four).

Did some research at the amazing ghsfha.org site tonight, looks like our last regular season game where both teams were ranked was 2004. Oddly enough, given that it's been 8 years since it happened, that game was the 2nd straight week where it happened (beat #8 Jefferson one week after losing at #6 Lincoln County)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thought this was a very good idea when it debuted last year, glad they repeated it this year.

Two crosstown rivals, small schools, agree on the same t-shirt design, give the game a name ("The Backyard Brawl") and sell the same shirt. Higher quantity improves the cost of the shirts, coherent message helps promote the game & builds the brand.

Wouldn't work in every case -- I'd never want to work together with my old HS hated rival for example -- but with the right relationship it seems like a winner to me. Shirt design inside spoiler tag.


http://www.princeave.org/sites/default/files/backyard_brawl.jpg

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh baby, what a game.

#8 Athens Academy snaps a two-year losing streak to rival and #2 ranked Prince Avenue with a 14-7 win on the road.

I've been following HS football for nearly 40 years (my earliest recollection is from 1973, at age 6) and seriously into it for some 30 years and I don't think that, as a fan, I've ever been prouder of a team than I an tonight.

I believe we used 6 linemen all night, they were blown up by late 2nd quarter but got a break from some bad clock mgmt (and a really ill-advised timeout in the final minute of the half by Prince) and survived a drive with a 7-0 lead. 3rd quarter we're trying but threw a pick at the goaline to miss a big chance, a couple of swapped punts later & they tie it up. 4th quarter was, well, ours. Screw 2nd wind, I think our kids found a third wind. 2 guys limping, another guy downright hobbling, needing to come out & knowing they couldn't. And somehow they got it done.

Our first-year QB audibled like his name was P.Manning all night (don't hold that pick against him, it was a great play by the DB), burned their blitz repeatedly, perfect reads, great progressions. 4 times tonight they came from the right side, 4 times he hits our TE over the middle for 20+. Middle 4th quarter they come from the left for the first time, he finds a senior WR (returning from injury himself) for a 23 yard TD. Defense holds the #1 scoring offense in Class A to three & out, they punt, we punt, and we hold the #1 scoring offense (before tonight anyway) to four and out. Victory formation baby.

Thank God they kept blitzing, he pwnd that shit all night long.

And, much as it feels funny to give it up to a rival, they were the epitomy of class before,during & after the game. Well wishes (and prayers in the invocation) for our player who was hurt last week, a presentation to our retiring headmaster between Q1 & Q2, and I'm told their post-game radio coaches interview was one of the classiest ever. There's a place for rivalries built on respect, this seems to be turning into one of those & that's not a bad thing at all.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City runs out to a 48-0 halftime lead and cruises to a 55-0 win over Neosho, extending their winning streaks to 37 overall and 88 regular season.

Joplin blows a 21 point lead on homecoming and loses to Lebanon 28-24.

[Ben E Lou]

Carter's first high school football game ended up being at my alma mater last night, as the Cougars demolished arch-rival Pacelli 48-14 in front of a standing-room only crowd. At 8:47pm, when most 3-year-olds are asleep or absolutely evil because they're not asleep, my baby girl was dancing at halftime:

Dropbox - 2012-10-05 20.47.12.mov - Simplify your life (https://www.dropbox.com/s/hc19z8tsvlwkro9/2012-10-05%2020.47.12.mov)

Also, an interesting (at least to me) post mortem on a comment I made a while back, too.Since the mid-80s, BHS has been unapologetic and aggressive about attempting to raid the public school system for its best black students and student-athlete types, and of course over time more black people of financial means have emerged who might just send their kids there anyway. Judging from the prom pictures of their kids and kids' friends that some friends have posted on FB, the school appears to have a significantly larger black population than it did when I was there. However, with tuition approaching $15K per year, I'm guessing that they're not getting the same black demographic that traditionally goes to CHS. ;)So, even in light of having said this and having seen the aforementioned prom pictures, I was still quite surprised yesterday morning when I took Carter by the school to purchase some spirit wear for her and at the game last night to see in person the number of black people associated with Brookstone now. When I got back to my brother's house (a long-time teacher in the public schools in Columbus,) I commented on it. He laughed and said, "Oh yeah. If you black and got a 3.5 in Middle School, you gettin' a letter from Brookstone! And if you are a doctor or lawyer or live in a neighborhood like this {he lives in an upper middle class neighborhood near Brookstone,} they campin' out in your front yard!" It's an odd dichotomy that I found there when I was in high school, and evidently still exists today. It's a very traditional, conservative, Southern, upper-class environment in virtually every way, but for whatever reason, they go above and beyond when it comes to race. I still chuckle at the fact that we were the first school to win the local televised Academic Bowl competition with a majority-black team, and one of the first to field a majority-black team. ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's a very traditional, conservative, Southern, upper-class environment in virtually every way, but for whatever reason, they go above and beyond when it comes to race.

A concentrated effort to avoid the segregation academy label perhaps? I know that sounds kinda cynical of me but let's just say I'm familiar with situations where image is a major motivation for a number of things.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Another Friday night, another week of HS football.

For us, it's fun to see Athens Academy (5-0) sitting atop the power ratings that will determine playoff teams and seeding. I'm pretty sure we're not the best team in Class A, but it's nice to at least be in the mix. AJC bumped us up to #6, AP poll has us at #4. Next week it's back home vs a wounded Commerce (4-2) that has suddenly lost two in a row after being shocked by also-ran Athens Christian last Friday. And it two weeks it's a potentially region championship determining Homecoming clash against #5 George Walton (5-1) ... but first we have to take care of business tonight against Pinecrest Academy (3-1) on the road. Can't sleep on a team that has avg 40+ ppg in wins over three bad teams but we should be able to handle this one IF we keep our ego in check. (Maxwell Ratings have us as a 30 point favorite) You can watch the game (and listen to my kid on at least part of the commentary) at https://sites.google.com/a/athensacademy.org/athensacademywebcast/

Last night kicked off the week with a good game between the #2 (power) ranked private school hosting the #2 (power) ranked public school. Lincoln County beat Aquinas 20-13 with a TD pass in the final minute. The Lincoln's 32nd consecutive win over Aquinas, which lost by fewer than 20 points in this series for the first time since 1987.

Controversy seems to be the word for the week though.

1) At least one arrest has now been made after a brawl involving between 150-200 students after last week's Collins Hill-Peachtree Ridge game.
Gwinnett student faces charges in brawl | www.wsbradio.com (http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/local/gwinnett-student-faces-charges-brawl/nSbNc/)

2) A combined 12 players were ejected after an end zone skirmish in last week's 37-0 win by Clarke Central over Salem. Pending review, that leaves Central without their starting QB for tonight's critical region 8-AAAAA matchup against Heritage. The problem is compounded by a broken ankle suffered this week by Central's leading rusher

3) The GHSA is investigating the skirmish that took place after last week's Northview-Cambridge game, which was shut down with 21 seconds left with the agreement of both teams. Four Cambridge players and three Northview players were ejected and face automatic sit-out penalties of at least one game.

4) Michael Pollock is officially out as head coach of Americus-Sumter. The Sumter County Board of Education voted 4-1-2 this week to terminate his contract rather than put him on unpaid suspension. Pollock was suspended beginning with the Sept. 14 game for a practice incident in which he reportedly kicked a player in the behind. Offensive coordinator Chris Wade is the team's interim coach. Americus-Sumter is 4-1 overall, 3-0 since Pollock's suspension. Pollock had led Americus-Sumter to its only winning seasons the past two years (7-5 and 6-5). The school opened in 2004 as the merger of Americus and Sumter high schools.

5) The GHSA has cleared Lowndes County of any wrongdoing in an alleged sign-stealing incident against Colquitt County earlier this year. The #3 Vikings beat Colquitt 17-14 but were accused of having a former Colquitt ass't watching the sidelines with binoculars & relaying the signs to the press box during the game. The charges were pushed (pretty hard) by Colquitt head coach Russ Probst, who you may remember as the former head coach at Hoover HS (AL) when they were featured on the cable series Two A Days. He resigned from Hoover amidst a grade changing scandal that led to Hoover forfeiting four wins and the admission of an extramarital affair (and accusations of at least two other affairs involving co-workers).
http://moultrieobserver.com/sports/x371812354/GHSA-clears-Lowndes

Games being streamed at ghsa.tv tonight include Class 5A #2 Tucker at #4 Stephenson, Clarke Central at Heritage, Class A #3 Calvary Day at #9 Savannah Christian and nearly a dozen more.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We win 27-7. Fun to watch one with my family for a change, one of the smallest press boxes I've ever seen didn't even have room for our whole webcast crew nor even the camera, much less any adults to supervise them. As it turned out my parents made the short trip over for the road game about a half hour from where I grew up, so I spent the night as a fan. Nothing fancy about the win, 3 rushing TD's & 117 yards from our RB, an 87 yd TD pass was the big play moment of the night. Pinecrest isn't terrible, their QB (son of former Pittsburgh Steeler/Georgia Tech QB Rick Strom) is decent & their undersized young LB's try awfully hard but they lack the size or depth to really be successful right now.

Next week it's long-time rival Commerce, who come to us as wounded Tigers, having lost back to back games after a 4-0 start. They got dominated tonight (just 67 yards total offense) by the same team we beat last week, who recovered with a 30-0 win.

Even more exciting perhaps was the win by my alma mater. Pickens beats Cedartown 54-35 on the road in one of the wackier sounding games I've heard of in a while. They featured the state's leading rusher, Nick Chubb, who ran for 260 yards on 11 carries with four touchdowns in the first half, then had 12 carries for 57 yards on the Bulldogs opening possession of the third quarter with Cedartown ahead 28-27. But after the Bulldogs failed to convert a fourth-and-10 at Pickens 22 yard line with 5:30 minutes left in the third, Chubb never had another rushing attempt in the game.

Meanwhile we ran the next 36 offensive plays of the game.
16 play TD drive for Pickens makes it 34-28 us with 1:06 left in Q3
99 yd KOR TD for Cedartown makes it 35-34 them
13 play TD drive for Pickens 40-35 us
Onside kick recovered
7 play TD drive for Pickens 47-35 us
They fail to convert on 4th & 30, giving us the ball at their 5
3 play TD drive ends the scoring at 54-35
Here's the full write up with quite a few outstanding performances
PrepCentralOnline - Sports News, Events, Scores and Videos - Football Pickens runs 80 plays beats Cedartown 54 35 (http://prepcentralonline.com/view/full_story/20478968/article-Football--Pickens-runs-80-plays--beats-Cedartown-54-35?instance=secondary_stories_left_column)

Lowndes beat Valdosta 17-14 in the Winnersville Classic.
Stephenson upset Tucker 13-6

[Ben E Lou]

A concentrated effort to avoid the segregation academy label perhaps? I know that sounds kinda cynical of me but let's just say I'm familiar with situations where image is a major motivation for a number of things.There is zero question that Brookstone was founded as a segregation y own story of going there is pretty straightforward: I won the state math competition in 7th grade, and an article appeared in the Ledger-Enquirer with my picture, and the article did the typical smallish town newspaper thing, something along the lines of: "Ben is the son of Robert and Esther Lewis and attends St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Mr. Lewis is a retired army officer and works for the US Postal Service, and Mrs. Lewis is a homemaker." Within two weeks, we were bombarded. It's as if Brookstone's recruitment coordinator saw the picture of a black kid winning the state and immediately called a special board meeting where they sat around the table and said "Anyone know his parents? Who do we know at St. Thomas? Who do we know at the Post Office?" ;) In all seriousness, in those next 2-3 weeks, different people approached us at church, my dad's work, and even my freakin' orthodontist (who, it turned out, was on the Board Of Directors,) at my next appointment after the article appeared, asked my mother and me if we'd considered Brookstone. Columbus does have an evangelical subset that's sorta puritan-like in its opposition to bigotry and whatnot (that group got together and threw Jen and me a big ol' expensive wedding party, and successfully boycotted the country club over some bigotry-related issues.) But I never got the impression that they had any particular power at Brookstone. I guess I could be wrong about that and that same group's influence is behind it. (While Columbus is more medium-sized in population, it still operates like a small town, and the people I'm talking about probably represent 15-30% of the country club's membership. ;))

Stephenson upset Tucker 13-6Not a HUGE upset here. Stephenson was ranked #4, and Tucker #1. By all accounts, either team is capable of winning if there's a rematch. Tucker, I'm told, made too many mistakes.

In the "GOODNESS, I'm feeling old!" department, I overlooked who was named Head Coach at the T-U-C when the last coach departed for greener pastures. Bryan Lamar played for Tucker when I started doing YL there, and now he's Head Coach. :eek: The last several coaches have left for better high school jobs, which, given Tucker's level of success over the last couple of decades, may sound weird to outsiders. Marist, Tucker's arch-rival, has had one Head Coach since I started doing YL there 15ish years ago. Tucker, which has had very similar success over that time frame, has had six. The reality is that DeKalb County's administration is not terribly friendly to big-time football, and several places quite nearby in metro Atlanta are, so there's a lot more money and a lot more perks to be had by using Tucker as a proving ground, then moving on. I'm guessing that part of Bryan's appeal is that Tucker is home, making him more likely to stay longer.

But it still makes me feel crazy old.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There is zero question that Brookstone was founded as a segregation y own story of going there is pretty straightforward...

Although more for the benefit of others than for yourself, I'll point out that I said "avoid ... the label" not that it was. Nearly every private school in Georgia seem to get that accusation at some point, regardless of when they were founded or why.

[Ben E Lou]

GRacious, there was some deleted stuff there that I missed. It should have read something like:

There is zero question that Brookstone was founded as a segregation academy in the 50s. But for whatever reason, from the mid-80s up to today, they have aggressively pursued black kids. My own story of going there is pretty straightforward:

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's softball, not football, but the first implementation of the new "power rating" system for playoffs didn't go too well. The 16th seed thought it was 21st, hadn't practiced in two weeks ... before getting blown out twice by the #1 seed. That #1 was also messed up, with a p.r. of 14 that was finally corrected to 18. Softball problems stemmed from an exceptionally large number of games where the results were simply never reported at all.

Similar errors of that size could absolutely destroy the football brackets.
Current Private #1 is 15.51, #8 is 12.90, #16 is 10.65, 29/last is 5.87
Current Public #1 is 14.73, #8 is 13.48, #16 is 11.66, 38/last is 5.90

Football formula really isn't that hard:
Power Points = Win 10/Loss 0 + 2 bonus pts for higher class opp + OppWinPct X 10
Power Rating is then "Total Power Points / Games Played"
So a fictional 5-5 team who played 10 5-5 same size opponents would be a 10.00 (50 p.p. from 5 wins + 50 p.p. from 10x.500 OppWinPct)

The problems at this point -- about a dozen teams that seem to clearly be wrong in the weekly release -- mostly center on the results involving teams playing non-region schedules (i.e. uncompetitive teams that are not playoff eligible because they opted to play a catch-as-can schedule instead of competing in their assigned region). Those results, by rule, do NOT count toward power ratings of their opponents ... except that MaxPreps is still counting some of them, making a helluva mess.


Here's an article that has more detail & a few quotes from the coach of that #1 softball team.
Gordon Lee No. 1 but seedings 'big mess' | timesfreepress.com (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/17/gordon-lee-no-1-but-seedings-big-mess/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Selfless act enables high school player to honor his father
http://www.usatodayhss.com/news/article/michael-ferns-logan-thompson-selfless-act

[BYU 14]

Nice story Jon

[JonInMiddleGA]

We get a huge win over one of our biggest - and most respected - rivals, beating Commerce 45-7 (4-4) in our first home game in a month. After a 4-0 start, injuries/illness/suspensions rendered the long powerful Tigers almost helpless from the outset. Playing without your starting QB, your top RB and your two leading tacklers will do that. Meanwhile we welcomed back members of our 2006 & 2007 Final Four teams for a halftime ceremony, they had to be pretty happy with what they saw from their successors.

Next Friday still looms large, as we host George Walton. They were in the top 5 this week but are almost certainly unranked next week as they suffered a shocking 29-10 upset at Pinecrest (the team we rolled over last week). Playing without your starting QB and your D1 signee RB creates problems, apparently more than they could handle tonight. No word yet on the status of either player for our matchup, with the region title still on the line (and still likely to go to the winner of this game), if they're ambulatory I figure they'll play.

Elsewhere tonight Tucker recovered from last week's loss to shutout SW DeKalb 29-0 and, sadly, my alma mater lost a tough one to their archrival 21-13. Gilmer scored on three plays of 60 yards or more and shut Pickens out in the second half. That gives the hated Bobcats the inside track to at least a sub-region title. The game, between two programs that have experienced very scant success (only 3 region titles in combined 110 seasons, all Gilmer's), drew a relatively massive crowd of 6000-6500 as well as attention from both TV & Radio stations in Atlanta. Big night in my old hometown, sucks that it turned out like it did.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Shameless promotion time. Athens Academy is one of 5 teams nominated as Team of the Week by the local Fox affiliate. Winner gets a morning show visit on Thursday. This would make for an extra special Homecoming Week highlight. Follow the link & vote in the poll on the right please.

High 5 Sports - Prep sports coverage from FOX 5 Atlanta - Team of the Week Poll: October 25 (http://www.high5sports.com/story/19867016/team-of-the-week-poll-october-25?fb_comment_id=fbc_292423677540154_1300259_292599670855888#f8432b3bb74122)

[Ben E Lou]

My FB status update announcing that we are pregnant again: 63 "Likes"
My FB status update about my daughter asking to go to a high school football game: 64 "Likes"

"You might have a lot of Facebook friends from the South if...."


;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

So, after staring at the schedule all season, week 8 arrives. Athens Academy hosting George Walton, for Homecoming no less. This is definitely not a Duke/Vandy HC opponent.

Despite their shocking loss last week, GWA (5-2, 2-1) was a legitimate favorite to win the region behind an enormous O-line, a veteran QB and a transfer RB who was offered a scholarship by UGA when he was just a freshman. Now a junior Stanley Williams can be a beast, approaching the thousand yard mark despite missing a lot of playing time due to a lingering ankle injury.

But we (7-0, 3-0) don't come unarmed or unprepared. We lead the classification in scoring defense, giving up no more than 7 to anyone all year, 47 total through 7 games. There's a lot of pride in that stat, it won't be surrendered easily.

Local paper focused on the Spartans defense for the game preview story (http://onlineathens.com/sports/prep/2012-10-25/athens-academy-riding-its-defensive-momentum-matchup-george-walton) and in it there's a quote that I'm pretty sure our FOFC coaching contingent will appreciate. Coach Gunn is talking about the importance of playing assignment football & the challenge of having young players take care of their responsibilities
When you’re dealing with high school kids, you’re dealing with high school kids. Sometimes it’s hard enough to get them to eat right and wear their shirts coming out of the locker room. Ya just gotta LOL I think.

[Poli]

De Soto finishes their worst season that I've been a part of. 3-7. Four seniors on the team. Long year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

De Soto finishes their worst season that I've been a part of. 3-7. Four seniors on the team. Long year.

4 seniors? Oof.

Our boys basketball team had 6 seniors.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City improves to 10-0, with a win over West Plains in the first round of districts, 47-7. Score isn't even close to what kind of game this was, Webb City ran out to a 38-0 score in the first quarter. So far this season Webb has outscored opponents 456 to 80. I can't imagine how bad it would be if the starters got to play more than a half (or less). Winning streak is at 40 and regular season is over 90 in a row. Just crazy.

Joplin opens district play after a 5-4 regular season, probably won't go far.

[JonInMiddleGA]

8-0 baby.

But it could hardly have been any closer, as we rally for a 21-20 win, surviving a 42 yard field goal that went (apparently) just wide. Honestly, every single person in the press box thought the kick was good, the refs saw it otherwise ... and I'll take that.

The stud RB got 125 yards for the night, 75 of them on a run late in the 1st quarter that put them in front 14-7. They added two field goals to lead 20-7 at the half, our offense completely stifled after going 70 yards easily on the opening drive to draw first blood.

2nd half they get the ball & we hold, until they fake a punt convert to near midfield ... except for that little yellow flag, one of their umpteen procedure calls on the night. That saved our butts. We draw within a score when Eric Williams turned a 20 yard slant into a 50 yard TD by simply being the fastest man on the field. We put together a nice drive on the next possession, dinking & dunking our way downfield steadily, scoring with 2:36 left in Q3 on a 2 yd QB keeper, PAT kick is good, it's 21-20 good guys.

And from there we fought & scratched & clawed, swapping punts & a turnover each, their final drive starts at their 44 with 3:14 left. The end up 4th & less than 1 at our 28, out of time outs and around :40 left after the measurement, so they calmly line up for a 45 yarder that misses -- officially -- a little bit wide right. Kicker was good from 27 & 45 earlier, had missed a late first half 52 yard try, it couldn't have been much closer on the game-winning miss.

One victory formation, one kneel down, and the celebration was on. And much nerves are still frazzled.

8-0, with a chance to clinch the region title (and at least a top 4 seed it appears) if we win on the road next week at 1-7 Hebron Christian, a team that got slaughtered tonight by Commerce.

ERROR: The requested URL could not be retrieved (http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2012-10-26/close-call-athens-academy-holds-george-walton-after-missed-go-ahead-field)

[cougarfreak]

Conner got a pretty good upset win last night, over Covington Catholic (the local all boys team). Conner will finish number 2 in the area, behind highly touted Highlands. Gives us the 2 seed in our district for the playoffs. Our stud QB was on his way to Columbia after the game last night to have breakfast with Spurrier.

[MizzouCowboy]

As expected, Joplin falls to Raymore-Peculiar 51-21 in the first round of district play.

It was a tale of two halves, with Joplin racking up 269 yards to go into halftime tied 21-21. Ray-Pec took control in the second half and held Joplin to -5 yards.

Not a bad season for Joplin, but I really wish we could go back to two high schools like it was in the 80's. (as if we need to rebuild/build yet another school, but anyway). As it is now, we really have no chance against the elite 6A teams in Missouri.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City beats Republic 48-7 last night in the 2nd round of district play. As usual, the game was over at halftime with Webb City up 34-7. The score was the same as their week 4 game.

Webb City takes on Springfield Hillcrest (10-1) on Monday night.

[Ben E Lou]

Southwest Atlanta Christian (one of the state's smallest private schools fielding a football team) has forfeited tomorrow's game against North Cobb Christian, a pair of teams that went 1-9 last year. The story began as something about SWAC having sent out their pads & helmets to be reconditioned but they haven't come back yet. The growing rumor seems to be that they're down to 14 players and are planning to forfeit the entire season.

Why is this notable? Our NBA fans here may recognize the name Dwight Howard ... his dad Dwight Sr. is the AD at SWAC.There was an article in the AJC about this team today. VERY moving. A high school buddy of mine appears to be moved to action regarding it. I'm going to help him.

Small team with big hearts | www.ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/small-team-with-big-hearts/nStkh/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

There was an article in the AJC about this team today. VERY moving. A high school buddy of mine appears to be moved to action regarding it. I'm going to help him.

Small team with big hearts | www.ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/small-team-with-big-hearts/nStkh/)

It's a situation that is, honestly, starting to look a little stranger by the day. This article comes on the heels of several apparently spontaneous comments on the Vent along the same lines. And yet ... they still list Brother Dwight Howard as the AD.

I'm not necessarily expecting his famous son to pay for every penny of every cost at the school, but to go to the brink of cancelling the season (which seemed to be the plan) because you didn't have the funds to have helmets & pads reconditioned? Does that seem like something that should have happened under the circumstances?

From the article the current head coach sounds like a heck of a great guy & I certainly wish him well with what appears, honestly, to be a Herculean task. They were 4-36 the past four years with more players (although always on the shorthanded side afaik). But the article also fails to mention/explain how he became head coach in the first place, as of the beginning of the season at least DeMarco Thompson was still in place. Where'd he go? (note: while asking the question, further research turned up one article from Dalton, GA that said Chism took over in July .... but that seems to have been news that nobody else knew in August, but it does explain why "calls to Coach Thompson have not been returned") Heck, even the typically reliable GHSFHA.org site still lists Thompson as the head coach.

The whole thing just has the strong aroma of political infighting and/or personal issues to me. I wish them (and your friend, and you) well with it, but I'd keep some anti-drama pills handy just in case ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Meanwhile, we'll take our (co)#2 ranking in the AJC poll, and #1 in the private school power rating on the road to Dacula, GA to play Hebron Christian (1-7). They are, well, a bad football team. Their one win, 60-0, was over Cross Keys, a program that is always among the state's worst. Their five losses to teams in our region have been by an average score of 43-8, they haven't scored more than 14, haven't allowed less than 35 in those games. A win tonight should, best we can figure the tiebreakers, clinch the Region 8 title for us, as well as clinching a playoff spot.

Alas, no matter the final score, we're virtually certain to wake up tomorrow as the #2 team in the private power ratings. They will hit our SOS so hard that we'll drop around a full point & likely slip behind Eagle's Landing Christian.

Our JV's are excited, they expect to see significant playing time tonight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We win 44-20 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score. Our JV's played the entire 2nd half & our hapless opponents chose to use three timeouts in the final 30 seconds while down by 30 in order to get a TD on our freshmen (our defense was using guys who were JV backups for most of the 4th quarter). Tacky, but I suspect we'll remember that down the line somewhere.

We led 21-0 less than 7 minutes in, three TD's in 8 plays while they had 2 fumbles on their first three plays. From that point it was just a matter of waiting for a final score.

Better still, George Walton routed Athens Christian 42-3, meaning that it's time to congratulate your 2012 Region 8A Champion Athens Academy Spartans. Tremendous senior leadership from as determined a group as I've had the pleasure to watch up close in all my years and perhaps a season like none I've ever seen in terms of a coaching staff being dialed in week after week. It's a good staff but I don't believe it's ever been this good over & over.

No rest next week as we wrap up the regular season though, even with the region clinched, we're still fighting for playoff seeding & need a win to stay in the hunt for one of the top two seeds which would guarantee home field all the way through the semifinals.

[rjolley]

Hey Jon, how's Eric doing? We need football season to end. Time to get him on the court. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hey Jon, how's Eric doing? We need football season to end. Time to get him on the court. :)

Put us up 37-0 with a 30something yd TD catch tonight, our only completion I believe. (One of only 2-3 attempts all night). Good to have him in the scoring column for a second straight week after a quiet game or two midseason, he's gotten a lot of double coverage as the season progressed which dialed back his catches but opened up our TE and the other WR for quite a few big catches.

[BYU 14]

We entered the playoffs as the #10 seed tonight and were 3 point underdogs to #7 Pinnacle. They marched down and scored on their first possession and then we went to work. Behind Seivion Morris' 301 yards on 19 carries and 3 TD's, we piled up 670 yards total offense and went on to a 56-20 win to advance to the quarterfinals.

Here are 3 of Seivions highlights, had a great game on both sides of the ball.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zYx3HvdMSPE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q0_xc6GM6Aw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ALU5c7STyps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JonInMiddleGA]

This time of year things can get pretty lean for teams that already had short rosters.

-- Last night we lost a freshman backup CB/RB to a broken collarbone.
-- Last week we lost a senior backup LB/FB to a torn MCL/ACL (undiscovered until Monday of this week) & a starting LB sat last night due to a dislocated shoulder.
-- We were already missing a senior backup OL/DL to a broken ankle/leg suffered midseason.

So last night we had a DB playing LB and two freshmen trying to play corner.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City rolls over Hillcrest 55 - 10 to win the Missouri District 4 Championship. The Cardinals racked up over 400 yards rushing with 8 rushing touchdowns.

Webb City will host Sullivan, a 32-17 winner against St. Clair, this Saturday in the quarterfinals.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Final week of the regular season for us, and serious potential for a letdown is enough to make me nervous.

Ranked #3 in Class A by AP, Athens Academy is unbeaten (9-0) and has already clinched the region title and the guaranteed spot in the 16-team playoff field that goes with it. We're currently sitting with the #1 power rating but should be no worse than #2 after tonight ... IF we win. But we're not 100% physically and it's senior night.

Athens Christian (4-5) is a rival that beat us for the first time ever last season. They're currently #13 in the power ratings and know that a loss could move them out of the post-season. They're dangerous offensively with a beast of a back that 2-3 two hundred yard games to his credit (978 yds & 9TD's for the season).

Quite a bit at stake with the power rating here, as the top 2 seeds in the bracket are guaranteed to be at home through the semfinals (finals are once again at the Georgia Dome). An undefeated regular season isn't a common occurrence either, would be a great legacy for our seniors.

ACS is deceptively tough if you look only at their record. They played the toughest schedule in the region by a fair margin, losing to a pair of same-class teams that are/were ranked in the top 10, a top 10 teams from two classifications higher and a playoff team from two classifications higher..

I'm more nervous than the the game should make me ... on paper. They keep playing these darned games on grass though.

Webcast should be available at the usual link, just scroll up a few posts if you'd like to enjoy the dulcet tones of our student announcers (including my kid). Kickoff at 730p

[JonInMiddleGA]

TCB baby, TCB

27-9 win and not really that close, as for the second straight week we have a team call timeout in the final seconds to get a cheap TD against our backups. That ACS for you though, only class they've got takes place between 815a-315p.

We hold their RB to around 60-70 yards while our little senior TB goes off for about a buck-fifty (near his career high) and outrushes their whole team by himself. Oddly though, he didn't score, so we settle for a 1 yd plunge by our senior FB, a pair of short TD passes by our senior QB, one to his favorite senior WR and another to our underclassman hoops star Eric Williams, and a couple of FG's (37yd, 38yd) from our kicker (Jr) Did I mention it was senior night? ;)

It looks like we should hang on to the #1 overall seed when the playoffs begin in two weeks, lots of losses in the bottom half of the power ratings, not many weeks for the teams that were on the wrong side of the bubble, probably be late tomorrow or early Sunday before we get a really good handle on it.

Congrats to Skydog and his alma mater are in order tonight as well btw. His Brookstone Cougars scored 2 unanswered 4th qtr touchdowns and beat Greenville 30-21 to claim the region 4-A title. They are likely to be the #4 seed when the brackets are official on Wednesday.

[cougarfreak]

Conner was ousted in the 2nd round of the playoffs tonight, 62-59. Two tremendous offenses, but your defense has blown all year. On top of that, our coach evidently decided to onside kick EVERY time last night. All 10 times. We recovered 1. That gave the other team a short field all night. Stud QB accounted for over 400 yards himself, 296 passing and 110 rushing. Ohio State was at school yesterday to speak with him. I hope he avoids that. Out of all the offers he's got, I hope he goes South Carolina. But, I supposed things could change his senior year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

How's this for wacky doings?

If I've done the math correctly, the 16th and final spot in the Georgia Class A-Private bracket will be determined by how many digits are deemed significant in computing power rating.

Team A is at 10.525 power rating
Team B is at 10.521(repeating) power rating

Nothing in the published rules spells out the rounding procedures, nor the number of significant digits. Anecdotal evidence from earlier in the year points to rounding being done inconsistently by the official provider of the power ratings (MaxPreps, under contract, who has come off incredibly inept throughout the whole process)

Compound the oddity of the situation, Team B beat Team A head to head and that's the first tiebreaker, so the advantage is clear ... question is whether they're tied or not.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Here's a little more Georgia power rating irony for you.
(Remember, the whole power rating thing came about because of an enormous uproar by the small public schools who felt they couldn't compete with the small private schools in football)

If this year's playoffs had been conducted under the old system, a single 32 team bracket would have contained 16 publics & 16 privates.
First round pairings would have had home games for 8 publics & 8 privates.
2nd round pairings to chalk would have had home games for 4 of each as well.

1st round would have included 4 "mixed pairs" (public vs private), 2 each favored by seed.
2nd round to chalk would have included 2 "mixed pairs", 1 each favored by seed.

Under the old system last season, the bracket contained 19 public & 13 private.

The difference this season consists of who's in & who's out, with at least one team that was among the complaining group staying home, replaced by their other favorite target: a public school from a small city system instead of a county system.

Be careful what you wish for.

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City improves to 13-0 with a 35-6 win over Sullivan, who were ranked #3 in MO Class 4. Webb City runs their unbeaten streak to 43 games, and have also won their last 13 playoff games.

Their last loss in the regular season was in week 7 of 2003, a 30-0 loss to Columbia Hickman.

Webb City travels to St. Louis St. Marys (11-2) on Saturday in the semifinals.

[MacroGuru]

My alma mater Timpview is playing for the State Championship again. You can have the cross town rival bitch about fund raising, call for an audit, have the head coach fired because of the audit (discrepancy of funds, basically he used some money for personal, didn't pay it back.) forced to forfeit their first 4 games for an ineligible player playing (improper paperwork) and then come in as a bottom seed and go all the way to the title game.

We have won seven state titles since 86 with 4 straight from 06-10, played in the title game last season and lost to East.

[cougarfreak]

Here is the highlight video of our schools QB, Drew Barker for the year. He's been ranked the #5 QB for the class of 2014:

Drew Barker 2012 Jr. Highlight Video - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2noH6RJX8tg&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City defeated St. Mary's 47 -7 to book their third straight state championship appearance. Webb passed for 249 yards and ran for 242. Webb City led at the half 35-0.

They take on Jefferson City Helias (10-4) in the Show-Me-Bowl at the Edward Jones Dome.

Webb City's freshman and JV teams are also undefeated this season.

[MizzouCowboy]

Here is the highlight video of our schools QB, Drew Barker for the year. He's been ranked the #5 QB for the class of 2014:

Drew Barker 2012 Jr. Highlight Video - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2noH6RJX8tg&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

Nice touch on the deep throws. Looks like a young Elway.

[MacroGuru]

My alma mater Timpview is playing for the State Championship again. You can have the cross town rival bitch about fund raising, call for an audit, have the head coach fired because of the audit (discrepancy of funds, basically he used some money for personal, didn't pay it back.) forced to forfeit their first 4 games for an ineligible player playing (improper paperwork) and then come in as a bottom seed and go all the way to the title game.

We have won seven state titles since 86 with 4 straight from 06-10, played in the title game last season and lost to East.

Timpview went into 2OT to defeat Mtn .Crest and take the 4A State Championship...we now notch an eighth!

[JonInMiddleGA]

We are extremely lucky to survive and advance, rallying in the 4th quarter for a 17-13 win over #16 seed Mt. Pisgah Christian.

We could not have played much worse for three quarters & still be alive to tell the tale. The week off + the holiday seemed to take a major toll, flat doesn't begin to describe it. We simply refused to block anyone, our steady as a rock QB couldn't hit an elephant in the ass, our receivers tripped over their own feet, just an utterly abysmal half that saw us trailing 13-0. A dropped bomb late in the 3rd looked like it might be the end of us, that one chance for a spark snuffed out by fumbling fingers.

And then, speed kills. Eric Williams gets one step on a DB and is off to the races for 61 yards and a score with about 9 mins left. An enormous stop on 4th & 1 at midfield ... 5 minutes later, after converting twice on 4th down, we sneak it in from a yard out and take the lead 14-13. A diving interception on a tipped ball lets us add a 41 yd FG with 2 mins to play. And then we let them come right down the field dinking & dunking. Final play is a jump ball in the end zone, must have been at least a 10-11 guys all in the air ... tipped once, maybe twice, and they have a receiver get both hands on it as he's going to the ground ... and it slipped through this fingers.

We survive but next week might be too much. Remember that dramatic win on the road over archrival Prince Avenue earlier in the season? Well they certainly do ... and they'll come to our place looking for revenge after going on the road to beat Darlington handily.

If we don't play a LOT better next week, we'll not only lose, we'll get destroyed.

[MizzouCowboy]

Not a major surprise to anyone in Missouri that follows high school football, but as expected, Webb City wins their third straight state championship beating Jefferson City Helias 49-14 at the Edward Jones Dome.

Webb City started out fast, taking five plays to get their first TD. Their second possession was a one play 59 yard td pass. They went up 35-0 until Helias finally gets on the board with 17 seconds left in the half to make it 35-7.

Webb City takes the 2nd half kickoff and drives down to make it 42-7. At the start of the 4th qtr Webb City pulls it starters, and Helias punches in a TD late in the 4th.

This was Webb City's 11th championship since '89. Also the win extended their winning streak to 45 games.

[Grover]

My alma mater won their first Class A state title since 1986 in Maine.

Thornton Academy Golden Trojans, huzzah.

[Young Drachma]

Ishpeming (Mich.) High wins Sports Illustrated's Underdogs contest - More Sports - SI.com (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/highschool/11/27/ishpeming-high-school-wins-underdogs/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a17&eref=sihp)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pretty much the whole team is on Tamiflu right now. We've somehow managed to find ourselves with several players suffering from it last week and several different ones this week. We may need a miracle to avoid getting blown out Friday :(

[Suburban Rhythm]

Wanted to post this last week.

Local school has the current longest winning streak in the US at 60 games. Clairton, as the story explains, is a typical steel town around Pittsburgh. Booming in the 60's-70's, mass exodus in the 80's, crumbling in the 90's - now.

4 part series

The Pride of Clairton - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/high-school-football/the-pride-of-clairton-663147/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

When you fumble on your first offensive play, it's not usually a good sign. Tonight was no exception and the season comes to an end in the quarterfinals for Athens Academy, losing 24-7 at home to crosstown rivals Prince Avenue. We held them under 100 yards offense in the first half but between the fumble inside our own 30 and a blocked punt, we were down 14-0. A dropped pass that would have converted 3rd & 27 in the 2nd quarter didn't help matters either. We opened the 2nd half with a quick drive & score to cut it to 14-7, they answered with a field goal to make it 17-7. We turn it over again on a pick, force a fumble to delay the inevitable, throw another pick at midfield and they put it away with another TD. Evenly matched teams I think, maybe they're a tad better but we simply had too many mistakes to overcome on a night when they were nearly (other than that fumble) perfect. I lost track of our penalties, had to be well over 100 yards including 2 PI calls (both legit), the first 3 chop blocks I've seen called all season, at least a half dozen false starts and a very very questionable blow to the head call (they blew that one badly).

Always tough to watch a season end but this one was rougher than most for me I think. This was really the first time in over 20 years when I had followed a team with a sizable number of kids I actually know playing. These weren't just names & numbers, these are the seniors that my son eats lunch with every day, the ones who have been awfully good to him, the ones who I've talked to before & after games all year. It was also the final football webcast for our remarkable young pbp guy, wrapping up his sixth season as the voice of the Spartans. Yeah, we've still got basketball to do but football was his passion as an announcer & it was tough for me to see him trying to grasp that it was finally over both for him & for his classmates that have largely been together since kindergarten.

On a happier note, that announcer had a pretty good week leading up to today. He got a full 4-year academic ride to UNC, earning a prestigious Morehead-Cain scholarship. I'll mention that here because, well, I'm pretty danged proud to know somebody who can pull that off (and it's a hell of a consolation prize).


http://onlineathens.com/sports/prep/2012-11-30/athens-academys-defense-holds-offense-struggles-loss

[cartman]

My alma mater, Nolan Catholic, picked up their 4th state title in the past 5 years. It came down to a FG attempt with 4 seconds left to get the win 48-45 over Trinity Christian Addison.

There was a Leon Lett style play to end the first half. Nolan had their field goal blocked, but one of the TCA players for some reason tried to field the ball at the three. He knocked the ball into the end zone, where a Nolan player recovered for a TD.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heading to the final round in Georgia this coming weekend. Here's the schedule
Championship Matchups
Class AAAAAA
Lovejoy (13-1) vs. Norcross (14-0)
Class AAAAA
Ware County (13-1) vs. Gainesville (11-3)
Class AAAA
Sandy Creek (14-0) vs. Ridgeland (13-1)
Class AAA
Buford (11-3) vs. St. Pius (12-2)
Class AA
Jefferson (13-1) vs. Calhoun (14-0)
Class A (private)
Prince Avenue (11-2) vs. ELCA (12-1)
Class A (public)
Dooly County (11-2) vs. ECI (12-1)

Championship Game Times
Friday, Dec. 14
2:30 pm - Class A Private
5:30 pm - Class AAA
8:30 pm - Class AAAAA
Saturday, Dec. 15
11:30 am - Class A Public
2:30 pm - Class AA
5:30 pm - Class AAAA
8:30 pm - Class AAAAAA

Television/Web
Online simulcast coverage will be available on GPB.org/sports and GHSA.tv.
-----
A few observations ... Lovejoy will try to break the Gwinnett Co + Region 1 stranglehold on the highest classification title. It's been a decade since anyone from outside those two places won it. ... In 5A, Gainesville QB Deshaun Watson (verbal to Clemson) has over 3,000 passing/1,000 rushing yds and accounts for nearly 70 TD's this season. He's a junior ... In 3A Buford didn't let 2 forfeits derail their bid for yet another title ... In 2A Jefferson tries to win Coach T. McFerrin his 2nd state title after he's reached the final four with a state record 5 schools ('69 Lithonia, '71 Forest Park, '81/'82 Peachtree, '95 Elbert Co, '12 Jefferson). His QB is a kid who transferred out of "my" school to play for him ... In Class A private, the rival who eliminated us with be a huge underdog against ELCA, a team that a lot of people annointed as champs before the season began. They've lived up to their billing thus far ... In Class A public, Dooly & ECI eliminated Lincoln & Wilcox, two of the schools that engineered the split classification in order to enhance their chance at titles. Karma is a bitch.

[Ben E Lou]

Heading to the final round in Georgia this coming weekend. Here's the schedule
Championship Matchups
Class AAAAAA
Lovejoy (13-1) vs. Norcross (14-0)
Class AAAAA
Ware County (13-1) vs. Gainesville (11-3)
Class AAAA
Sandy Creek (14-0) vs. Ridgeland (13-1)
Class AAA
Buford (11-3) vs. St. Pius (12-2)
Class AA
Jefferson (13-1) vs. Calhoun (14-0)
Class A (private)
Prince Avenue (11-2) vs. ELCA (12-1)
Class A (public)
Dooly County (11-2) vs. ECI (12-1)

Championship Game Times
Friday, Dec. 14
2:30 pm - Class A Private
5:30 pm - Class AAA
8:30 pm - Class AAAAA
Saturday, Dec. 15
11:30 am - Class A Public
2:30 pm - Class AA
5:30 pm - Class AAAA
8:30 pm - Class AAAAAA

Television/Web
Online simulcast coverage will be available on GPB.org/sports and GHSA.tv.
-----
A few observations ... Lovejoy will try to break the Gwinnett Co + Region 1 stranglehold on the highest classification title. It's been a decade since anyone from outside those two places won it. ... In 5A, Gainesville QB Deshaun Watson (verbal to Clemson) has over 3,000 passing/1,000 rushing yds and accounts for nearly 70 TD's this season. He's a junior ... In 3A Buford didn't let 2 forfeits derail their bid for yet another title ... In 2A Jefferson tries to win Coach T. McFerrin his 2nd state title after he's reached the final four with a state record 5 schools ('69 Lithonia, '71 Forest Park, '81/'82 Peachtree, '95 Elbert Co, '12 Jefferson). His QB is a kid who transferred out of "my" school to play for him ... In Class A private, the rival who eliminated us with be a huge underdog against ELCA, a team that a lot of people annointed as champs before the season began. They've lived up to their billing thus far ... In Class A public, Dooly & ECI eliminated Lincoln & Wilcox, two of the schools that engineered the split classification in order to enhance their chance at titles. Karma is a bitch.
T. McFerrin is still around???? Wow.

And I'm giggling at Lincoln County. Couldn't happen to a nicer jackass. :D

[JonInMiddleGA]

In a move that isn't necessarily shocking but might be of a little interest to Ben E. Lou and a few other Georgia guys here ...
Mount de Sales leaving the GISA for the GHSA | Latest News | Macon.com (http://www.macon.com/2013/01/24/2329162/mount-de-sales-makes-its-decision.html)

For Mount de Sales, it's a return to the GHSA from the GISA after they had considerable success in the bigger/more competitive organization. The big question now is whether fellow Macon private school power Tattnall Square will vote to follow them or stay in the smaller group. And if Tattnall goes, that may lead to as many as 4 other dominoes in the lower half of the state falling as well.

Meanwhile, speaking of Tattnall, coaching legend Barney Hester (5th winningest coach in state history) leaves to take the head coaching job at nearby Howard HS. That's a public school that's lost 24 in a row & has been consistently bad in their brief five year history. Hester says he wants a new challenge, it'll be interesting to see how the 59 year old fares.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kinda stumbled into this thread accidentally (while looking for something else related) and man, some serious flashbacks.

And the some of the names ...

The recruitment of Nkemdiche was a thing

We (Athens Academy) shut down a stud running back ... who turned into Rashard Fant, probably the best DB in the history of Indiana University and a Chicago Bears UDFA signing.

The introduction of power ratings for Class A football in Georgia & the mess made of it. That improved - VERY slowly - over the years though still had errors weekly for most of its use. Starting with the next reclassification cycle they will be gone (despite working very well from a competition standpoint) as the state drops them for a complete public/private split ... but only in Class A

QB prospect Drew Barker would end up at Kentucky, his career cut short by injury. Also ending up at Kentucky was the stud running back from George Walton HS we faced ... Stanley "Boom" Williams

My alma mater somehow managed to beat a team with Nick Chubb lol
Six years later they would win the first region title in school history

SW Atlanta Christian would eventually drop football after this season, managing to play 8 of their 10 scheduled games though

And after 7 years, the Class A-Private football title in Georgia has largely been contested between us, our main rival Prince Ave, and the seemingly unstoppable ELCA. They've won 5 titles in the 7 seasons since (including the one in 2012), 4 of the 5 have involved at least one team from Athens in the semis or the title game.

[Kodos]

We (Athens Academy) shut down a stud running back ... who turned into Rashard Fant, probably the best DB in the history of Indiana University and a Chicago Bears UDFA signing.


I might go with Tracy Porter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Porter) over Rashard Fant, but Fant was definitely one of the best CBs IU has had. It's funny that Fant was a stud RB in high school. Early in his career at IU, Fant was really scrawny, but still found his way onto the field.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, and I left out a thing I was gonna mention.

That graduating play by play kid I thought so much of? He ultimately turned down UNC and stayed here to attend UGA. He ended up student government president during college and is now the youngest state representative in the Georgia legislature.

[cougarfreak]

Kinda stumbled into this thread accidentally (while looking for something else related) and man, some serious flashbacks.

And the some of the names ...

The recruitment of Nkemdiche was a thing

We (Athens Academy) shut down a stud running back ... who turned into Rashard Fant, probably the best DB in the history of Indiana University and a Chicago Bears UDFA signing.

The introduction of power ratings for Class A football in Georgia & the mess made of it. That improved - VERY slowly - over the years though still had errors weekly for most of its use. Starting with the next reclassification cycle they will be gone (despite working very well from a competition standpoint) as the state drops them for a complete public/private split ... but only in Class A

QB prospect Drew Barker would end up at Kentucky, his career cut short by injury. Also ending up at Kentucky was the stud running back from George Walton HS we faced ... Stanley "Boom" Williams

My alma mater somehow managed to beat a team with Nick Chubb lol
Six years later they would win the first region title in school history

SW Atlanta Christian would eventually drop football after this season, managing to play 8 of their 10 scheduled games though

And after 7 years, the Class A-Private football title in Georgia has largely been contested between us, our main rival Prince Ave, and the seemingly unstoppable ELCA. They've won 5 titles in the 7 seasons since (including the one in 2012), 4 of the 5 have involved at least one team from Athens in the semis or the title game.

Rumor had it Barker was going to try and play at Troy after he moved on from KY after 3 years I believe, but already had his degree, and ultimately chose to give it up. Never recovered from the back injury, but I'm not sure he was cut out for SEC football.

[henry296]

-----
A few observations ... Lovejoy will try to break the Gwinnett Co + Region 1 stranglehold on the highest classification title. It's been a decade since anyone from outside those two places won it. ... In 5A, Gainesville QB Deshaun Watson (verbal to Clemson) has over 3,000 passing/1,000 rushing yds and accounts for nearly 70 TD's this season. He's a junior ... In 3A Buford didn't let 2 forfeits derail their bid for yet another title ... In 2A Jefferson tries to win Coach T. McFerrin his 2nd state title after he's reached the final four with a state record 5 schools ('69 Lithonia, '71 Forest Park, '81/'82 Peachtree, '95 Elbert Co, '12 Jefferson). His QB is a kid who transferred out of "my" school to play for him ... In Class A private, the rival who eliminated us with be a huge underdog against ELCA, a team that a lot of people annointed as champs before the season began. They've lived up to their billing thus far ... In Class A public, Dooly & ECI eliminated Lincoln & Wilcox, two of the schools that engineered the split classification in order to enhance their chance at titles. Karma is a bitch.

Good call on Watson :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good call on Watson :)

Thanks, though Ray Charles probably could see he was gonna be pretty good lol

Your quote did cause me to catch something I missed on my earlier walk down memory lane though.

Jefferson did indeed go on to win a state title that year, led by the QB that left Athens Academy to go there. The QB? NC State commit turned UConn 3 yr starter Bryant Shirreffs. While his tenure saw some very tough times, he left as their #4 all-time passer and was well-liked enough to warrant an unusually long post-career feature story in the Hartford Courant (https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-sp-bryant-shirreffs-20171231-story.html)

I didn't realize he was as well thought of there as he seems to have been, having seen more of the struggles than the local reaction to his determination. Good on him.

[miami_fan]

I guess this thread will work.

LOOK: Texas high school football player trucks referee after being ejected - CBSSports.com (https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/look-texas-high-school-football-player-trucks-referee-after-being-ejected/)

[albionmoonlight]

You saw the coach and teammate running with him, and they were both positioning themselves between 88 and the other team, assuming that 88 was going to try and fight them. I don't think it occurred to anyone that he was going for the ref until he actually did it.

[Ghost Econ]

What similar incident was he suspended for in soccer and how was he still allowed to play any high school sports.

[BYU 14]

I don't know if that kid has schollies on tap, but I hope schools back off, especially if this has been an ongoing thing. There should have been a coach in his face and getting him to the bench to calm down after the ejection, which would have put them in a position to stop him from going on the field. Kid would never play for me again and i hope his stupid ass gets charged with assault.

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm sure that young man is getting all the mental help he needs.

Borat: Not!

[Edward64]

Roid rage.

[BYU 14]

So class A assault charges for that kid (misdemeanor) and district pulled his team from the playoffs.

[tarcone]

And you wonder why there is a shortage of officials in HS sports.

[BYU 14]

And you wonder why there is a shortage of officials in HS sports.

It is a thankless job and I have made a concerted effort to keep my tongue in check in recent seasons. Especially when it is apparent the crew is trying and they communicate well.

[larrymcg421]

Auburrn High has a 9 point lead with 28 seconds left in the state championship and finds a way to lose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb9bHoavOGw

[BYU 14]

Auburrn High has a 9 point lead with 28 seconds left in the state championship and finds a way to lose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb9bHoavOGw

The truly sad part of that for Auburn is the Thompson Kicker was offsides on the on side kick and the officials missed it. You have to make contact with the ball before anyone on the KO teams passes the line the ball is teed up on and his plant foot hit past the line before he kicked it. Just a little extra twist of the blade :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Winding down to the final GHSA title game of the season, just tossing in a note that might be interesting to especially the long time participants in this thread.

Some of the color commentary this year was handled by Coach Bryan Lamar, the current head coach of ... the Tucker Tigers. He was really good in the role IMO, though you know he'd rather have been coaching than talking.

Getting the tone right in that role has proven tough for all manner of personalities, I felt like he really hit the mark.

[miami_fan]

Lawsuits, secret taping and the unraveling of a powerhouse high school football program (https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31099968/lawsuits-secret-tapes-unraveling-powerhouse-high-school-football-program)

Though there are allegations that Alabama and Georgia pay five to six figures for players, this is a story about small town high school football in the South.

[GrantDawg]

You mean the allegations that the person that said them admitted were lies and signed an affidavit to that? Those allegations?

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[miami_fan]

I mean that it is now well established that we accept that colleges pay certain players to come to their schools and we really don't care whether they do or not.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I suspect this may foreshadow the outcome for Propst. (His long time top assistant departs Valdosta, taking the HC job at a south Georgia Class A school, albeit a marginally successful one)

Pelham football hires top Valdosta assistant (https://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school-sports-blog/pelham-football-hires-top-valdosta-assistant/EUQ6XR67HRC6XHMOP5JP4EAJZU/)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Soooo .. yesterday, that top Valdosta assistant I mentioned backed out on taking the smaller school job. (the 2nd time this decade he's done that to a school btw). That might have foreshadowed something, but not what I would have guessed.

The GHSA dropped the hammer (relative to what we usually see) on Valdosta this morning

The Georgia High School Association has fined Valdosta at least $5,000, banned the football team from the 2021 playoffs and declared an unspecified number of players ineligible, which likely will lead to forfeiting the team’s seven 2020 victories.

That ban is notable, as it's something rarely used here (last time was 2013 on a metro ATL basketball team that basically held open tryout camps for prospective transfer). I can only think of only one other football postseason ban and that was for a violent incident that occurred in-season.

The fine is also notable. While it may sound like loose change in the context of larger sports, it represents the largest single fine ever levied by the state governing body.

I have to think this might be a career-ender for Propst.

GHSA fines, bans Valdosta football from playoffs | Georgia high school football (https://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school-sports-blog/ghsa-fines-valdosta-5000-bans-football-team-from-playoffs/XYKASXYTYBAOFGKG2IH6P3HKZY/)

[miami_fan]

I don't believe this will become a wide spread thing but this is one of two similar stories that caught my eye this morning. The fact that he is a running back might be the key detail. Gotta save those hits for when you get paid.

EDIT: Probably should add the link to the story.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/31483492/no-82-recruit-jaydon-blue-skip-senior-season-high-school-football-prepare-commitment-texas-longhorns

[Ghost Econ]

I should have said that's what I was doing. I mean I never played organized football, but it I had just opted out every year, I could have had a 10 year NFL career.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Speaking of HS football, the Valdosta sage continues (it may never end).

That meeting to reconsider Propst contract was abruptly cancelled. But that's not really the reason I'm mentioning it again. Oh no, the circus remains in full three ring mode in Valdosta.

In the absence of their HC (or a new HC decision), they put an interim in charge and you ain't gonna believe who they chose: Shelton Felton.

That name will be familiar to at least some of you I suspect. Prior to being hired as the Valdosta special teams coordinator a couple months ago, he was most recently an assistant coach at Tennessee. Yes, THAT Tennessee. The Vols fired him after he was heavily implicated in the paying players scandal.

Yep, perhaps only in Valdosta would they fire the head coach who got them a year's suspension from the post-season for paying players and then replace him with a guy who got fired elsewhere for ... paying players.

[GrantDawg]

Valdosta firmly believes if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[JonInMiddleGA]

Valdosta firmly believes if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

They just can't figure out who the right person to do their cheating is.

That school board has pretty much already clinched back-to-back Worst Administration In Georgia title for a second straight year. It's rare for me to think merging a city/county system in this state would be a good idea but that clown show has me wondering hard.

[BYU 14]

And I complain about the shenanigan's in Arizona High School Football LOL

[JonInMiddleGA]

And I complain about the shenanigan's in Arizona High School Football LOL

This is, to my knowledge, a more recent turn of events for Valdosta (aka Winnersville), at least at this scale.

There was always a certain amount of talk about {cough} shenanigans with players flipping between them and their local rival Lowndes County, maybe some stuff about move-ins from surrounding counties (though honestly I never believed much of that, it's 'Dosta/Lowndes, the brand name & success is plenty to move players from the next county over)

They aren't even in the top 10, maybe not even top 20, of programs that come to mind in this state when I think about dirty programs. Elsewhere there's creatively manipulated enrollment figures, an influx of international olympic athletes (non-revenue sports) who suddenly found themselves under the legal guardianship of assistant coaches, teams with entirely new rosters (for b'ball) or new starting lineups (for football), those are things associated with other places than Valdosta.

[miami_fan]

This is, to my knowledge, a more recent turn of events for Valdosta (aka Winnersville), at least at this scale.

There was always a certain amount of talk about {cough} shenanigans with players flipping between them and their local rival Lowndes County, maybe some stuff about move-ins from surrounding counties (though honestly I never believed much of that, it's 'Dosta/Lowndes, the brand name & success is plenty to move players from the next county over)

They aren't even in the top 10, maybe not even top 20, of programs that come to mind in this state when I think about dirty programs. Elsewhere there's creatively manipulated enrollment figures, an influx of international olympic athletes (non-revenue sports) who suddenly found themselves under the legal guardianship of assistant coaches, teams with entirely new rosters (for b'ball) or new starting lineups (for football), those are things associated with other places than Valdosta.

Funny, I was just going to ask if this was a situation similar to college sports where if we dug deep enough we could find dirt in every successful program.

[albionmoonlight]

I grew up in an area without major HS sports, so I'm curious what the bottom line is.

I understand the incentives for major cheating at the big college and professional levels. Those programs generate a ton of money and booster support, so there's a huge incentive to cheat and win and keep the money coming in.

But do HS sports generate that much money? I always kind of figured that they either cost money or broke even with ticket sales and ads in the stadium and whatnot. And I guess you'll get a donation drive to build a new fieldhouse or whatever. But, in general, HS sports isn't where the money is.

Am I just wrong about that? Are these super dirty schools actually generating revenue by winning that would dry up if they started losing?

Or is it just a pride thing and not really about the money?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I grew up in an area without major HS sports, so I'm curious what the bottom line is.

I understand the incentives for major cheating at the big college and professional levels. Those programs generate a ton of money and booster support, so there's a huge incentive to cheat and win and keep the money coming in.

But do HS sports generate that much money? I always kind of figured that they either cost money or broke even with ticket sales and ads in the stadium and whatnot. And I guess you'll get a donation drive to build a new fieldhouse or whatever. But, in general, HS sports isn't where the money is.

Am I just wrong about that? Are these super dirty schools actually generating revenue by winning that would dry up if they started losing?

Or is it just a pride thing and not really about the money?

More the pride, in terms of why the money is available.
More of a mixture for the coaches involved I believe.

There's around 10% of HS football HCs in Georgia that have cracked the $100k mark for official salary. In some markets the under the table money + benefits (new car leases are popular, lots of free food) exceeds the salary.
To be fair, there's also the "keep up or get fired" aspect of it.

I believe there's almost certainly more dirty behavior taking place at also-rans that have brief flurries of success (think Ole Miss kinda stuff) than at the perennial powers.

There's also some stuff that's harder to quantify involved IMO. The impact of successful athletics on some of these schools / towns cannot be overstated. It's the only reason anyone would consider moving to them / their district, the only thing the town/school really has to hang their hat on. Easy enough to label that as simply "pride" but it's also important for their survival / development / growth in some cases.

As for the profit / loss, you're accurate in one sense, a lot of the athletic departments are break even propositions at best. But taken individually, winning football programs can fund the entire athletic department and often do. I remember the first time I heard about a $1 million a year booster club ... and that was back in the 90s. And it wasn't Valdosta.

[miami_fan]

Complex (https://www.complex.com/sports/bishop-sycamore-lies-espn-play-on-national-tv?utm_campaign=sportstw&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social)

This is insane.

[miami_fan]

Here is the first part of the story.

New details about Bishop Sycamore emerged Monday, with ESPN releasing the following statement about Sunday’s debacle. It turns out, the team also played a game on Friday, which made Sunday’s game its second in just three days.

According to Awful Announcing, the game was scheduled by Paragon Marketing Group, whose president, Rashid Ghazi, denied having knowledge of Bishop Sycamore’s Friday game. Ghazi also said the company did not do due diligence in researching the team.

“We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling,” ESPN said in an official statement. “They have ensured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward.”

The outlet also confirmed that the Ohio High School Athletic Association doesn’t recognize Bishop Sycamore as a legitimate high school, and their “physical location, practice facilities, and roster eligibility could not be verified.”

[BYU 14]

I was reading that earlier and this is totally on ESPN. Their love affair with IMG is well documented and they are ultimately responsible for this.

Quite frankly this whole super school thing is ridiculous, but that is another rant. Bottom line is putting a school that overmatched, coming off a game 2 days prior is a dereliction of due diligence, kids are in a position to have been seriously hurt and yes some of that lies directly on the Bishop Sycamore HC too, clout chasing an ESPN national game instead of looking out for his kids.

[RainMaker]

They used to do this scam in college (might still do it). Some tiny unaccredited Christian school of 100 kids would play road games against some lower-end D1 schools. Cash a few $50k checks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I was reading that earlier and this is totally on ESPN. Their love affair with IMG is well documented and they are ultimately responsible for this.

Quite frankly this whole super school thing is ridiculous, but that is another rant. Bottom line is putting a school that overmatched, coming off a game 2 days prior is a dereliction of due diligence, kids are in a position to have been seriously hurt and yes some of that lies directly on the Bishop Sycamore HC too, clout chasing an ESPN national game instead of looking out for his kids.

Actually (per USA Today, tho I've seen it reported elsewhere earlier too) Bishop Sycamore has multiple matchups against powerhouses remaining in 2021, with opponents including Duncanville (Texas), St. Edward (Ohio) and DeMatha Catholic (Maryland).

Presumably all of those are not ESPN games so that doesn't seem to be the motivation for the scam underway there.

This seems much more likely to be a story that isn't unique -- damned if I can recall whether it was espn or someone else who covered it -- something akin to this made the news in the past few years, where a school that wasn't really a school overscheduled itself tremendously, eventually going bust IIRC.

[RainMaker]

That makes more sense. Someone's eyes got a little too big.

[JonInMiddleGA]

btw, Paragon Marketing Group -- who secures the rights for a lot of the HS games that ESPN airs, including this one -- is headed by Rashid Ghazi

The same guy who will be the chairman for this breakaway HS basketball league

High school basketball powerhouses form national league set to begin in 2021-22 season (https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/31503278/high-school-basketball-powerhouses-form-national-league-set-begin-2021-22-season)

And that league will be in competition of sorts with this one based in Atlanta. Its investors include Drake, KD, 'Melo, and Trae Young.
Overtime Elite building basketball facility in Atlanta for top prep players (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31472011/over-elite-building-facility-atlanta-top-prep-basketball-players)

[thesloppy]

This story is pretty crazy....one of those articles was suggesting that most of the Bishop Sycamore kids are out of high school, 19-21 years old & some have played JuCo ball already.

[JonInMiddleGA]

All that said, there were close to a dozen games in Georgia alone this past weekend, that were less competitive than the one aired on ESPN.

We're still in non-region portion of the schedule here, meaning all those games were undertaken voluntarily, without the glitz or glamour of TV lights (national or otherwise).

We also now have teams playing as many as 7 of their 10 regular season games at home - the underpowered team having sold off the hosting rights to the opponent (a bigger payday for them than they could have gotten for playing before sparse crowds at home)

While B.S. High seems to have been a scam, don't get too caught up in the handwringing over the disparity. ESPN isn't upset because of the mismatch, they're upset because they knew a blowout wouldn't hold viewers.

[tarcone]

Im watching Titletown HS and it is focusing on Valdosta. Is Probst still there?

Meanwhile, our HS is in their 2nd year with a 3 time state title winning coach. Our team beat the local catholic school 30-12 last night. 1st time our HS beat them since 1995.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Im watching Titletown HS and it is focusing on Valdosta. Is Probst still there?
.

Nah, was fired after losing a pissing contest with the local booster club president.

His replacement was none other than Shelton Felton ... you remember him? The assistant who was a key part of the dirty doings that got Jeremy Pruitt fired at UT.

[tarcone]

Nah, was fired after losing a pissing contest with the local booster club president.

His replacement was none other than Shelton Felton ... you remember him? The assistant who was a key part of the dirty doings that got Jeremy Pruitt fired at UT.

Nice.

The show mentioned something about the booster president and probst both being big personalities and it may cause an issue.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nice.

The show mentioned something about the booster president and probst both being big personalities and it may cause an issue.

Did Rush fuck up? Yep.

Was the booster club president who secretly taped conversations with him doing so for purely altrustic reasons? Your answer will dictate whether I try to sell you some valuable swamp land.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A minor discovery I made amid the whole B.S. "high school" scandal: I didn't realize that IMG fields four different teams, including a "post-graduate" one.

Best I could figure, there's a "national" squad, then two more HS teams ("blue" and "white" - both apparently considered varsity level teams) and then the post-grad version.

[RainMaker]

I don't follow high school football too much but what is the cause for the disparity in teams at that level? I went to a perennial playoff school and while we had blowouts, it was never 70-0 type stuff.

Are these schools that "recruit"?

The highlight of my career was a pick-6 against Kurt Kittner. I don't tell the story of him proceeding to throw for like 500 yards after that.

[Ben E Lou]

I don't follow high school football too much but what is the cause for the disparity in teams at that level? I went to a perennial playoff school and while we had blowouts, it was never 70-0 type stuff.

Are these schools that "recruit"?

The highlight of my career was a pick-6 against Kurt Kittner. I don't tell the story of him proceeding to throw for like 500 yards after that.It can happen for a variety of reasons. Funding was a BIG one for Tucker when I was there. The county provided funding for four coaches per program. Tucker always had somewhere in the 14-20 range, virtually all of whom were coaching positions they'd played at the collegiate level. Tucker had a better weight room, practice field, etc. etc. etc. than every other public school in the area. That all came from funds raised by the booster club. Once you get to that point, you really don't have to "recruit," per se. I recall one year when the county wrestling tournament was at Tucker. I was standing chit-chatting with the head football coach at the tournament for a while. Probably 10 kids and/or parents came up to him in the half hour or so I was standing there asking the same thing: "what do I have to do to come play for Tucker?" The answer was always the same "move to Tucker." Some kids moved; others gave fake addresses. Another convo I had with the same head coach before a particular season: "Ben, I don't know what to do. I've got three transfers on this team who have the same address and I have no reason to believe they're related. Do I point-blank accuse their parents of lying, or run the risk of getting in trouble for having ineligible players???"

And in legendary places like Valdosta, I'm sure that jobs get offered to dads of top-tier talent if they'll just move to V-town. Nothing coordinated by the school, but by local folks who've followed the team for decades and want to keep winning.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't follow high school football too much but what is the cause for the disparity in teams at that level? I went to a perennial playoff school and while we had blowouts, it was never 70-0 type stuff.

Are these schools that "recruit"?

The highlight of my career was a pick-6 against Kurt Kittner. I don't tell the story of him proceeding to throw for like 500 yards after that.

First, let's separate IMG from "high schools". They're an athletic training factory that might offer some classes.

As to the common nature of blowouts like this, a lot of times there's no need to "recruit" in any sense that would be improper. Success makes a program attractive, be it public or private. "Build it and they will come" applies at least as often in Georgia as any sort of illegal recruiting occurs.

I've seen a lot of mismatches in recent years, maybe only a half dozen that were to the level of "okay, this borders on child abuse" caliber stuff. Those were pretty much always the responsibility of the program on the short end of things, most often trying to punch above their weight in tragic fashion. Schools that shouldn't be competing at a varsity level* trying to do so typically.



Massive blowouts -- let's say 50 points or more -- most often occur in the region portion of the season; i.e. games that you are required to play (teams are grouped based on enrollmment size and geography) End up with a top tier team in an otherwise weak area and it can get ugly quick. Running up the score isn't unheard of but honestly it's pretty rare IMO. But if they can't tackle your 5th string RB in the 3rd quarter, well, things happen. There could be some triple-digit margins if a number of teams here wanted to pull it off. A lot of games are 42-0 at the half and wind up 52-7 (partially due to a "running clock" mercy rule that applies here at various margins after 2 qtrs or after 3 qtrs)

Otherwise, teams end up in that situation for a variety of reasons. One perennial patsy (Cross Keys) has something like 98% ESOL enrollment, football is not exactly a tradition for them. They played a non-region scheduled in 2019, went 0-10 (again) and were outscored 517-45. They allowed 55 pts or more six times, never allowed less than 30, never scored more than 12.

Other cases are more standard lack of depth and talent based. Small school (Towns County) in an area that's largely a retirement community, only 1 winning season in 46 years of football. 2019 went 0-10, outscored 537-89, gave up 55 or more 6 times. They lost 55-12 to a team that snapped a 33 game losing streak with the win. We (Acad) hung 77 on 'em while trying to hold the score down. We had a half dozen guys that are now playing college ball but they played less than a quarter. But when your own roster only has 40-50 players, well ... you can only go so far down the depth chart.

One that could have a long 2021 season (outscored 87-13 by mediocre teams at best in an 0-2 start) lost most of their talent after a 2020 pay-to-play scandal emerged, so now those players are gone AND most of the existing roster transferred elsewhere too. Their schedule includes 3 top 10 teams before season end.

Mobility for players certainly plays a factor. One team struggling so far this season graduated 4 of their top 5 players, their best one left when his HC dad changed jobs. 2 more top players transferred out after seeing the writing on the wall (no hint of "recruiting", their families simply pulled up stakes and went to situations better suited for their student/athletes) They'll go from a top 5 in their class program last year to struggling to hit .500 this year and blowouts aren't out of the question. Another factor are camps, etc. Top players know top players from around the state, and more than once here in recent have those players decided they wanted to play together. Their families all made "bonafide moves" (i.e. they sold their house & moved to another town) so it was completely legal. The school they landed at didn't have to recruit them, the players did their homework, picked the situation and arrived as a group, effectively creating a superteam (who did NOT win a state title btw)

Changes in the game also play a factor in increasing the blowout frequency. It's an offensive game these days, a lot of teams go 4-5 wide at all times, some even take a knee from a shotgun snap. If your playbook is designed to score quickly and often, it's hard for even the 4th string to avoid big plays if that's what you teach from middle school onward.


*you have the option of playing a "non-region" schedule here, makes you ineligible for the post-season since you play a mixture of other bottom feeders and JV opponents with your varsity squad. Typically done for the first couple years of a new startup program or to allow some rebuilding time for one that's truly in the bottom of the bottom -- and we have over 400 HS teams, so the bottom is a looooong way down)

[BYU 14]

Jon gives a pretty solid summary and like he said, IMG is a prep school on steroids and while there is no other program quite like them, most states have "super schools" now, Chandler here in AZ, Corner Canyon in Utah, Bishop Gorman in NV, De La Salle in Cali etc.

As Jon also mentioned many of these schools play each other in pre region games, or play completely independent schedules.

It is a vastly different game than 10-15 years ago and unrecognizable from when I started coaching HS ball in 1987. And I don't mean that at all in a good way, but that train ain't stopping now.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jon gives a pretty solid summary and like he said, IMG is a prep school on steroids and while there is no other program quite like them, most states have "super schools" now, Chandler here in AZ, Corner Canyon in Utah, Bishop Gorman in NV, De La Salle in Cali etc.

Oddly enough, we don't really have that in Georgia ... for football.

Basketball on the other hand, well ....

[JonInMiddleGA]

The headline doesn't include the key point thus far: the HC has been fired according to the "director"

Bishop Sycamore football director on ESPN game: Program not a 'scam' (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/highschool/2021/08/31/bishop-sycamore-football-director-andre-peterson-espn-controversy/5652257001/)

[RainMaker]

Thanks for the long explanation. Never really thought about how the more offensive game changed things. Probably don't see a lot of power I in the high levels anymore.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks for the long explanation. Never really thought about how the more offensive game changed things. Probably don't see a lot of power I in the high levels anymore.

Won't really see that at any level in Georgia today. Not even at the independent organizations (beyond the main sanctioning body we have at least two more organizations that run indepedently, mostly tiny Christian schools now).

Still a few Wing-T teams around, straight I running teams sure, some flexbone stuff ... but you've got pee-wee teams that are multi wideout now.

[BYU 14]

Won't really see that at any level in Georgia today. Not even at the independent organizations (beyond the main sanctioning body we have at least two more organizations that run indepedently, mostly tiny Christian schools now).

Still a few Wing-T teams around, straight I running teams sure, some flexbone stuff ... but you've got pee-wee teams that are multi wideout now.

And we still run Double Wing, but that is a necessity at an inner city school that cannot play the speed/tempo game of the spread. DW allows us to compete against schools with superior athletes, gives us an identity the kids take pride in and its tough to prepare for when all you see is cookie cutter spread.

And, it's kind of sexy as you can see from our money play power.

https://youtu.be/xHepyLxTzsU

[RainMaker]

Won't really see that at any level in Georgia today. Not even at the independent organizations (beyond the main sanctioning body we have at least two more organizations that run indepedently, mostly tiny Christian schools now).

Still a few Wing-T teams around, straight I running teams sure, some flexbone stuff ... but you've got pee-wee teams that are multi wideout now.

I had to look up what my old high school was doing now. Seems spread offense, just about everything in shotgun. They did win a state title a few years ago, so seems to be working.

It used to be an old-school coach who ran a 3-man T formation. We were a big school that produced a lot of D1 linemen, so we would run all over most schools. But there always seemed to be a ceiling when you have a style like that and go up against the top schools.

Wonder how many schools went through that transformation of having some legendary coach who ran the wishbone or whatever for 40 years being pushed aside for some modern systems. Technically they may have been winning games, but were never going to be more than a pretty good team as long as they ran an outdated system.

[RainMaker]

I'm also guessing some of that is down to personnel and where you are from. When I would drive through Wisconsin, radio stations were hard to come by. So on a Friday night I would listen to whatever local high school game I was driving by. Would guess most of the schools just ran a power running system. But it's Wisconsin, and these schools were filled with big farm boys who could run block like no tomorrow.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wonder how many schools went through that transformation of having some legendary coach who ran the wishbone or whatever for 40 years being pushed aside for some modern systems. Technically they may have been winning games, but were never going to be more than a pretty good team as long as they ran an outdated system.

A couple of our best in state are still run heavy but among the difficulties is getting kids to buy in.

I know of a situation where a new coach wanted to go run heavy because that's what the personnel was REALLY suited for ... he faced a mutiny. Most of the players made it clear that if he wasn't going to throw it around they'd be the ones taking a pass "no future for us if we can't show what we can do".

That plan got revised quickly ... and yes, several of those players did indeed end up playing on Saturdays.

[Ksyrup]

Bishop Sycamore was supposed to play Johnson Central out of eastern KY on Friday but JC canceled. They played in 2019 (quick check shows JC won that game 34-8) and JC's coach said BS told them the same stuff about all of the D1 commits they had.

[molson]

Could we start a high school and get on ESPN?

I'll be the punter.

Also I'm glad to see there's already a hardy selection of Bishop Sycamore merchandise out there you can buy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

One of the more elaborate jabs at B.S. High I've seen

https://twitter.com/Hawk/status/1432831690938806272

[cuervo72]

:lol:

[JonInMiddleGA]

1) Check the date on this story
2) See if the names sound familiar
3) See if the situation sounds familiar

Students became collateral damage in COF Academy-AME Church saga - News - ThisWeek Community News - Lewis Center, OH (https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20190311/students-became-collateral-damage-in-cof-academy-ame-church-saga)

[thesloppy]

These ghost schools are a trip!

[JonInMiddleGA]

I enjoyed this game more than most, as the son of a dear family friend was a freshman reserver OL for the winners.

Incredible winning streak snapped for Chad Morris' Texas high school program (https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sports/chad-morris-allen-high-school-texas-streaks-2021/?fbclid=IwAR3izHXkVVNgyGiuRrU6tObU-vynzTIAApFZt2kemeM1KTCSZAsPTyz1xGM)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Remember how I was talking about mismatches being pretty common, at least in Georgia? And how I mentioned somewhere in that discussion about teams playing non-region schedules -- making them ineligible for the post-season -- usually done as a program tries to rebuild from rock bottom?

A score caught my eye in the daily HSFB newsletter so I had to look a little closer at it.

Chamblee (Class 4A) beat Druid Hills (also 4A) 84-7 last Friday night. QB threw for 7 TDs in the first half.

Chamblee is in the second year of a 2 yr cycle playing a non-region schedule (5-1 last year). Druid Hills cancelled their season after just three games last year and is in the very unusual position of being allowed to play non-region for just this single year (so far anyway).

The 84 points they scored last week is more than their total season scoring in any of the five seasons from 2015 through 2019, a stretch that saw them go 6-43

They were a class 3A state semifinalist in 2007, but haven't made the post-season since 2009. And since 1990 they've had 13 head coaches, only 3 graduating classes in the past 31 years have played for the same HC through their high school career. ANd in their entire existence dating back to 1951 they have a winning record against only 3 opponents -- 1 of those is Druid Hills, 1 that routinely plays a non region schedule (Cross Keys) and the 3rd was merged out of existence in the mid 80s (Briarcliff).

Meanwhile Druid Hills is now 6-31 since 2017, hasn't had a winning season since 1993, nor a playoff berth since 1985, and only two playoff berths since 1950.

And that is how easily absurd scores can happen.

[miami_fan]

Isn't Chamblee supposed to be running the 18th string RB into the middle of the line filled with 8th stringers or punting on first down in order to keep the score?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Isn't Chamblee supposed to be running the 18th string RB into the middle of the line filled with 8th stringers or punting on first down in order to keep the score?

Against Druid Hills I'm not sure anything other than taking a knee would work. They'd probably fumble a punt through their own end zone.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There's various video clips on Twitter, not sure you'll see too many wilder finishes than Hamilton (AZ) stunning #7 in the nation Bishop Gorman (NV) tonight.

Down 24-7 with 1:10 left, Hamilton kicks a 44 yd FG to make it 24-10
They recover the onside kick, get a TD, make it 24-17
They recover ANOTHER onside kick, get a TD with 0:08 to cut it to 24-23
They go for two, QB lunges for the pylon and scores.

25-24 Hamilton wins

[GrantDawg]

There's various video clips on Twitter, not sure you'll see too many wilder finishes than Hamilton (AZ) stunning #7 in the nation Bishop Gorman (NV) tonight.

Down 24-7 with 1:10 left, Hamilton kicks a 44 yd FG to make it 24-10
They recover the onside kick, get a TD, make it 24-17
They recover ANOTHER onside kick, get a TD with 0:08 to cut it to 24-23
They go for two, QB lunges for the pylon and scores.

25-24 Hamilton wins
Yeah, I just watched that. Pretty crazy.

[BYU 14]

There's various video clips on Twitter, not sure you'll see too many wilder finishes than Hamilton (AZ) stunning #7 in the nation Bishop Gorman (NV) tonight.

Down 24-7 with 1:10 left, Hamilton kicks a 44 yd FG to make it 24-10
They recover the onside kick, get a TD, make it 24-17
They recover ANOTHER onside kick, get a TD with 0:08 to cut it to 24-23
They go for two, QB lunges for the pylon and scores.

25-24 Hamilton wins

Hamilton has really rebounded the last two years and gotten back into the top 3 teams in the state conversation along with Chandler and Sag U after a hazing scandal almost gutted them a few years back. They are legit and well coached.

On a side note we (Carl Hayden) went to 2-1 with a 53-6 win over Tempe last night and have a legit shot to bring home only the 5th winning season in the 60+ year history of this school. It has been a joy to be part of this rebuild and we have had packed stands our first 2 home games, when just 2 years ago it was sometimes less than 100.

[Atocep]

There's various video clips on Twitter, not sure you'll see too many wilder finishes than Hamilton (AZ) stunning #7 in the nation Bishop Gorman (NV) tonight.

Down 24-7 with 1:10 left, Hamilton kicks a 44 yd FG to make it 24-10
They recover the onside kick, get a TD, make it 24-17
They recover ANOTHER onside kick, get a TD with 0:08 to cut it to 24-23
They go for two, QB lunges for the pylon and scores.

25-24 Hamilton wins

Nicco Marchiol can't get to WVU soon enough.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Slowest week of the HS football season in Georgia ("only" 181 games between Thurs & Sat) as most regions wrap up non-region play.

Vaguely interesting sidenote from Athens Academy tonight. QB that won the job in the spring but suffered a broken collarbone and missed a month made his debut in the 2nd quarter tonight. First drive results in a double pass ... in the flat to the previous starting QB, who fires a 67 yard TD for an early 21-7 lead.

That debuting QB? Whit Muschamp ... son of Will Muschamp.

[BYU 14]

34 years in the game, but this year might be the most memorable. Carl Hayden has not had a winning season since 1996, and only 5 in the schools history, which dates back to 1957. We won 47-34 Friday top go 6-4 and secure winning season number 6 all-time and first in 25 years.

I have been part of a lot of successful staffs over the years, but this place is truly special. It may be one of, if not the toughest place to coach in the state, but I would put the kids at this school against anyone in terms of character, perseverance and effort.

Here are highlights from our win Friday.

MaxPreps (https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/carl-hayden-community-falcons-(phoenix,az)/football/videos.htm?videoid=6dc990ba-0af6-4e0b-ab28-df152e2484e9&ftag=MPM-04-10aaa1h)

[NobodyHere]

Bishop Sycamore: State investigation concludes school is 'a scam' (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/12/17/bishop-sycamore-state-investigation-concludes-school-a-scam/8941257002/)

I'm kind of fascinated by this story. So I guess the school was set up to be to have an elite football team that would attract talented players. Or in their words a "midwest IMG Academy". Yet their record is absolutely abysmal. They even got ESPN to show one of their games.

Why would parents voluntarily enroll their children here?

How much does one make off of this scam? (Asking for a friend)

[molson]

There was a school like that in my hometown, they never got on ESPN, but most or all of the students were basketball players, and it existed, at least in its later years, only on a promise of delivering div. 1 offers. And they did develop a decent number of them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_Preparatory_School_(Fitchburg,_Massachusetts

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bishop Sycamore: State investigation concludes school is 'a scam' (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/12/17/bishop-sycamore-state-investigation-concludes-school-a-scam/8941257002/)

I'm kind of fascinated by this story. So I guess the school was set up to be to have an elite football team that would attract talented players. Or in their words a "midwest IMG Academy". Yet their record is absolutely abysmal. They even got ESPN to show one of their games.

Why would parents voluntarily enroll their children here?

How much does one make off of this scam? (Asking for a friend)

There's probably close to a half dozen basketball "schools" like that in Georgia at this point.

[thesloppy]

Why would parents voluntarily enroll their children here?

If I remember correctly a fair number of the Bishop Sycamore 'kids' were over 18 and had already graduated from somewhere else (?)

[miami_fan]

Bishop Sycamore: State investigation concludes school is 'a scam' (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/12/17/bishop-sycamore-state-investigation-concludes-school-a-scam/8941257002/)

I'm kind of fascinated by this story. So I guess the school was set up to be to have an elite football team that would attract talented players. Or in their words a "midwest IMG Academy". Yet their record is absolutely abysmal. They even got ESPN to show one of their games.

Why would parents voluntarily enroll their children here?

How much does one make off of this scam? (Asking for a friend)

According to the article, they only had one student enrolled officially.

[miami_fan]

If I remember correctly a fair number of the Bishop Sycamore 'kids' were over 18 and had already graduated from somewhere else (?)

I did not watch the game.

Do we know how many minors were playing for Bishop Sycamore?

This is less of a story for me if it is just people 18 years and up getting the ass handed to them on a football field by actual high school football players.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I did not watch the game.

Do we know how many minors were playing for Bishop Sycamore?

This is less of a story for me if it is just people 18 years and up getting the ass handed to them on a football field by actual high school football players.

Based on this article that posted yesterday, it sounds like most were "post-graduate". But before you completely dismiss them based on age, might be worth a read (if it doesn't get stuck behind a paywall, it was visible to me, to my surprise). Mostly these were, well ... "desperate" doesn't seem unfair to me.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/sports/ncaafootball/bishop-sycamore-football.html

[miami_fan]

Based on this article that posted yesterday, it sounds like most were "post-graduate". But before you completely dismiss them based on age, might be worth a read (if it doesn't get stuck behind a paywall, it was visible to me, to my surprise). Mostly these were, well ... "desperate" doesn't seem unfair to me.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/sports/ncaafootball/bishop-sycamore-football.html

I read that article. It was similar to others that I read about the players which led to my question. I agree with the desperation characterization of the post graduates. I don't think I am dismissing them completely and if it came off that way, that was not my intention. They were taken advantage of. For me, it is more of a story for me if it were a 15 year old whose parents actually enrolled them into that school as a way to ride the 15 year old to college and professional football riches.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I read that article. It was similar to others that I read about the players which led to my question. I agree with the desperation characterization of the post graduates. I don't think I am dismissing them completely and if it came off that way, that was not my intention. They were taken advantage of. For me, it is more of a story for me if it were a 15 year old whose parents actually enrolled them into that school as a way to ride the 15 year old to college and professional football riches.

{nods}

I think that's more of a basketball thing than a football thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

If you haven't seen "the banana in the tailpipe" trick play, it's probably worth a watch.

https://twitter.com/og_triple_og/status/1560842017537769474

The context for this is that it's in the 4th OT of a rivalry game. Underdog Loganville decided to pull this out to try to take the lead over top 10 opponent Monroe Area (having gone only 1 for 3 with it in practice during the week). It worked to near perfection though the ball was ruled down inside the 1 yard line. They scored the eventual game winning TD on the next play, with a more traditional dive into the end zone.

[HomerSimpson98]

Fantastic. Never seen that play before. Looks like he was in to me.

[tarcone]

A couple HSs from where I grew up ar playing at Kinnick Stadium. Liberty High is a brand new HS in the area and they are playing City High, which is the oldest HS in the district. I went to West. It is streaming live on KCRG.
Stadium is full on one side. Not Texas full by any means.

[GrantDawg]

The kick that ended the game, but not in a good way:
<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's a clearer version, courtesy of our friends BEAM TV. <a href="https://t.co/fDHPgr5zBg">https://t.co/fDHPgr5zBg</a> <a href="https://t.co/UjI5nj2JaA">pic.twitter.com/UjI5nj2JaA</a></p>&mdash; Jack Patterson (@JPattersonTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPattersonTV/status/1568090036628869120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

[BYU 14]

Not quite the fireworks you want, but this happened near the end of our game tonight. Thankfully nobody hit or injured, but this is the third time since prior to the 2019 season gunfire has erupted within 200 yards of our field, the other two being during practice.

Sadly, it is a normal occurrence in this neighborhood, to the point where it barely fazes us anymore, the visiting team, from a small community in southern Arizona that doesn't see this was understandably shook. It really sucks because there are so many good hard working families with great kids in this neighborhood, just a rough area.

Reports of shots fired outside of Carl Hayden High School during football game (https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/reports-of-shots-fired-outside-of-carl-hayden-high-school-during-football-game)

[miami_fan]

Looks like it has happened again.

What is West Toronto Prep, which lost 96-0 to IMG Academy in game called at the half? (https://sports.yahoo.com/west-toronto-prep-lost-96-071306419.html)

The Canadian version of Bishop Sycamore.

[bronconick]

Does no one want to schedule a football factory masked as a "high school" so they're stuck playing anyone willing to die?

[miami_fan]

Does no one want to schedule a football factory masked as a "high school" so they're stuck playing anyone willing to die?

I knew they lost to Miami Central earlier this season so I went to check their schedule to see who else they played. I had no idea that had four different football teams. The team that played West Toronto Prep was the national team.

2022 Football Schedule | IMG Academy (https://www.imgacademy.com/boarding-school/athletics/football/2022-football-schedule)

It looks like the Varsity(White) team ended up going 5-4 against schools that actually have high school kids attending and going to class. Seems like that is the normal varsity team. Varsity Blue ended up going 3-5 against similar opposition. According to IMG's site, these are the teams with the student-athletes with Blue being more like the JV team. Looking into the Post Grad team opened up a whole new world to me. I had no clue that there were actual football academies for post grad students. Not community colleges or junior colleges. Football academies.

[BYU 14]

I knew they lost to Miami Central earlier this season so I went to check their schedule to see who else they played. I had no idea that had four different football teams. The team that played West Toronto Prep was the national team.

2022 Football Schedule | IMG Academy (https://www.imgacademy.com/boarding-school/athletics/football/2022-football-schedule)

It looks like the Varsity(White) team ended up going 5-4 against schools that actually have high school kids attending and going to class. Seems like that is the normal varsity team. Varsity Blue ended up going 3-5 against similar opposition. According to IMG's site, these are the teams with the student-athletes with Blue being more like the JV team. Looking into the Post Grad team opened up a whole new world to me. I had no clue that there were actual football academies for post grad students. Not community colleges or junior colleges. Football academies.

IMG is a different world. A buddy of mine that I have coached with in the past, got a gig there as a video QC analyst this season. He is looking at a similar position for next year at UCF, but they don't pay as much as IMG. So a D1 G5 college team can't match the salaries of a "High School" program. :eek:

[JonInMiddleGA]

Does no one want to schedule a football factory masked as a "high school" so they're stuck playing anyone willing to die?

Miami Central didn't have a problem playin 'em ;)

edit to add: I mention that because, with a little luck, we'll probably try to see Central (#3 in the nation this week) in their opening round playoff beatdown next weekend. I've seen, offhand, two nationally ranked teams in years past (Cartersville with Lawrence, and Buford). It'd be interesting to see one in another state, though I doubt the matchup will provide enough resistance to get much of a read on them.

[Ksyrup]

This was called a TD in GA playoff game...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Absolutely embarrassing. My heart goes out to Cedar Grove. <a href="https://t.co/DjzAlp8gaY">pic.twitter.com/DjzAlp8gaY</a></p>&mdash; Ronnell Brown Ed. S (@Ronnell_Brown) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ronnell_Brown/status/1601666649429774336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[JonInMiddleGA]

As I noted elsewhere, it's at least the 4th such incident (improper spots) in championship games in the past six seasons. This is one of the two worst in that stretch.

And keep in mind, these are the top end officials in the state.

You can only imagine what it looks like in week six of the regular season.

[Edward64]

No VAR like help up in the booth?

[JonInMiddleGA]

No VAR like help up in the booth?

Nope, not used in Georgia (despite being approved for use since 2019)

[albionmoonlight]

As I noted elsewhere, it's at least the 4th such incident (improper spots) in championship games in the past six seasons. This is one of the two worst in that stretch.

And keep in mind, these are the top end officials in the state.

You can only imagine what it looks like in week six of the regular season.

Understanding that incompetence and corruption are hard to tell apart, do you have a sense of which it might be?

I'm not talking about ref-taking-a-bribe corruption. More like the subconscious sense that "Team A deserves to win" and shading spots/calls that way.

[Ksyrup]

I don't know much about GA HS FB, but I do know Sandy Creek, and I'd guess they were supposed to win this game since that school has become a college athlete factory (most notably, Megatron). It didn't exist when I went to HS at nearby McIntosh (in fact, Tyrone hadn't yet been developed much and was where the "less fortunate" lived 35 years ago), and I don't know the story of how it went from 0 to 60 in sports, but it's a big-time sports school.

So, if reputation and "supposed to win because they're the better team" factored into that call, it wouldn't surprise me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Understanding that incompetence and corruption are hard to tell apart, do you have a sense of which it might be?

I'm not talking about ref-taking-a-bribe corruption. More like the subconscious sense that "Team A deserves to win" and shading spots/calls that way.

Most of the time, in the playoffs, it appears to be ineptitude. You see more of the "okay, we don't like Team X" stuff during the regular season.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't know much about GA HS FB, but I do know Sandy Creek, and I'd guess they were supposed to win this game since that school has become a college athlete factory (most notably, Megatron). It didn't exist when I went to HS at nearby McIntosh (in fact, Tyrone hadn't yet been developed much and was where the "less fortunate" lived 35 years ago), and I don't know the story of how it went from 0 to 60 in sports, but it's a big-time sports school.

So, if reputation and "supposed to win because they're the better team" factored into that call, it wouldn't surprise me.

Opposite effect here actually, Cedar Grove was a 10 point favorite (and beat SC in a region matchup during the regular season). The Saints have been a f'n machine in the lower levels in recent years, losing only five times to same-classification opponents in the past eight seasons, winning four titles in that span.

By comparison, Creek was in a final for the first time since 2012 and had missed the playoffs entirely twice in the past five years.

[Ksyrup]

Interesting! Of course, I haven't been back to those parts since 2009 so I guess I'm behind the times...

[JonInMiddleGA]

As for how Sandy Creek became a force so quickly, it's been about the players.

63 all-state players (most of them multi-year award winners) since 1995.

The biggest name is Calvin Johnson but five other NFL players among their alums as well (TE Jabari Holloway, DT Kendrick Golston, Johnson, OT Andrew Gardner, DB Isiah Johnson, and CB Mike Hilton).

And the non-NFL players have gone to Boise St, Bama, Tennessee x3 ,Louisville, Notre Dame, South Carolina x2, Cincinnati x3, UGA, Stanford, Ole Miss, Army, and Air Force ... just to name a few)

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I'm just curious where they all came from. Is transferring allowed/big there?

When I was at high school in the late 80s, our sports at McIntosh were pretty much terrible except wrestling and to a lesser extent soccer. We had a baseball player I graduated with go to FSU and then, of course, there was Jeff Sheppard (who was my brother's best friend growing up) a few years later. So to see a school in essentially the same area blow up athletically like that, it's strange to me.

During my days, Woodward Academy was where you went for sports (I recall them having a stud LB who went to UNC).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah, I'm just curious where they all came from. Is transferring allowed/big there?

When I was at high school in the late 80s, our sports at McIntosh were pretty much terrible except wrestling and to a lesser extent soccer. We had a baseball player I graduated with go to FSU and then, of course, there was Jeff Sheppard (who was my brother's best friend growing up) a few years later. So to see a school in essentially the same area blow up athletically like that, it's strange to me.

During my days, Woodward Academy was where you went for sports (I recall them having a stud LB who went to UNC).

I was doing pbp for Griffin during the 90s, McIntosh was, umm ... "not good" (aside from soccer) is being gentle. (from '82 to '22 they have nine seasons with 1 win or less, only five seasons with 6 wins or more)

The rapid ascent of Sandy Creek (first of then-five Fayette Co teams to ever reach a football final) was several factors. Explosive growth, affluent growth, played a part. Chris Webber had a house there, Crefflo Dollar, (former Mr. Olympia) Lee Haney.

Another factor in their rise was coaching. Their 2nd HC was state Hall-of-Fame coach Rodney Walker, who was succeeded by his future HOF coach son Chip (3 state titles at SC, 7 straight seasons of double-digit wins)

Somewhere around '03 or so (their 12th season in existence) the elder Walker won 10 games and the school started to look more like a destination. It was already where a lot of people wanted to live if they were in the county, it then became the first choice of anyone with a high end athlete.

Success breeds success, and once things got going they kinda snowballed for the next decade or so.

And you look around the rest of the county schools, the destination aspect becomes clearer. Fayette County HS has been playing since 1951, only once playoff win ever. McIntosh zero playoff wins in 41 seasons.

And that recent downturn for Sandy Creek? Coincides with the ascent of Starr's Mill (9 playoff wins in the past 8 years, opened in '98) and Whitewater (avg 6+ wins a year in their 19 year existence, playoff team 12 of those years)

[Ksyrup]

That's crazy. Tyrone was where the poor kids who went to McIntosh lived when I was there.

We had one great FB season while I was there... that ended up with all 9 or 10 wins vacated due to our RB being declared ineligible (some sort of recruiting violation or he didn't live in county). Other than that, zero or one wins was the typical season.

The one player I remember seeing during that time was Andre Hastings at Morrow. I've never seen a guy who was so obviously a college player. He torched us repeatedly.