Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
|
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)