High School Football 2019

[4_tattoos]

So Maryland public schools (finally) kickoff this weekend. I'm going to be completely honest, the success of my alma mater last season had me blinded to most HS football in the DC area last season as well as the offseason. So I guess I'll just give a quick recap.

 

My alma mater Crossland High School went 7-3 last season and earned their first playoff birth since the 1995 season. They lost in the first round of the 2A playoffs to Eastern Tech. They open the season Saturday at home against Great Mills. The road to the playoffs for them this season is both easier and harder. Easier in that the state expanded the playoff pool from 16 to 32 teams. Harder with the 1A runner-up and a 3A playoff team from last season being realigned to 2A (same county as my school). In addition to that, the latest realignment moved the 2A schools from my home county from 2A North into the 2A South Region. 2A South is usually the toughest region in the state during the playoffs.

[Seadragon76]

Washington and Oregon kick off this weekend... A few games to look for:

 

Kelso at Mark Morris - Kelso made the playoffs last season while the Monarchs look like they might be able to turn the corner after a 4-5 season last year.

 

R.A. Long at Fort Vancouver - The Lumberjacks had no wins last year. There's some hope as they open with a Fort Vancouver squad that requested to play an Independent schedule this season after spending the last couple of seasons being the 3A GSHL's punching bag.

 

Woodland at Kalama - The '8 Mile War' is renewed as the Beavers head north to face the back-to-back 2B champion Chinooks.

 

Toppenish at Hockinson: Normally, I wouldn't mention anything about the Hawks... But, they are also back-to-back state champions at the 3A level. They also look vunerable now that their best player, wideout Sawyer Rancanelli, tore his ACL in June. Doesn't get any easier for the Hawks as the once dreaded beast that is Archbishop Murphy comes in the following week.

 

Kennedy at Rainier: The Columbians are the defending 3A state champions in Oregon and they open the 2019 season with a 2A school in Kennedy... who is also the defending state champions in their class.

[dfwabel]

On 9/1/2019 at 3:08 AM, OaklandIsBack said:

It’s football dude...

 

[dfwabel]

Detroit Frederick Douglas Academy forfeits this 'game and like will cancel their season due to lack of players.

Emery HS (Utah) forfeits game versus Juan Diego due to injuries and lack of available players.

Elgin (OH) forfeits Friday's game against Adena.  Elgin only had four bench players last week.

Mountain Heritage (NC) cancels Friday's game with Life Christian Academy (GA) because over concerns that LCA is no longer a state-sanctioned. LGA's game last week against, a 21-18 loss to Robbinsville (NC) was stopped early by game officials due to "several on-field conflicts"

[OaklandIsBack]

There’s inherent risk, at this point everyone playing knows that. 

 

Not sure why you’re crusading against high school football on a sports logos Internet forum

[4_tattoos]

My alma mater lost their season opener at home today 36-26 (0-1). They're back at home next week against Richard Wright, a charter school from DC they've beaten the last 2 seasons.

[dfwabel]

 

[dfwabel]

https://usatodayhss.com/2019/virginia-high-school-cancels-football-game-racist-videos

Quote

A Virginia high school has canceled its Friday football game after a pair of videos emerged online Thursday that showcased football players using racial epithets.

 

As reported by the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Progress, a pair of Virginia newspapers, Poquoson (Va.) High School forfeited its scheduled Friday night contest against York County (Va.) High School after two videos that featured racist and foul language were posted to Snapchat. Per Poquoson School Superintendent Jennifer Parish, some of the students in the video were members of the school’s football team.

 

 

[4_tattoos]

My alma mater got their first win of the season with a 40-8 victory of Richard Wrights. Cavs are now 1-1

[4_tattoos]

Currently on ESPN2 IMG Academy (FL) is beating St. Joe's Prep (PA)  24-12 in the 3rd quarter. For some reason this game is being played at Rutgers.

[dfwabel]

https://wchstv.com/sports/high-school-sports/roane-county-clay-county-game-postponed-after-player-passes-out-on-field

 

Quote

A community is mourning the loss of a Roane County High School student who died after suddenly collapsing on the football field during a game on Friday night.

According to Roane County school officials, senior Alex Miller has passed away.

 

"The Roane County community suffered a tragic loss last night with the passing of Alex Miller. Roane County High School will open its doors at noon today for the students to be with one another during this difficult time. Counselors, local pastors, teachers, parents and friends will be available as our community continues to grieve," a post from the school said on Saturday morning.

 

The game was being played between Roane County High and Clay County High in Clay. Initially, the game was postponed until Saturday after Miller collapsed on the field and was taken away in an ambulance.

 

Roane County Schools Superintendent Richard Duncan said Saturday morning that the game will not be played Saturday night. "Right now, we’re focused on our students and community and have counselors and local pastors ready to support our students and staff," Duncan said. "The game has been suspended indefinitely pending a decision on its resumption," he said.

"Miller was immediately given emergency medical attention and transported to a local hospital, but these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful," Duncan said in a press release.

 

[Sykotyk]

15 hours ago, dfwabel said:

https://wchstv.com/sports/high-school-sports/roane-county-clay-county-game-postponed-after-player-passes-out-on-field

 

 

4 million kids played football in 2017, and 13 died of direct or indirect causes. And yet each one is going to get some near giddy response from you. 

 

37,133 peopled died from car crashes in 2017. A death per 100,000 rate of 11.4. Football has a rate of 0.3. 

 

And yet this is your crusade. You don't want to really talk about high school football which is the topic. Maybe start a football injury thread and move your discussion there. 

[SFGiants58]

Well, nobody else is really posting that much, so it’s nice to see these articles posted without commentary. I’m sure he finds a high school football thread as silly as I do (where are the other high school sports?).

[dfwabel]

https://www.koco.com/article/southwest-covenant-football-player-dies-after-collapsing-during-game/29056863

 

Quote

YUKON, Okla. — A Southwest Covenant football player died after he collapsed on the field during a game Friday, according to officials.

 

"It is with deep sadness that we have learned this morning of the passing of Peter Webb, Southwest Covenant football player, son, brother, friend, family member and teammate," Strother Public Schools officials posted to Facebook on Sunday. "We ask for our Strother family to lift the Webb family, football team, and Southwest Covenant school up in prayer as they deal with this tragedy."

 

The Facebook page Oklahoma Eight Man Football Coaches Association posted Saturday that Webb was rushed to The Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City after he collapsed on the field during Friday night's game against Strother. According to the post, Webb was unconscious when he was taken to the hospital.

 

"The report (Saturday) morning is that there is too much swelling on the brain to operate," according to the Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

[Atomic]

@dfwabel - Point has been made ad nauseam. You are already posting your thoughts on CTE in that dedicated thread and it doesn't need to be continued here. Let's keep this thread on High School Football. 

[SFGiants58]

13 minutes ago, Atomic said:

@dfwabel - Point has been made ad nauseam. You are already posting your thoughts on CTE in that dedicated thread and it doesn't need to be continued here. Let's keep this thread on High School Football. 

 

Until we start other threads about other high school sports, I don't see a problem with what @dfwabel is doing. It's clear that some people don't get the point that he's making by posting these articles, that high school football can very much be a health risk for young, developing brains. There's a genuine benefit to seeing the information from articles about cancelled seasons, participation drops, medivac lifts, and player deaths. It's certainly relevant to the topic title and is far more interesting than the very sporadic posts from other members.

 

I say we either dump all high school sports threads, or let this one stay up with @dfwabel making his points. He probably won't do it for other "valuable" high school sports (e.g., basketball, hockey in some regions, etc.). 

 

I try to see eye-to-eye with the mods, but here I've got to disagree.

[MJWalker45]

47 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Until we start other threads about other high school sports, I don't see a problem with what @dfwabel is doing. It's clear that some people don't get the point that he's making by posting these articles, that high school football can very much be a health risk for young, developing brains. There's a genuine benefit to seeing the information from articles about cancelled seasons, participation drops, medivac lifts, and player deaths. It's certainly relevant to the topic title and is far more interesting than the very sporadic posts from other members.

 

I say we either dump all high school sports threads, or let this one stay up with @dfwabel making his points. He probably won't do it for other "valuable" high school sports (e.g., basketball, hockey in some regions, etc.). 

 

I try to see eye-to-eye with the mods, but here I've got to disagree.

 

1 hour ago, Atomic said:

@dfwabel - Point has been made ad nauseam. You are already posting your thoughts on CTE in that dedicated thread and it doesn't need to be continued here. Let's keep this thread on High School Football. 

The problem is that we're sick of seeing this here when there's another forum that directly ties in to what he's posting. We've discussed high school football for years without writing about baseball, basketball or other sports. Do we all think more can be done? Yes. But anytime we try to discuss the sport itself, we don't want to be bombarded with one person's opinion that high school football should not be played or discussed. That's what seems to be the reasoning for the articles posted here. 

[infrared41]

I'll preface this by saying that I think anyone who is over 20, is not playing for the team, attending the high school, or is not a parent or relative of a kid playing for that high school football team following the exploits of a high school football team is, well, a little weird. That said...

 

My question to @dfwabel is this - what do you suggest as a solution? Do we not allow anyone under 18 to play football? Does College Football become the new high school level of football? Your point is well taken, but outside simply banning HS football, what's the answer? You have posted a laundry list of problems, do you have a solution? 

[Sykotyk]

On 9/17/2019 at 6:29 PM, infrared41 said:

I'll preface this by saying that I think anyone who is over 20, is not playing for the team, attending the high school, or is not a parent or relative of a kid playing for that high school football team following the exploits of a high school football team is, well, a little weird. That said...

 

My question to @dfwabel is this - what do you suggest as a solution? Do we not allow anyone under 18 to play football? Does College Football become the new high school level of football? Your point is well taken, but outside simply banning HS football, what's the answer? You have posted a laundry list of problems, do you have a solution? 

It depends on your background. Someone from Texas would find it odd you'd say that. Someone from New York City where hs football isn't even allowed to be attendance at most games would probably completely agree with you. But outside big cities, your high school teams are the closest thing to having a team represent you. 

 

A Friday night in an area where high school football is a thing is just different. Many big cities, especially east coast, just don't have that draw. Too much to do and most games are probably Friday afternoon or Saturday mornings due to bad neighborhoods around those cities. Moving the games from night are to alleviate those issues. 

 

As for declining participation, sport specialization has a role in it. Plus where football is most popular is also where the population is declining and schools that are usually very small are seeing a lack of numbers. A school with 50 boys in it is going to have issues fielding a team. No matter what. In texas the 6-man teams regular face week to week issues with being able to play because they might  only have 7 or 8 players already. 

 

Pointing out that tiny private schools hurt by the economy have seen enrollment school wide drop which results in football participation dropping isn't that surprising. Ashtabula St. John (Urban Meyers Alma mater), Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans, Toledo Christian, Sandusky St. Mary's Central Catholic, and Elyria Open Door Christian all have fallen to 8 man football. Bishop Donahue and Bellaire St. John Central, two private schools on opposite sides of the Ohio River by Wheeling both closed recently. SJC only had 10 kids in their last class before closing. 

 

They're not just choosing to end football. Most are barely struggling to stay open. Then you have tiny schools like Northgate, Cornell, and Duquesne who are sandwiched in between other more successful and wealthier areas that can't attract people. Crime. Lack of jobs in the borough. Then there rural Cameron County, Sheffield, Youngsville, Holgate, Vienna Mathews, etc who are just really small schools struggling to withstand the loss of jobs and people to the cities and suburbs while farm land requires fewer and fewer people and nobody stays. 

 

Every year in PA and NY there's co-op teams so multiple tiny schools can field sports teams. Including football. But because Ohio doesn't allow co-ops when one of their schools folds their team for the season it's a big story. In most other states they'd do what teams do every year. Call around and find a neighboring school to co-op. Some are short term small class issues. Some have been doing it for decades. 

 

PA just generally doesn't advertise that they're a co-op. Only three teams really even make it known. USO in Pittsburgh is a co-op of University Prep, Science and Tech, and Obama Academy. Also in district 9 you have Union/ACV and Ridgway/Johnsonburg, who split time between the team schools stadiums. 

 

Youngsville formed a coop with Warren. Sheffield to the east of Warren is probably facing the same fate. Though they currently have a coop with Abraxas. But it won't last and it's only a matter of time before the schools themselves go dark. Too rural and not enough young people popping out kids.. 

 

In New York Section 6 I can name :

Clymer/Sherman/Panama

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 

Fredonia/Brocton 

Silver Creek/Forestville 

Maritime/Health Sciences

East Aurora/Holland

Bennett/Olmsted

Eden/North Collins

Franklinville/Ellicottville

 

 

He may like making comments about schools ending programs due to numbers but he really doesn't understand that this had gone on for decades prior. It's just only noticeable in states that don't allow co-ops. 

[MJWalker45]

I didn't realize Bellaire St. John closed! Granted I haven't been back to the Ohio Valley in years. In Texas, the oilfield boom has slowed for years but the housing prices haven't, so you'll see people leaving northwest Texas because they can't afford to live in those overpriced homes and apartments. And between Van Horn and El Paso more schools are looking to 6-man since it's cheaper to pay for than 11 man. Especially in communities that seem to be shrinking yearly.