Thinthickbigred;802463 wrote:Because they are not as deep as alot of strong private schools one or two injuries can wreck a whole season in some instances
Certainly. My point was that they play among themselves because of travel, league affiliation, injuries, whatever. But when they get to the upper level teams who play "up", they get overwhelmed. It would be better if they played a couple of games against teams a couple of divisions higher, every year. Big Red wouldn't play at the level it does if it played a D4 shedule that excluded Mooney, Ursuline and other top teams every year. A schedule of Newton Falls, East Knox, Brooklyn, Hanoverton United, Campbell Memorial, Wickliffe, Indian Valley, Chippewa, Sandy Valley and Beachwood just wouldn't prepare Big Red for the playoffs, even if it (as would usually be likely) would go 10-0. Nothing against those schools, but they're not, year in, year out, top football powers.
Last year Clinton Massie went 10-0 in the regular season and thought it would go far. Its 10 wins were agains D3, 4 and 5 teams, all in its somewhat rural area:
Blanchester (D4, 2-8), Waynesville (D4, 8-2), Alder (D4, 9-1), Hillsboro (D3, 2-8), Miami Trace (D3, 2-8), London (D4, 5-5), McClain (D3, 6-4), Washington (D3, 8-2), Madison Plains (D4, 1-9) and East Clinton (D5, 8-2). Three of those teams made the playoffs (2 D4, 1D3).
All of those teams, excepting Alder, played basically the same type of schedule. That simply doesn't prepare a team to play Alter, Coldwater, Kenton, Steubenville, Genoa, OG, Chagrin Falls, Hartley, etc.
Alter played Fairmont (D1, 2-8), East Tech (D2, 2-7), Centerville (D1, 8-2), Purcell (D4, 1-9), Badin (D5, 5-5), McNicholas (D3, 8-2), Carroll (D2, 7-3), Fenwick (D4, 7-3), Roger Bacon (D3, 7-3) and Chaminade-Julienne (D3, 4-6). Five of those opponents were playoff teams (1 D1, 1D2, 2 D3, 1D5). Any of those teams, except East Tech and Purcell, would more often than not beat any of Massie's opponents, except Alder.
You don't have to play a D1 schedule and get beaten up physically, but you have to mix it up a little to make yourself more competitive, if you're going to compete at the state level.
