Good effort bulldogs! Hopefully the 8th graders coming up will give this team a little boost because lord knows the current freshman thru junior classes are horrible. Yes, we will be starting a freshman RB. Should be interesting, but onto the basketball thread. :thumbup:

Ref-Dawg;1307508 wrote:Good effort bulldogs! Hopefully the 8th graders coming up will give this team a little boost because lord knows the current freshman thru junior classes are horrible. Yes, we will be starting a freshman RB. Should be interesting, but onto the basketball thread. :thumbup:

They were a game shy of .500, weren't they?

Don't get me wrong; no team should be HAPPY with 5-5 or 4-6, but there's certainly some wiggle room between good and horrible. I didn't think they were horrible at all, despite the score.

I do think, however, that this quote needs to be brought back up:

Paul;1296719 wrote:The Dawgs are better team then Smithies! NUFF SAID.

Not sure it really was enough said.

Ref-Dawg;1307508 wrote:Good effort bulldogs! Hopefully the 8th graders coming up will give this team a little boost because lord knows the current freshman thru junior classes are horrible. Yes, we will be starting a freshman RB. Should be interesting, but onto the basketball thread. :thumbup:

8th grade was good, but not as good as 7th. Starting a freshman RB...kinda doubt that, did coach tell you so? This team horrible? Then you must not mean to say good effort. I can only surmise that you are the dad of said running back.

O-Trap;1307514 wrote:They were a game shy of .500, weren't they?

Don't get me wrong; no team should be HAPPY with 5-5 or 4-6, but there's certainly some wiggle room between good and horrible. I didn't think they were horrible at all, despite the score.

Exactly.

Northwestern @ Norwayne is officially at Cloverleaf High School, same place Norwayne hosted their 1st round game last year, too.

mompov;1307561 wrote:8th grade was good, but not as good as 7th. Starting a freshman RB...kinda doubt that, did coach tell you so? This team horrible? Then you must not mean to say good effort. I can only surmise that you are the dad of said running back.

7th was better, but they are still a year away from getting to HS. Yes, that RB will start. There isn't much in the cupboard there. Never talked to a coach, just looking at returning talent. I may be wrong, but we will see. And no, not a father or relative. The seniors played hard and it was a good year for everyone thus the good effort. They could have quit many times, but still tried. We just need to get these boys in the weight room now and get some mass on our line.

Ref-Dawg;1307639 wrote:7th was better, but they are still a year away from getting to HS. Yes, that RB will start. There isn't much in the cupboard there. Never talked to a coach, just looking at returning talent. I may be wrong, but we will see. And no, not a father or relative. The seniors played hard and it was a good year for everyone thus the good effort. They could have quit many times, but still tried. We just need to get these boys in the weight room now and get some mass on our line.

There was a time when that was NEVER a problem at Dalton. A certain coach for Waynedale was around during that time, and I've got to say, he was a HANDFUL to deal with across the line at 6'3" or taller and easily 300 lbs. Moved really well and was strong as a bull.

O-Trap;1307514 wrote:They were a game shy of .500, weren't they?

Don't get me wrong; no team should be HAPPY with 5-5 or 4-6, but there's certainly some wiggle room between good and horrible. I didn't think they were horrible at all, despite the score.

I would have taken that at Orrville this year!

O-Trap;1307514 wrote:They were a game shy of .500, weren't they?

Don't get me wrong; no team should be HAPPY with 5-5 or 4-6, but there's certainly some wiggle room between good and horrible. I didn't think they were horrible at all, despite the score.

the golden bears would of loved for a few of those wins i bet. dalton played a sloppy game friday and im sure they are better then what they shown. better then smithville? no. but not a horrible team at all. huge gaps to fill losing moyer but thats what high school football is about.

is there a chance the norwayne nw game will be sold out? should i be tryin to get pre sale tickets somehow?

855pride;1307843 wrote:the golden bears would of loved for a few of those wins i bet. dalton played a sloppy game friday and im sure they are better then what they shown. better then smithville? no. but not a horrible team at all. huge gaps to fill losing moyer but thats what high school football is about.

is there a chance the norwayne nw game will be sold out? should i be tryin to get pre sale tickets somehow?

Yeah, based on their record alone, you gotta know they're better than the team that showed up on Friday night.

As for the Norwayne/Northwestern rematch, I am betting there is a chance with the venue so close and it being a rematch, though the lopsided score the first time around may sway some to forgo the game (myself, for example).

From what I've heard, numbers are a big problem in Dalton right now. I don't think they had a frosh team this year, and I heard they had to cancel some JV games as well. The junior high teams were successful, but the numbers are low for the 8th grade class. Anytime you are talking about starting a frosh running back, you are probably going to struggle mightily that season. Unless, of course, that running back is a stud. Who is the running back we are talking about? Hopefully, Dalton can get back to having 3 games per week (frosh, varsity, JV). It's hard to build a solid program if kids aren't coming out.

Where are all the kids? That is a serious question. Orrville is down and I herd a lot of talk about frosh, and JV games being forgone all over northeast Ohio. Are the kids just to lazy to do the work now or what?

Gone are the days of kids growing up in the system and playing at each level. I think that is why schools are struggling, you don't have the numbers to have a frosh/jv team, so those kids are left standing on the sidelines not getting better as football players against kids their own age/grade. The only time they are playing the game is in practice.

In the case you do start young kids, you most likely will not have success until they are juniors or in some cases not until their senior year, then the cycle starts over.

rrfan;1307962 wrote:Where are all the kids? That is a serious question. Orrville is down and I herd a lot of talk about frosh, and JV games being forgone all over northeast Ohio. Are the kids just to lazy to do the work now or what?

Too many kids are lazy and their parents let them be that way. The population hasn't shrunk - just the number of kids participating in the more demanding sports.

Wooster barely fielded a freshman team this year. Same for Orrville. Clear Fork didn't have one. Back in the day, the idea of freshmen dressing for varsity games would've been laughable. Now it's a common occurence. They need to keep them engaged in the program. It's a sad reality.

And this is why I have ALL the respect in the world for the boys who do play in this era. Even those kids who win 1 game a year. At least they're out there. I hear their friends badmouth them saying "I'm not playing, our team sucks." That's pathetic. The kid who suffers through 2 a days doesn't suck - he's a winner in my book regardless of record. The lazy creeps who chose not to participate are the ones who suck.

rrfan;1307962 wrote:Where are all the kids? That is a serious question. Orrville is down and I herd a lot of talk about frosh, and JV games being forgone all over northeast Ohio. Are the kids just to lazy to do the work now or what?

smithville will graduate 4 seniors next year. kids just dont wanna work hard these days. when there is an easy way out, todays kids take it. soccer programs takin kids? kids being sports specific with AAU basketball or winter baseball and indoor track? smithville graduated 10 seniors last year, 13 this year. 4 next? idk its weird

I don't think things are all that dire in bulldog country. When I played in the 90s, we often didn't have a freshman team, that's not unusual. It's a little school. With about 30 to 35 boys per grade, other sports, some lazy ones, more single sport athletes, it makes it difficult. When talking about the current classes at Dalton-they graduated 4 seniors. The Jr class has some solid kids that need take that next step. The soph class is solid as well. If there were a few moremseniors this year, most of these kids would have been on jv and probably would have won a lot of games. The freshman class does not have much. There is good talent in the 7th and 8th. All is not lost folks. The bulldogs do have he smallest class sizes in the league by a decent
Margin. They made significant progress from last year. They put in he work in the offseason and they return to the top half of the league next year IMO.

jaco;1307989 wrote:Too many kids are lazy and their parents let them be that way. The population hasn't shrunk - just the number of kids participating in the more demanding sports.

Wooster barely fielded a freshman team this year. Same for Orrville. Clear Fork didn't have one. Back in the day, the idea of freshmen dressing for varsity games would've been laughable. Now it's a common occurence. They need to keep them engaged in the program. It's a sad reality.

And this is why I have ALL the respect in the world for the boys who do play in this era. Even those kids who win 1 game a year. At least they're out there. I hear their friends badmouth them saying "I'm not playing, our team sucks." That's pathetic. The kid who suffers through 2 a days doesn't suck - he's a winner in my book regardless of record. The lazy creeps who chose not to participate are the ones who suck.

I agree with this statement, and it has proven true in the classroom as well. Students are content with doing what it takes to get by, and parents are enabling their children to continue with these habits instead of insisting on excellence. I have always hated hearing about parents paying their kids for their grades, but I can also understand parents doing this in order to get the best out of their children. The sad thing is that students don't have the drive to succeed on their own. They are more interested in tangible rewards than rewards that will last them a lifetime such as drive and work ethic.

While I am asking questions...When was the last time you saw a bunch of kids in a corner lot playing football for fun? It used to be from sun up to sun down and now I can not tell you the last time I saw this in Orrville.

Ref-Dawg;1307508 wrote:Good effort bulldogs! Hopefully the 8th graders coming up will give this team a little boost because lord knows the current freshman thru junior classes are horrible. Yes, we will be starting a freshman RB. Should be interesting, but onto the basketball thread. :thumbup:

You sir are an idiot! You're not even a Bulldog!! How can you say those classes are horrible? Let's hope we DO NOT start a freshman RB next year.

mompov;1307561 wrote:8th grade was good, but not as good as 7th. Starting a freshman RB...kinda doubt that, did coach tell you so? This team horrible? Then you must not mean to say good effort. I can only surmise that you are the dad of said running back.

@mompov - He's not the Dad of said running back. He doesn't even have a kid on the team.

rrfan;1308059 wrote:While I am asking questions...When was the last time you saw a bunch of kids in a corner lot playing football for fun? It used to be from sun up to sun down and now I can not tell you the last time I saw this in Orrville.

playing madden in the basement with their buddies

rrfan;1308059 wrote:While I am asking questions...When was the last time you saw a bunch of kids in a corner lot playing football for fun? It used to be from sun up to sun down and now I can not tell you the last time I saw this in Orrville.

Well...that would mean that the poor kid would actually have to get off the couch, put down the cell phone and the remote, tie his shoes, pull his pants up to his waste, and then try to find 10 other of his buddies to do the same??? How dare you ask the kids to do something so creative and thought out on their own??? I mean...why would kids ever want to do anything that resembles work or somethign that will make them better??? How dare you ask that question!

jaco;1307989 wrote:Too many kids are lazy and their parents let them be that way. The population hasn't shrunk - just the number of kids participating in the more demanding sports.

Wooster barely fielded a freshman team this year. Same for Orrville. Clear Fork didn't have one. Back in the day, the idea of freshmen dressing for varsity games would've been laughable. Now it's a common occurence. They need to keep them engaged in the program. It's a sad reality.

And this is why I have ALL the respect in the world for the boys who do play in this era. Even those kids who win 1 game a year. At least they're out there. I hear their friends badmouth them saying "I'm not playing, our team sucks." That's pathetic. The kid who suffers through 2 a days doesn't suck - he's a winner in my book regardless of record. The lazy creeps who chose not to participate are the ones who suck.

Reps on that!
Numbers are an issue all over, but there are two other things that are new since "back in the day". Dalton cross country boys team was large this year. Between cross country and soccer, also not around too many WCAL schools "back in the day", football loses out. Out cross country coach's goal is to have more boys out than for football. Cross country definitely a safer sport. Safety is also becoming more of an issue all over the country regarding football.
Yes, the 8th grade kid is a stud. In jr hi, that is. He's sophomore starting material though, not freshman. High school football still a whole different animal and he needs a year to acclimate. He's strong and bold, but smallish. His brother didn't start as a freshman, he probably won't either.

855pride;1308089 wrote:playing madden in the basement with their buddies

Correction, Modern Warfare. At least if they were playing Madden it would be a football game. Instead, they play zombie killing games.