Three weeks into season and it's become obvious that, despite some strong individual talent, local high school football remains in a down cycle. The reasons why are plentiful.
Bloggers on this site simply want to blame coaching. Closer inspection and an impartial eye reveals other factors.
One thing that jumps out is a lack of size among offensive/defensive linemen. Where have all the 6-4, 250 kids gone? Did they move? Transfer? There have to be more able-bodied big men out there than are on local football teams. Even at the larger schools, a lack of size is impacting won-loss records.
Another is roster size.
Avella isn't the only local team struggling with numbers. I covered Friday night's Class A Black Hills Conference game between Serra Catholic and Burgettstown. Not only were Serra's big men bigger than Burgettstown's, there were more to chose from.
Not surprisingly, Serra Catholic wore down Burgettstown.
Then, there's ego inflation.
This week on this board, upset Trinity posters mentioned how well the current varsity players performed at various levels growing up.
Guess what?
It doesn't matter.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "This team went undefeated in seventh grade" or "This kid is the next Brian Davis" or "They didn't give up a point in fifth grade," I could retire.
One poster asked what could possibly change from junior high to varsity. Here are a few: growth, players moving out, no one moving in, disinterest, trouble with grades, trouble with the law, better facilities, speed programs, migrating to other sports and injuries.
Every time I hear about the next Brian Davis, chances are the young man doesn't end up as a starting tailback. Every time I hear about an undefeated eighth-grade team, chances are that team gets mercy-ruled in 11th grade.
Maybe it's because they're being told this from the time they are 10-year-olds.
* No local team has reached the WPIAL championships since 2001, when Washington won PIAA and WPIAL Class AA titles and Fort Cherry lost to Rochester in the Class A final. In the time since, only Beth-Center, Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan and Monessen have reached the semifinals.
In 2008, Monessen won a playoff game. Teams from Washington and Greene counties went 0-9.
Rock bottom? Well …
Who could place blame on anyone who thinks a repeat performance is approaching? Results from Canon-McMillan, Trinity and Washington weren't encouraging.
Maybe Fort Cherry, McGuffey and South Fayette can put the area in the win column. Each team looks strong through three weeks.
** Speaking of South Fayette, the Lions' 28-22 victory over Keystone Oaks could be called its best since moving to Class AA.
*** Ringgold's coaching situation is unsettled but the Rams shrugged off the distraction and are 2-1 heading into next Friday's game against Thomas Jefferson.
**** Finally, The Varsity Letters wants to thank the fellas working the press box at Burgettstown's Hill Memorial Stadium. Led by local legend Troy Elich, there's never a dull moment during a Blue Devils home game.
44 comments:
mike i think you hit the nail on the head. these kids are all "me" players. there is no team unity. there is all kinds of in fighting amongst the team at wash high it gets a little tiring. alot of these kids think they are super stars.i think some of these kids like to see their teammates fail, wheather its because they want their position on the team or they just dont like them. the coaches need to recognize this and put a stop to this stuff or its going to continue.the team concept needs to start at the early levels. these super stars who threaten to quit if they dont play the position they want need to quit.dont get me wrong this team has some great kids on the team and some of these kids who weigh 140lbs would play guard if you asked them too, but some of these kids need a reality check. avella found out what its like to be a team and they are better for it.
I don't recall anyone saying anything about 5th grade, 7th grade, or junior high.
When you exaggerate like that, your argument loses credibiity.
Week three was just more of the same. Perhaps worse.
Never said you said it anon. Then again, we don't know who you are. That's pretty credible.
Troy rocks.
If every team has smaller kids is it really a problem? Honestly, kids are just simply lazy. They are lazy because they can be. Back in the day (and I am not from the day) all kids had were sports and nothing else. Now kids have computers, video game consoles, handheld video game consoles, and every other technological amenity. Kids do not want to sacrifce there four hours on World of Warcraft to go to football practice. I do not think this is a down period; it is a downward spiral and it is only going to get worse.
Mike a quick question.
Why does South Fayette get TVL attention when they are from Allegheny Co.?
The O-R covers South Fayette, so that means The Varsity Letters does too.
As a fan of high school football I want to make a comment.. Fort Cherry is not anywhere near as good as people think they are. They have played 3 bad teams and people think they have a shot at Serra...The team last year had a ton of experience and a few more talented players and they still got beat in the first round. This Ranger team will be good in the future but they aren't good enough yet. They will lose to Burgettstown Clairton Serra Catholic and Frazier will be coming for them after Fc put 71 on Frazier last year... Good Luck next week Rangers and I would like to see you win but don't get your hopes up because its very unlikely
R. Keith Taylor -- that's 100% truth right there. Couldn't have said it better myself.
what about the kid that does put in his hours and doesn`t get to play just because he`s not as fast?kids arn`t treated equal thats why games were invented i`ve seen it to many times so it is the coaches who make these decisions and thats why they get bad mouthed here we go MADDEN10 here we go
Mike I agree with everything you said...
Clairton 62
Frazier 7
Something happened at halftime of the monessen game. Im not sure what that "something" was, but the team that made the run to Hershey last year came out of the locker room in the 3rd quarter last week and was also on the field Friday night against Frazier. Granted, Monessen and Frazier are middle of the road Class A teams at best, but Clairton showed that speed and power that they lacked at Laurel and in the first half against Monessen. They still had a couple "sluggish" plays, but that team that was everyones preseason #1 Class A team has finally arrived to play the 2009-2010 season. There is still one question that needs to be answered and we may not get the answer until the last week of the season against Serra. Was the Laurel dibacle and the first half against monessen the result of a "chocolate hangover" or are all of these (presumed) wins over black hills conference opponents just a mirage due to lack of competition? I guess we'll see.
Side notes:
Laurel is good. I think Laurel, with their size, will beat Rochester this season and win the Big 7 conference. I know Clairton will definitely want another shot at that team (minus the 175 penalty yards) and very well may get it.
Mt. Lebo over PCC...really? 30-7 halftime Mt. Lebo lead...really?
Any team, any given day...
"Fort Cherry is not anywhere near as good as people think they are. They have played 3 bad teams"
This post brings up an interesting point I plan on bringing up in my next football notebook for the O-R.
Of the undefeated teams in the coverage area (Peters Township, South Fayette, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry and Jefferson-Morgan) only two of those victories came against teams with winning records. PT beat Ringgold in Week 1 and SF just beat KO.
It might not mean anything but it is a valid point.
To the Anon who published a post for my review to this post at 12:37 p.m. ... just so you are perfectly clear on this, your post was rejected because you let your anger descend into petty, immature name-calling.
Again people, and most everyone seems to be getting it now, posts calling me full of crap are fine as long as they are not obscene. Posts criticizing play calls or schemes, etc., are fine as long as they are not obscene.
What will not be published are comments that are an anonymous keyboard bully's way of venting anger by derogatory name calling.
If you clean up the post you previously sent, it will get on the board.
size does matter. but some of these big boys are soft. what keith taylor said is pretty accurate. i bet i can put 5 kids who weigh 170lbs or less on some of these o lines and get better results from these teams. some of these 250lb kids are not football players. the problem i have with coaching is, i dont believe they recognize the talent they have and where to best use them. there are some kids at wash high that dont get enough touches of the football. some have not touched the ball on o in three games. i'm sure this is true at alot of schools. it took a few games at charleroi before they realized they better give briggs the ball, duh!. the coaches who are great put the kids in the right positions.
I get the point Mike,you said it last year and now you bring it up again.We suck,we cant compete so why try.Just cancel the rest of the season and mail in the results.I just dont know how this is supposed to improve area football or is it just to belittle the kids that are now playing.
As for Fort Cherry they are just trying to get better each and every day,they had to replace 9 offensive starters from last year.No one on the team is even looking past Serra to even think about the other teams.But I have to ask you with so many soph's and Juniors playing how the heck do you know how they will progress what do you know about the time and work they put in.I know the kids dont care what you think of them but since you have this allknowing future sight how bout pulling up some Lottery numbers and let me know .
Prexie:
You are correct about the "me" attitude at Wash High. Not real sure how to correct it but everyone thinks that they are the next Brian Davis. Let's face it, he was one of a kind. It will take someone very special to even come close.
Anon Sept 19 @ 4:14 pm
I think I recall a post sometime early this year or late last year referring to a youth league team being undefeated at their level and one young player being touted in the post as the next "Brian Davis".. To receive that "tag" would be unfair and very difficult to live up to. Especially at such a young age.
Ha ha...Mike you are right on. I hear that from fans of area teams every year...look out for our JV's, they've been undefeated since 6th grade!!!
Come to think of it, the only place that you don't hear that is TJ. I actually go to games all over the place and I do hear people say that all the time.
By the way...Trinity looked kind of overmatched against TJ again on Friday. Do you think Dalton's job is safe, or is it too early to tell? Trinity has some size this year too - I expected more from them.
Clairton Alum:
I truly feel that Clairton would mop up on the entire WPIAL not just the Black Hills (Yes, week one was an anomaly). Remember, the teams in the WPIAL are the norm, Clairton is the exception. Don't belittle other teams because Clairton has had more talent in the cupboard the past few years.
Fort Cherry is not anywhere near as good as people think they are. They have played 3 bad teams"
This post brings up an interesting point I plan on bringing up in my next football notebook for the O-R.
Of the undefeated teams in the coverage area (Peters Township, South Fayette, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry and Jefferson-Morgan) only two of those victories came against teams with winning records. PT beat Ringgold in Week 1 and SF just beat KO.
It might not mean anything but it is a valid point.
Mike,
There may be a valid point in this but the bottom line is that the teams are winning and they deserve the time that your newspaper has given them rightly so. I'm sure there time may come when they lose all the publicity but for now lets give them there time.
Mike......let's hold off with evaluating CM until THIS week when they play a REAL team, a AAAA team
Mike, it appears this person was spot on. You were a bit premature in your glowing appraisel of this year's CM football team. Against quality quad A teams the line is poor and except for Hull the rest are mediocre. After the Mt.Lebanon upset of Pittsburgh Central Catholic a 1-5 conference record is a real possibility. After seeing all 3 CM games we are getting progressively worse instead of better. The schedule does not get any easier except for Butler & Baldwin.
But on the bright side we did beat as our CM coach said the "biggest rival" a non-conference triple a team.
Fort Cherry has two running backs that are bigger than Burgettstown's tackles. In fact, there might be three players on Burgettstown's entire roster that would start for Fort Cherry. Fort Cherry might put up 40 against The Blue Devils. I am not sure why regulars here think Burgettstown is so good...They are a bad team in a bad conference. I am looking forward to their game with Avella. That will be a barn burner.
Anon at 759...
Did i belittle other teams? Where? I re-read what i typed and i dont think i belittled anyone. If i did i apologize, nothing i said was meant to come off that way.
A note to blog posters on this board: With the changes to monitor posts before posting them, Mike Novak has taken to not posting legitimate comments that make him look bad. He is not censoring based on content but on what is good for him or the teams he supports. I know this because I have been the victim of this behavior. I would encourage all to ask Mr. Novak to be fair an allow ALL posts which do not contain slander, name calling, or other inappropriate content. Mr. Novak has not told the truth on this board and has accused one of my posts of name-calling. Mr. Novak - you know as well as I do that the post in question did not contain name-calling. Do the right thing and post it.
I agree with Prexie, the parents don't help either they have the same mentality as their kids (that's were they get it from!) It is sad for the kids who are trying to receive scholarships to further their education. Coach Bosnic is a great Coach but does not run the offense his father does as you can see from the Greensburg Central Catholic games our offense needs alot of work. I have heard the plays are really old and obviously not working. These kids can't display their talent if the foundation isn't there...
Prexie...where would you put everyone...interested to know. It's quite frustrating to me too...
There is no Mike Novak running this board Anon 2:14 p.m.
"Mr. Novak - you know as well as I do that the post in question did not contain name-calling. Do the right thing and post it."
As for your previous unpublished post you called someone (not me) "a total piece of crap."
Not gonna fly here.
You want to keep doing it, please go somewhere else.
the prexies get back there fastest kid on the team this week,also apretty good soph d-end and probably the one of the most talented freshmen in the county from injury for friday's game. Also heard that east allegheny will get most of their ineligible players back for fridays game. heard it was anywhere from 8 players to 22. thats insane.
anon. if it was up to me i would put the speed in on o. if you cant run thru someone you better run around them. let these kids run some quick slants if they send the linebackers. we have 4 or 5 kids running 4.5 or under. these kids that become eligible this week will help (but they need to get their s$#% straight and stay eligible).if you keep watching film and the same people arn't blocking week in and week out get someone else in there.barnes and thomas are good players where they are but when you have 20yrds of offense the whole game maybe you need to put them at tackle or gaurd, i know they will block.they may not like it but again it should be about the team.
Whoa....."Local Legend"? I'm National. Maybe International.
Dare I say worldwide Rockstar.
Alas, my knowledge of your excellence is only known within the boundaries of Washington County and small parts of Greene and Westmoreland.
Fort cherry and Burgestown are always going to be good games. Look at least year Fort Cherry had a more skilled team and was down at the half. Fort Cherry came back to win by what i belive was ONE point?. Any ways all im trying to say is that even if Burgestown did have a better team the game will be closer than most people think. By the time FC and Btown "go at it" Fc will have more skill and will even be stronger than Btown. Last year Btowns line wasnt verry strong as you all who watched the game could tell during the second half. Any body have thoughts???
Here are my thoughts...
Gary Keifer and Corey Garry 35
Burgettstown 6
Fort Cherry has a nice young skill set that is only going to get better. Their defense is going to keep them in the game with Serra. I'm not sure if Fort Cherry will have enough to beat Serra. If this game was the 8th or 9th week of the season then I might actually pick Fort Cherry to beat Serra. But as of right now I think Serra will win a 21-14/ 21-17 type game.
As for the Burgettstown-FC game. I think that FC might end up winning that game quite handily. I thought Burgettstown had more than this but its looking like Burgettstown just might've been overrated heading into the season.
Animus
I wanted to second an earlier poster who wondered why in the heck we (I work for the O-R) cover South Fayette. Why not Char Valley? Why not a school just over the line in Beaver County? Why not Wheeling Park, a district that borders McGuffey? I know, that last one was a stretch. But the decision to cover South Fayette just seems so random, much like our on-again, off-again love affair with Monessen.
Im pretty sure Fort Cherry has the talent and the work ethic to beat serra, that game is going to be a game of who wants it more. Its Fort Cherry first away game witch may even be a little more dificult. ANd i have a question, do u think its right that they can recruit and still play single A teams that cant? I could see if all schools were in there own confrence but my thought on that is that its almost unfair? any thoughts wit any recruiting teams?
Too bad a spelling team didn't recruit ou anon! The truth is that no WPIAL team can recruit, it is against the rules and doesn't happen, if it did it would amount to a quasi death penalty against a school that is caught.
All the recruiting rumors come up this time of the year when the private schools win too much in the eyes of public school fans. Use your recruiting fantasy on Geibel and see how that works out.
I agree with Brant's comments. Why does the OR cover Upper St Clair, Mt Lebanon and Canevin, which is in Pittsburgh? Is coverage given to Canevin because local students attend that school? If that is the case, why not cover Wheeling Central Catholic There are several local students attending that school. And what about Weirton Madonna, Burgettstown area students attend there. And what about John Marshall in WV, they border both West Greene & McGuffey.I know covering all those schools would be impossible, but let's end high school coverage at the county lines of Washington & Greene.
Chuck
I was always told we (the sports staff) covered South Fayette because its mailing address is in Washington County.
By the way, the O-R does not cover Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and Bishop Canevin (which is in the Oakwood section of Pittsburgh to be precise). That's the Almanac.
As for South Fayette, I've obviously covered the Lions' sports teams (particularly boys basketball). Not only do many parents buy our paper, I get more e-mails from South Fayette people than just about anyone else. We must be selling a few copies up there.
So why not cover a school district with a Washington County address, plenty of disposable income and a desire to be covered?
To totally dismiss catholic schools recruiting is hogwash.There's a case in court right now against a "non Pittsburgh diocese school" and the basis of the case is that these kids were promised playing time and greater visibility to college recruiters if they attended that school opposed to another catholic school in the area.I hope to get this through so I didn't mention any particular schools,I'm not making this up.
THere was also a case of rape charges against Ben Rothlisberger, anyone can file charges against anyone, it doesn't mean they are true, particularly civil charges.
You just keep believing that all those big bad cheating Catholic Schools are recruiting and paying the kids tuition and thats why they always beat your team. None of it is true, but you probably believe in Santa Claus as well.
No I don't believe in Santa and I don't believe that everyone goes to catholic schools just for that fine education.I cant change your mind and wont even try.But those catholic schools must have some kind of coaches that a vast majority are successful in most sports.You cite Geible as your example why not PCC that has kids from the whole county attending,or Seton or Serra,ya Serra hires a coach gets 8 transfer on the team but as Juniors they had an epiphany and wanted to get a catholic education,maybe you're the one that believes in Santa
Why are just the Catholic schools accused of recruiting.....for years Blackhawk basketball had kids "transfer" into the school district(Brandon Fuss-Cheatam from Keystone Oaks, a kid from Montour and others) to play basketball. Since their old coach retired the "transfers" have stopped, has the school district suddenly gotten worse or has the basketball program declined. Peter's has a kid that played for Pittsburgh Central last year for that "catholic education" when he realized he wouldn't see any playing time that "catholic education" became less important and he now starts for his neighborhood school Peter's and is leading them to a 4-0 record. Please stopp with the catholic schools recruit garbage.....other schools do the same thing and these are just 2 examples. Parents are moving kids all over because it's all about what will get you noticed by the colleges.
You are absolutly correct,it does happen at other schools but what I'd really like to read is that you agree that it's wrong.
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