Small Town Louisiana Football Beware!
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:6bNDpfWGmgsJ:www.press-herald.com/sports/sports.html+Cotton+Valley+to+forfeit+Evangel&hl=en
(Apologies for the search being a google post, but that is how I came across it on a message board and couldn't find the actual article, but I did want to post this as a reference)
If the link doesn't work, here's the skinny - some of the state's smallest schools have now found themselves in the same district as Evangel Christian Academy (ECA), a national football powerhouse, and find themselves considering a forfeit of their regularly scheduled district game during the season. It was last year that the LHSAA voted to force shcools to play according to their enrollment, moving Evangel and John Curtis down to 1A and 2A, respectively, despite the fact that both schools have either won or competed for state titles in the last couple of years.
Now, I am seeing this from the small town angle more than I am for Evangel, nor is this post designed to be an ECA slam, but truth is that playing any Louisiana team before the 2nd/3rd round of the playoffs is just a formality for Evangel, their competition has been on the national stage for sometime now and winning state champoinships is just something for these future D1 stars to put on their athletic resume'. I grew up watching my local high school playing 1A football and can sympathize with our friends in Cotton Valley, especially knowing that most of those guys are playing "iron man" football (playing both offense and defense). I remember what it was like to have one highly recruited player destroy the entire football team, I could only imagine what an entire team of D1 prospects would do to a small-town team.
My other angle of the story is that I got to see ECA play in person. While I grew up watching 1A football, I went to a school that played 2A/3A athletics (moved up while I was there). I didn't play football there, but was an avid fan and had a great appreciation for the game. Our homecoming game senior year was against ECA and I witnessed first hand just how dominating and intimidating these future stars of the college game (well, that may be a stretch) can be.
I also don't buy the private/pubic high school separation in all cases because remember the premise of Any Given Sunday (i.e. anyone can beat anyone on any given sunday), well that applies to Fridays too!
How, or is there even a way, to level this playing field?
(Apologies for the search being a google post, but that is how I came across it on a message board and couldn't find the actual article, but I did want to post this as a reference)
If the link doesn't work, here's the skinny - some of the state's smallest schools have now found themselves in the same district as Evangel Christian Academy (ECA), a national football powerhouse, and find themselves considering a forfeit of their regularly scheduled district game during the season. It was last year that the LHSAA voted to force shcools to play according to their enrollment, moving Evangel and John Curtis down to 1A and 2A, respectively, despite the fact that both schools have either won or competed for state titles in the last couple of years.
Now, I am seeing this from the small town angle more than I am for Evangel, nor is this post designed to be an ECA slam, but truth is that playing any Louisiana team before the 2nd/3rd round of the playoffs is just a formality for Evangel, their competition has been on the national stage for sometime now and winning state champoinships is just something for these future D1 stars to put on their athletic resume'. I grew up watching my local high school playing 1A football and can sympathize with our friends in Cotton Valley, especially knowing that most of those guys are playing "iron man" football (playing both offense and defense). I remember what it was like to have one highly recruited player destroy the entire football team, I could only imagine what an entire team of D1 prospects would do to a small-town team.
My other angle of the story is that I got to see ECA play in person. While I grew up watching 1A football, I went to a school that played 2A/3A athletics (moved up while I was there). I didn't play football there, but was an avid fan and had a great appreciation for the game. Our homecoming game senior year was against ECA and I witnessed first hand just how dominating and intimidating these future stars of the college game (well, that may be a stretch) can be.
I also don't buy the private/pubic high school separation in all cases because remember the premise of Any Given Sunday (i.e. anyone can beat anyone on any given sunday), well that applies to Fridays too!
How, or is there even a way, to level this playing field?
posted by brousky @ 3:05 PM
2 Comments:
At 1:34 PM ,
brousky said...
and what Sweet Hammie doesnt' mention is that it could very well bring the ECA program down too. Enough area kids decide to atttend ECA under the premise they will play the biggest and best in Louisiana and in the nation and get national exposure - what does it do for their egos if jr. high is in after a 40-0 romp or if there isn't even a game!
Sounds like the only winners are the coaches in the upper classes that were pushing for this.
Maybe a restriction of playing up only one class - huge difference between 1A and 2A or cap it at 3A???
At 6:01 PM ,
Mr. The Buffalo said...
Sadly, I have no opinion on this matter, B. I argued that athletics draw away from the scholastic mission of educational institutions until I was blue in the face. But darned if I don't enjoy watching LSU tank up on Georgia every so often.
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