The question was asked over the weekend pertaining to last Friday night’s scores: “Why are there so many blowouts in high school football?” The times, they are a changin’, we know. And that includes football!
From our Wilson Minute-To-Minute scoreboard from last Friday, a sampling of area scores, in no particular order, or priority:
Tipp City 63, West Carrollton 6
Xenia 30, Piqua 8
Centerville 45, Northmont 0
Springfield 68, Beavercreek 8
It prompted a message received on Saturday morning from a local reader and football fan, who asked the obvious – what others would like to ask, but don’t: “Why are there so many blowouts now in high school football?”
The glib, but-not-so-helpful response to that would be that we’d all like to know. But this person is in his 60s, played the game himself – has two sons that played high school football. It’s not a figment of his imagination. He’s not making it up. There are a lot of blowouts, and a retired athletic director who attempted to answer the same question recently, said: “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Lehman 35, Covington 7
St. Henry 49, Delphos St. John 6
Wayne 43, Miamisburg 7
London 85, Tecumseh 0
The obvious answer is that the game now has a different cultural priority. And there is the athletic cycle.
But more, bottom line…it’s not the same game. Too many divisions, too easy to make the playoffs – incentive. Too great a separation between the top and the bottom. We settle for less, rather than expect more. We want participation over hard, competitive football, and football is hard, physical work.
The late Al Hetrick pointed this out following his retirement, even back in 2005, “We live in a day of instant gratification. And if I have to wait and work my way into the starting lineup, I’d rather do something else.”
Like it or not – believe it or not – all of the above are true. Many would rather see handshakes over hard knocks, and football is a violent game.
Retired Lehman head coach Dick Roll used to smile and say, “I like the hitting.”
Miami East 35, Riverside 0
Northridge 68, Troy Christian 7
Milton Union 49, Bethel 0
Ansonia 52, Tri County North 7
Football is a great game, a challenging game…but one that was never meant for everyone. And we know that times change – demographics change.
There was a time when it was simply what boys did in the fall. It was a big deal on Friday nights – bigger than it is now. The Troy-Piqua game used to sell out, but not recently. There’s too many other things to do that don’t require sitting in the rain and cold. Kids pick up on the vibe…and say if they’re going to work that hard they’d rather have a paycheck to show for it.”
There are, of course, the exceptions, and people marvel over the rate of participation in MAC schools like Marion Local, Coldwater, and Versailles – communities where history supports the process of winning, and expectations are perpetually high. That said, Minster beat Versailles 35-0 last Friday and no one complained. You just get up, work harder, and learn from the experience of what you’ve endured.
Editor and publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
Marion Local has now won 56 consecutive games, and instead of people appreciating the dynastic quality of a Division VII high school program that’s won 14 state titles in 25 years, some find reason to question, or even criticize. But the majority of eligible boys at schools like Marion and Coldwater still play football. It’s the expectation. That, while other schools struggle to attract enough participants to even practice. Covington, a Division VI powerhouse that dressed 50 for Friday nights a decade ago, now dresses half that many.
Delphos St. John, who once dressed 90, now dresses half that many. And county by county, with notable exceptions, the story is consistent. If it’s not a priority in the community, how do you expect it to be a priority in the school?
It can happen quickly, before you suspect. Ask communities like Tecumseh, Miamisburg, and Northmont – places that once lived for Friday nights.
To answer the writer’s question, there’s more to do than there used to be…..
And nothing, in today’s world, stays the same.
The Hughes Law office, in Urbana, sponsors OHSAA and Buckeye sports on Press Pros. Call them today if they can help you…Ph. 937-398-0520