Suddenly, everything you’ve ever heard about hard work, competitiveness, and comeback means nothing, along with the exception and not the rule. If you don’t believe me…just ask the Anna Rockets.
One would think, you know, because it’s all you’ve ever heard.
Keep working.
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Do the work.
The cream rises to the top.
It’s not how you start, but how you finish.
Every cliche’ you’ve ever heard pertaining to kids, sports, competition, and merit.
And, let’s not forget life lessons, either. You get knocked down, you get up, and keep playing.
And then there’s the Anna Rockets, who checked every one of the boxes just mentioned…finished 7-3, overall…6-2 in the ultra-tough and recognized Midwest Athletic Conference…were oft-cited as bona-fide candidates to compete for the Division VI OHSAA football title in 2026…and yet will not be in the OHSAA tournament, at all.
Because of a technicality? In so many words, yes. They beat a non-conference opponent that was non-competitive, and lost to a non-conference team that they were three-touchdowns to beat. Their other two losses (Marion Local and St. Henry) were against a perennial state champion and the reigning state champion.
So, they’re 7-3, arguably one of the five most likely teams in the state to actually win the OHSAA Division VI title…and yet, because of the Harbin System, a computer-based point system used by the OHSAA to rank high school football teams and determine state playoff qualifiers and seedings, they’re not in the playoffs, at all.
Nah-h-h! You say…what?
Yes, despite beating four other MAC teams that are in the playoffs – Minster (7-3), Fort Recovery (3-7), Coldwater (6-4), and Versailles (6-4) – and one with a 3-7 record, they’re running sprints in the gym this week, getting ready for basketball.
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Of course, the emails and texts poured in over the weekend, questioning the OHSAA, the Harbin System, Joe Eitel, whether the earth has reversed spin…and one compared it to the race for governor.
But it is, what it is. And what it always has been. Someone is bound to be left behind, one of those life lessons that even I’ve ascribed to over the years.
“But not when you’re 7-3,” wrote one. “To hell with the Harbin system. Quit over-thinking it and just let the best teams play.”
His reference to over-thinking (we assume) is to the Rockets’ season-opening win against Spencerville High School, a school that didn’t win a game all season, and thereby did nothing for Anna’s points ranking. They then lost to Fort Loramie in Week 2, a Division VII game that they were favored to win.
“Computers know nothing about football, just wins and losses,” another respondent added. “Why would you even schedule teams like Spencerville in the future if you know you’re don’t benefit by winning?”
Which is why Division II and III Miami Valley League schools don’t schedule MAC teams for early non-c0nference games. Do you gain enough by winning, and what if you lose?
And how do historically non-competitive schools benefit the state tournaments through expansion? If beating a team that’s 7-23 over the past three seasons costs you your own opportunity, why not look elsewhere, travel farther, and spend more to play better teams to ensure you make the playoffs? Which would bring to question what’s the true purpose of competitive sports…life lessons or making the playoffs?
Look, I’m not whining here on behalf of Anna. You have to take care of your business to prevent things like this from happening. But for the sake of those who shake their heads and question the OHSAA’s mission of inclusion and expanded tournament opportunity, it’s hard to justify a 7-3 team that beat Minster, Fort Recovery, Coldwater and Versailles, not making the playoffs. Or one that’s 1 in 5 to actually win the tournament.
Because while no one writes about it, there is a preponderance of Ohio High School football fans who still want the best teams to play for that title, and point to the imbalance in the last three Division VII championship games, ironically won by MAC teams by a score of 149-3. So it’s not about Anna. And it’s not about the MAC. People just don’t want running clocks to determine the state championships in Ohio football, or 149-3. And last year there was five of them!
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Of course, how do you determine the best teams, one might ask? And this is where the Harbin system seeks to qualify one 7-3 from another. Ironically, while Anna was ranked #14 in Region 24, Lucasville Valley was ranked #15 with the same 7-3 record, but against teams like Oak Hill (0-10), Paint Valley (0-10), and Liberty Union (0-10).
“Valley was never going to challenge for the Division VI title with their schedule,” a voice from the Ohio River added Sunday.
So much for the cream rising to the top.
The hard, but true, lesson here for competitive football is…you get nothing for playing weak teams.
Which is bad news for the Spencervilles in the future and their attempts to schedule. Or maybe not.
At the rate we’re going we’re soon be accustomed…to 149-3.
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