Northwest switching from SOC 2 to SOC 1?

[FarAwayFalcon]

So who else does NW play starting in2014? I doubt any of the other SOC II schools will mess with playing them. If Minford does in fact keep them on the schedule they still have some games to fill. A lot of the OVC schools are already playing SOC II schools early in the year. How far will they have to drive to find someone they can beat?

I think this is a bad move for the SOC I and II. I really don't think it helps NW in the long run. Even if they build things up, they have light years to go before even competing in the SOC II. Like others have said I think they need to re-evaluate their league for football, and maybe even having football at all.

[starbase_318]

It won't be long before they combine some of these county schools anyway. Burg picks up kids from Green and East, Minford picks up kids from East and South Webster, Valley picks up kids from Clay and Northwest, West picks up kids from Northwest and Portsmouth picks up kids from Clay and New Boston.

[N4da'score]

Maybe Northwest should trade in the pigskin for the rubber mat and take up WRESTLING with the size of some of those fellas out there, this might be the sport that they just might excell in!!!! :122246

[jagered]

If this is true then thank the Lord it is about time they kill people in secondary points!! Now I was an assistant coach out there so I have 1st hand knowkedge about what goes on out there and here is just a little bit of what goes on. Players pulled put of the parking lot with beer bottles on top of there car and when we were 4-0 a family had a huge drinking party on a thursday night and all of our players showed up sick all hungover, they were literally puking during warmups before we played South Point!!!! I had a starting linebacker who didnt even know Waverly was in our SOC!!!! So again the interest isnt there and I hope u all r correct about them leaving, I wish them well because kids will be kids but they are clueless when it comes to football!!!! And they have had as good of coaching if not the best Tipton,Hall so it definitely isnt coaching.Now I am not bashing but thats just a little bit of the mind set out there.

[jagered]

And starbase the combining of schools was a great idea and I have been saying it all along but it is not going to happen since they all have brand new schools, but I feel ya it shoulda done that years ago.

[coop]

Valley is the smallest school in D-5, and the SOC only being 7 boys away from D-6...but I'm glad they are not going back to SOC 1

[starbase_318]

And starbase the combining of schools was a great idea and I have been saying it all along but it is not going to happen since they all have brand new schools, but I feel ya it shoulda done that years ago.

I just threw that out there for conversation sake. Many counties throughout Ohio are combining schools and with money being tight, I can't see Scioto County being exempt. Who knows though? I don't see it happening anytime soon, if ever, but was more interested in reading the reaction.

[starbase_318]

Valley is the smallest school in D-5, and the SOC only being 7 boys away from D-6...but I'm glad they are not going back to SOC 1

I agree. Even if they dropped to D-VI in the future, I'd rather they play in the SOC II. Win or lose, they'll compete most years.

[BUCKEYE FAN 59]

Smart move for the Northwest football program. You cant get kids excited about football when they go out and lose by 50+ points to West, Wheelersburg, and Valley every year. I think these kids deserve a chance to be able to compete and win football games. Bravo Northwest, this says to me you care about your kids and want to see them win. I have a nephew in the 3rd grade at Northwest, I am hoping by the time he is in middle school they can get it turned around and in a winning direction. GO MOHAWKS!

[Rvbballdude]

I hate playing Northwest in football. But with the largest enrollment in the county, moving them to the small school division just because their terrible at football right now isn't fair to Green, Notre Dame, and East. Oak Hill and NW as solid D4 - high D5 teams enrollment wise have no business playing in the SOC I against small D6 schools. These schools, I would guess were the 3 no votes; and rightfully so.

If NW and Oak Hill cannot compete in the SOC II, then they they need to look for another league or go independent. They have no problem competing (winning) at a high level in basketball and other sports. If you can't play them all, go away all-together. West struggles big time at basketball, but they don't wine and cry about it.

As far as Portsmouth. NW being re-evaluated later basically means they could be moved back. So the SOC II will have to be treated as if they still have 6 teams until that happens. Do they want a potential 7 team league?

Valley (next year), Wheelersburg, and West, already play them. So schedule wise moving Portsmouth to the SOC II doesn't help them at all.

Northwest is in the same Division as Oak Hill 4.
I often wonder why Oak Hill was allowed in SOCII

[oneoak]

Northwest is in Division 4, but Oak Hill is in Division 5.

[4thgoal]

Oak Hill is in the SOCII in basketball, but in football, they are still SOCI. Below are the current enrollment numbers for SOC football schools. Interesting that 2 of the top 4 schools (enrollment based) will be in the SOCI, which was always considered the "small school" division.

Waverly 235
Northwest 187
Minford 187
Oak Hill 160
West 162
Burg 155
Valley 126
Symmes Valley 96
East 74
Green 64
Notre Dame 37

[Winchell]

I think a better indicator is boys per square mile. When that is taken into consideration, Northwest, Minford and Oak Hill are at the bottom of the list. Conversely, someone like Wheelersburg who has 155 boys, only has a district square mileage of 16. Doing the math, that puts them at just under 10 boys per square mile. In my opinion, this makes a big difference.

[domain master]

boys per square mile is a better indicator?? of what cow pastures?? get a clue... they still have 187 to choose from. Man up and step up or stay on the porch

[jumpstart]

I think a better indicator is boys per square mile. When that is taken into consideration, Northwest, Minford and Oak Hill are at the bottom of the list. Conversely, someone like Wheelersburg who has 155 boys, only has a district square mileage of 16. Doing the math, that puts them at just under 10 boys per square mile. In my opinion, this makes a big difference.

Why should how close the neighbors are have anything to do with it when they all go to the same school?

[oneoak]

I think the point that winchell is making is that although the enrollment may be more at some schools, that enrollment is spread out over a larger geographic area making it harder for students who want to participate in after school activities to get to and from the school. Here is a link to maps of the school districts. http://www.puc.state.oh.us/pucogis/sd20 ... D2007.HTML

The Oak Hill district extends into Lawrence County. It is also somewhat ironic that Oak Hill has won three conference championships in basketball competing in the SOC II but only two championships in football competing in the SOC I.

[2trap_4ever]

I think a good quesiton and could be concern for Northwest is what happens in a few years if you can rebuild your program and you do start winning games and you win the SOC 1 but the excitement ends there because you will never make D IV playoffs playing a schedule filled with D VI schools.

[Winchell]

I think a good quesiton and could be concern for Northwest is what happens in a few years if you can rebuild your program and you do start winning games and you win the SOC 1 but the excitement ends there because you will never make D IV playoffs playing a schedule filled with D VI schools.

At this point, making the playoffs cannot happen until relatively consistent success is in place. Competing in conference games is the goal at hand. And yes, proximity to school and a central community has always been a pretty good indicator of program success. Not so much in basketball because the number of athletes required to compete is obviously much lower.

[FarAwayFalcon]

The SOC is setting a bad precedent on this one IMO. I think the schools should be divided on enrollment, and be done with it. Now they have said, if you can't compete it's okay just drop down and beat on the little kids for a while, like that is really going to fix anything. You have NW and Oak Hill playing football in SOC I. Who's next and in what sport? Moving down a division may be a band-aid to look good for a little bit, but as soon as whatever school moves back up, it will be the same as it always was.

Minford has taken some butt whippings over the years in pretty much every sport at one time or another, but as least we haven't ran down to the SOC I to make ourselves feel good.

[RollTribe09]

Valley did not bump down to SOC 1 in baseball. They got bumped down to D IV due to enrollment by the state.