Week 7 Northwest @ Minford

[Slew72]

Why do you think it is that Northwest is less than competitive in the SOC II? If there were only an easy answer to that question. Look at the coaching staff, other than coach Fry, who have been on the coaching staff for many years and look at the past records. The best way to predict the future is to look at the past!!! How can a different outcome be expected when the same coaches who were part of the past are still coaching there?

I completely disagree. It's about the kids. If Hall and Tipton fell flat on their face, it's not 100% coaching.

There you go, blame the kids.

[BigBlueNation]

First off - congrats to Minford on the win.

Next, I understand coaches cannot see everything that is going on - I was at the game but didn't see anyone texting or whatever on the sideline - but then again I was watching the sidelines. If it was happening, the parents of this individual should berate the player. I've had my son act disinterested in a practice or game and we had a little "heart to heart" talk about his motivation. Not the coaches fault, not the systems fault - not the "boring" practices he participated in - it was HIS fault.

I think it's time for the players to take some responsibility - never did I need a pep talk to get me fired up to play a game - that's a cop out.

Again - because I stated it before - Northwest needs out of the SOC II - it is a fact that they can't compete. Ken Raka - don't get mad because they are losing this season - do your homework - in the SOC II it's every season. Some have better data than me but here's what it looks like since 2002 according to macattacksports:

2002 overall 3-7 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 1-2
2003 overall 4-6 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 1-2
2004 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 0-3
2005 overall 4-5 SOC II 1-3 SOC I 2-1 beat Minford
2006 overall 0-9 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 0-3
2007 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 1-3
2008 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 0-3
2009 overall 2-8 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 0-2
2010 overall 3-7 SOC II 1-4 SOC I 1-2 beat Waverly
2011 overall 3-4 SOC II 0-2 SOC I 1-2

That's a whopping 2 SOC II wins in 10 years!!! Why don't the SOC board look at that! Even if Northwest dropped to SOC I they still would not have won a conference championship. I say put the school where they can compete and build up a program. You do that by WINNING. Valley's formula has been very successful - I believe they joined SOC II in 2007.

If Northwest didn't have to play WEST, WHEELERSBURG, MINFORD, and VALLEY they could be successful year in and year out. But let's face those schools produce some pretty tough teams.

Then again - maybe I'm just rambling because I'm frustrated too. We just need to be put in a position where we can be competitive.

I agree 100%. If they were in the SOC I, and lets say they finished .500 or even slightly better the first couple years, they would have more kids coming out. More bodies never hurts anything.

But there are other factors:
1) Feeder system- what kind of numbers do they have in pee wee? If they dont have much, why? If they do have good numbers, where are they losing the kids? Is it Jr High? I think you really need to peel off the layers of the onion to figure it out.

2.) Size and economy- I believe, for the most part, that NW is one of the poorer schools in terms of income per capita. Maybe the poorest. Factor that with some kids literally living 35 minutes from the school. One vehicle per family. Gas is $3+ a gallon. Makes it tough for a family of 4 or 5 to get one kid home from practice every day, etc. Especially when they are losing 5-7 games a year.

First move is to get them to SOC I. Get more kids involved in the lower level football leagues. KEEP a high school staff on for more than 2 years. There is no immediate gratification, but there is no immediate fix either. It will take time.

Very good post Bleeding Red agree 100%. Northwest needs to go to the SOC 1 for awhile that would be a great move for their program. Just look what it did for Valleys program I can remember when they were the whipping boy in the SOC 2 they left for almost 20 years came back and are a contender almost every year since they came back. I think that is exactly what they need to do. I am a die hard Westsider and a huge fan of highschool football but I live in the Nortrhwest school district my two sons go to school there. My oldest son is in 7th grade he is not in to sports, my youngest is in 1st and is football crazy so I can see a transfer in the near future for them, the reason it has not been done yet is because I will have to say I have been impressed with the academics with my oldest son at Northwest and in my mind that is more important.

[BigBlueNation]

Very nice win for the playoffs. Alomst everything they did worked well. Passing was as sharp as it's been all year. RB's were making cuts when they were needed and running downhill when it was there. Obviously Defense played very well since it was a shut out. NW didn't cross the 50 until a kick off return in the 2nd quarter and they lost yardage before they punted on that drive I think.

If the Falcons play with that effort, focus, and intensity they can beat Wheelersburg there's not a doubt in my mind.

As always Coach Daniels shows class by just kneeing out the game at the end deep in NW territory. 50-0 doesn't prove any more than 43-0.

IRONFALCON I would like to know why last week you were bashing a well respected man in the Minford community in Bob Shaffer, calling him a gutless pig and a fool because our jv was running sweeps when up 34-0 which they score to go up 40-0 and they took a knee on our last posession, but say coach Daniels shows class for taking a knee up 43-0 on Northwest 1 yard line. I watch this game on tv and Minfords jv was running sweeps and outside the tackles up 43-0 on their last drive what is the difference.

[Bleeding Red]

Why do you think it is that Northwest is less than competitive in the SOC II? If there were only an easy answer to that question. Look at the coaching staff, other than coach Fry, who have been on the coaching staff for many years and look at the past records. The best way to predict the future is to look at the past!!! How can a different outcome be expected when the same coaches who were part of the past are still coaching there?

I completely disagree. It's about the kids. If Hall and Tipton fell flat on their face, it's not 100% coaching.

There you go, blame the kids.

Well I didn't see their coaches put the helmets and cleats on at halftime! Maybe they should have?

Hall and Tipton are good coaches. They failed. We can blame 100 things, but it comes down to the kids. Then parents. Then administration, including coaches. Bottom line: winning breeds winning. Unfortunately, losing breeds losing. If NW could have a couple winning seasons it would do wonders. That isn't going to happen in SOC II.

[Slew72]

Just gets tiresome talking about it, it's the same story every year. I've seen this movie before and I'm pretty sure I know how it ends.

[noles_fan]

First off - congrats to Minford on the win.

Next, I understand coaches cannot see everything that is going on - I was at the game but didn't see anyone texting or whatever on the sideline - but then again I was watching the sidelines. If it was happening, the parents of this individual should berate the player. I've had my son act disinterested in a practice or game and we had a little "heart to heart" talk about his motivation. Not the coaches fault, not the systems fault - not the "boring" practices he participated in - it was HIS fault.

I think it's time for the players to take some responsibility - never did I need a pep talk to get me fired up to play a game - that's a cop out.

Again - because I stated it before - Northwest needs out of the SOC II - it is a fact that they can't compete. Ken Raka - don't get mad because they are losing this season - do your homework - in the SOC II it's every season. Some have better data than me but here's what it looks like since 2002 according to macattacksports:

2002 overall 3-7 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 1-2
2003 overall 4-6 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 1-2
2004 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 0-3
2005 overall 4-5 SOC II 1-3 SOC I 2-1 beat Minford
2006 overall 0-9 SOC II 0-4 SOC I 0-3
2007 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 1-3
2008 overall 1-9 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 0-3
2009 overall 2-8 SOC II 0-5 SOC I 0-2
2010 overall 3-7 SOC II 1-4 SOC I 1-2 beat Waverly
2011 overall 3-4 SOC II 0-2 SOC I 1-2

That's a whopping 2 SOC II wins in 10 years!!! Why don't the SOC board look at that! Even if Northwest dropped to SOC I they still would not have won a conference championship. I say put the school where they can compete and build up a program. You do that by WINNING. Valley's formula has been very successful - I believe they joined SOC II in 2007.

If Northwest didn't have to play WEST, WHEELERSBURG, MINFORD, and VALLEY they could be successful year in and year out. But let's face those schools produce some pretty tough teams.

Then again - maybe I'm just rambling because I'm frustrated too. We just need to be put in a position where we can be competitive.

I agree 100%. If they were in the SOC I, and lets say they finished .500 or even slightly better the first couple years, they would have more kids coming out. More bodies never hurts anything.

But there are other factors:
1) Feeder system- what kind of numbers do they have in pee wee? If they dont have much, why? If they do have good numbers, where are they losing the kids? Is it Jr High? I think you really need to peel off the layers of the onion to figure it out.

2.) Size and economy- I believe, for the most part, that NW is one of the poorer schools in terms of income per capita. Maybe the poorest. Factor that with some kids literally living 35 minutes from the school. One vehicle per family. Gas is $3+ a gallon. Makes it tough for a family of 4 or 5 to get one kid home from practice every day, etc. Especially when they are losing 5-7 games a year.

First move is to get them to SOC I. Get more kids involved in the lower level football leagues. KEEP a high school staff on for more than 2 years. There is no immediate gratification, but there is no immediate fix either. It will take time.

Very good post Bleeding Red agree 100%. Northwest needs to go to the SOC 1 for awhile that would be a great move for their program. Just look what it did for Valleys program I can remember when they were the whipping boy in the SOC 2 they left for almost 20 years came back and are a contender almost every year since they came back. I think that is exactly what they need to do. I am a die hard Westsider and a huge fan of highschool football but I live in the Nortrhwest school district my two sons go to school there. My oldest son is in 7th grade he is not in to sports, my youngest is in 1st and is football crazy so I can see a transfer in the near future for them, the reason it has not been done yet is because I will have to say I have been impressed with the academics with my oldest son at Northwest and in my mind that is more important.

You are right about one thing Valley use to be the whipping boy, but they were never in the SOC 2 they just stopped playing SOC 2 schools.

[Jesco White]

I agree 100%. If they were in the SOC I, and lets say they finished .500 or even slightly better the first couple years, they would have more kids coming out. More bodies never hurts anything.

But there are other factors:
1) Feeder system- what kind of numbers do they have in pee wee? If they dont have much, why? If they do have good numbers, where are they losing the kids? Is it Jr High? I think you really need to peel off the layers of the onion to figure it out.

2.) Size and economy- I believe, for the most part, that NW is one of the poorer schools in terms of income per capita. Maybe the poorest. Factor that with some kids literally living 35 minutes from the school. One vehicle per family. Gas is $3+ a gallon. Makes it tough for a family of 4 or 5 to get one kid home from practice every day, etc. Especially when they are losing 5-7 games a year.

First move is to get them to SOC I. Get more kids involved in the lower level football leagues. KEEP a high school staff on for more than 2 years. There is no immediate gratification, but there is no immediate fix either. It will take time.

Very good post Bleeding Red agree 100%. Northwest needs to go to the SOC 1 for awhile that would be a great move for their program. Just look what it did for Valleys program I can remember when they were the whipping boy in the SOC 2 they left for almost 20 years came back and are a contender almost every year since they came back. I think that is exactly what they need to do. I am a die hard Westsider and a huge fan of highschool football but I live in the Nortrhwest school district my two sons go to school there. My oldest son is in 7th grade he is not in to sports, my youngest is in 1st and is football crazy so I can see a transfer in the near future for them, the reason it has not been done yet is because I will have to say I have been impressed with the academics with my oldest son at Northwest and in my mind that is more important.

You are right about one thing Valley use to be the whipping boy, but they were never in the SOC 2 they just stopped playing SOC 2 schools.

While Valley had some VERY TERRIBLE years, you are both actually wrong about Valley. They didn't "stop playing the SOC 2 schools", and they didn't "leave for almost 20 years." The SOC used to be exactly that, one conference, consisting of: Valley, Wheelersburg, West, Minford, New Boston, Notre Dame, East, Northwest and Waverly. The only school to leave for several years was Waverly, as they vacated the SOC for the SEOL (later the SEOAL) in 1970 after back-to-back SOC titles. When the SOC became two divisions, after New Boston dropped their football program, Valley was placed in the SOC 1 (originally Valley, East, Green and Notre Dame). Soon there-after the SOC 1 (as of 1981 or 82) consisted of Valley, East, Green, Notre Dame and Ironton St Joe with the SOC 2 consisting of West, Minford, Wheelersburg, Waverly and Northwest.

Valley did win an outright SOC title in 1962, finishing 9-0 (8-0 in the league) with wins over Wheelersburg, Northwest, West, Minford, New Boston, Waverly, East, Notre Dame and Gallipolis. Northwest has never won a league title, regardless of SOC or SOC 2, although there have been a number of years throughout the Mohawks' history where they have been fairly competitive.

Anyway, sorry for the walk down yester-year, but I just felt that if you are going to discuss the past, you should be as close to accurate as possible in order to make your point worthwhile. 8)

[noles_fan]

I agree 100%. If they were in the SOC I, and lets say they finished .500 or even slightly better the first couple years, they would have more kids coming out. More bodies never hurts anything.

But there are other factors:
1) Feeder system- what kind of numbers do they have in pee wee? If they dont have much, why? If they do have good numbers, where are they losing the kids? Is it Jr High? I think you really need to peel off the layers of the onion to figure it out.

2.) Size and economy- I believe, for the most part, that NW is one of the poorer schools in terms of income per capita. Maybe the poorest. Factor that with some kids literally living 35 minutes from the school. One vehicle per family. Gas is $3+ a gallon. Makes it tough for a family of 4 or 5 to get one kid home from practice every day, etc. Especially when they are losing 5-7 games a year.

First move is to get them to SOC I. Get more kids involved in the lower level football leagues. KEEP a high school staff on for more than 2 years. There is no immediate gratification, but there is no immediate fix either. It will take time.

You are right about one thing Valley use to be the whipping boy, but they were never in the SOC 2 they just stopped playing SOC 2 schools.

While Valley had some VERY TERRIBLE years, you are both actually wrong about Valley. They didn't "stop playing the SOC 2 schools", and they didn't "leave for almost 20 years." The SOC used to be exactly that, one conference, consisting of: Valley, Wheelersburg, West, Minford, New Boston, Notre Dame, East, Northwest and Waverly. The only school to leave for several years was Waverly, as they vacated the SOC for the SEOL (later the SEOAL) in 1970 after back-to-back SOC titles. When the SOC became two divisions, after New Boston dropped their football program, Valley was placed in the SOC 1 (originally Valley, East, Green and Notre Dame). Soon there-after the SOC 1 (as of 1981 or 82) consisted of Valley, East, Green, Notre Dame and Ironton St Joe with the SOC 2 consisting of West, Minford, Wheelersburg, Waverly and Northwest.

Valley did win an outright SOC title in 1962, finishing 9-0 (8-0 in the league) with wins over Wheelersburg, Northwest, West, Minford, New Boston, Waverly, East, Notre Dame and Gallipolis. Northwest has never won a league title, regardless of SOC or SOC 2, although there have been a number of years throughout the Mohawks' history where they have been fairly competitive.

Anyway, sorry for the walk down yester-year, but I just felt that if you are going to discuss the past, you should be as close to accurate as possible in order to make your point worthwhile. 8)

If you want to talk about accurate reread my post. I said Valley had never been in the SOC 2 before, which you clearly stated was West, Wheelersburg, Waverly, Minford and Northwest. Thanks for the history lesson though since they won there out right title 12 years before i was born. Since I didnt start playing Football until 3rd grade which would be 82 I grew up in a split conference.

[Jesco White]

noles_fan,

I apologize for any misunderstanding. I wasn't just discussing your post. I was trying to include everything that everyone was talking about, but it wouldn't let me include quotes from everyone. As far as age goes...you are actually older than me. I've just been working on a project for quite some time that involves the history of Valley football as well as the history of the SOC as a whole. That's why I have some of the info that I have. If you were in third grade in '82, then I'm guessing you graduated in '91 if my math is correct off the top of my head lol I graduated in '96. My cousin Mark was the boys basketball coach at West while you were there (I'm assuming that's where you went).

Anyway, back on track...the only thing about your post that I was going to really discuss was the comment that Valley stopped playing the SOC 2 schools. You are kind of right. They stopped playing Burg and West, but kept playing Northwest and Minford. They hadn't played Waverly since the Tigers left the SOC anyway. It might make you happy to know that Valley and West actually had three consecutive match-ups in '80-'82 where both came in undefeated at 4-0, with West winning all three match-ups. Kind of made me nervous going into the games the last two years. Man, I loved looking that stuff up. I had always heard about how dominate some of those West teams were...back when the SOC 2 was ruled by the "Big 3 W's" of West, Wheelersburg and Waverly. Those teams were a load almost every year.

Sorry if I came across the wrong way. I didn't mean it that way. My bad.

[noles_fan]

This is the thing about Northwest Football.

1. You need to fix your Pee-Wee program. I don't know who is in charge of it but it needs to be overhauled. Last year there were 33 boys on the 5th & 6th grade team. That was singular, thats right one team. I counted them as they were warming up before they played West's 5th grade at Spartan stadium. During that game i counted 3 subs that went into the game. That means 19 boys didn't get to play at all that game. Is it any wonder why your numbers are down for this year. You have to be willing to develop boys and actually do some coaching and not just play little jimmy because his daddy is the coach.

2. Get your programs on the same page. From top to bottom your programs have to be running the same system. The days of drawling plays in the dirt are over. You start at the Pee-Wee level with the stripped down basics of your High Schools system and each year as they move up you incorporate more into your playbook so when they get to High School they are ready to compete. Coaches then can do more coaching and less teaching fundimentals.

3. School board get out of the way and let the coach run his team as he sees fit. The reason you can't keep a coach out there is no coach wants to be underminded by the board. The school board and Superintendent worry about the education of the students while they are in the building and let the coach worry about their education on the field.

4. Stop complaining about what conference your in. It hasn't been that long ago that West's program was in shambles. They run serveral years at .500 at best with years at 2-8, 3-7 with barely over 30 boys including freshmen on the team. And that was as a D-IV school. We were able to turn the program around, make it to the state finals and run off 4 SOC 2 titals in a 10 year span. It can be done but changes need to be made at every level. You have the biggest school distract in the county, surely you have enough talented boys to field a competitive team. Your excuse about not being able to get kids to practice doesnt hold water either. You have a community that is starving for sucess. Your fans are loyal even when you don't win a game. In the worst of years you will see people with signs in there yards wearing there red, white and blue and talking just as much smack as every other fan from whatever school they support. If you make the right changes the boys will start turning out again and who knows maybe even start having some winning seasons.

[28Buck]

Can Northwest manage a in district football league like Minford,Burg and Valley? Have 4 teams each grade level as in 3-4 and 5-6? This gives kids who wouldnt play on one team the chance to play and keep interest. I 100% gurantee Minford's football turn around is mainly due to this and new coaching.

[noles_fan]

Can Northwest manage a in district football league like Minford,Burg and Valley? Have 4 teams each grade level as in 3-4 and 5-6? This gives kids who wouldnt play on one team the chance to play and keep interest. I 100% gurantee Minford's football turn around is mainly due to this and new coaching.

They tried that for a few years before out there and it didnt work either. It was the same results then they would load up one or two teams and just beat on the others which turned kids away. Even if they did like West and Portsmouth do and have one in each grade and stay in the league. But Pee-Wee changes are just the first step they have major issues at every level. This is no way a crack at coach Frye there issues at the High School level go way past him.

[crab_apple4]

Can Northwest manage a in district football league like Minford,Burg and Valley? Have 4 teams each grade level as in 3-4 and 5-6? This gives kids who wouldnt play on one team the chance to play and keep interest. I 100% gurantee Minford's football turn around is mainly due to this and new coaching.

They tried that for a few years before out there and it didnt work either. It was the same results then they would load up one or two teams and just beat on the others which turned kids away. Even if they did like West and Portsmouth do and have one in each grade and stay in the league. But Pee-Wee changes are just the first step they have major issues at every level. This is no way a crack at coach Frye there issues at the High School level go way past him.

Another important factor in having a district league is the quality of coaching that the kids recieve. Most of the Valley pee wee coaches have played for Coach Crabtree or took the time to go to the pee wee camp and learn what is being taught. You need to avoid the coaches that want to use playstation plays or trick stuff just for the sake of winning the game. I know that as the jr high O-coordinator, I went to camp, took a play book home, and went to HS practices to make sure things were being done the exact same way. I think this gives the kids an incredible advantage once they get into high school because you don't spend weeks teaching them a new offense.

[noles_fan]

Can Northwest manage a in district football league like Minford,Burg and Valley? Have 4 teams each grade level as in 3-4 and 5-6? This gives kids who wouldnt play on one team the chance to play and keep interest. I 100% gurantee Minford's football turn around is mainly due to this and new coaching.

They tried that for a few years before out there and it didnt work either. It was the same results then they would load up one or two teams and just beat on the others which turned kids away. Even if they did like West and Portsmouth do and have one in each grade and stay in the league. But Pee-Wee changes are just the first step they have major issues at every level. This is no way a crack at coach Frye there issues at the High School level go way past him.

Another important factor in having a district league is the quality of coaching that the kids recieve. Most of the Valley pee wee coaches have played for Coach Crabtree or took the time to go to the pee wee camp and learn what is being taught. You need to avoid the coaches that want to use playstation plays or trick stuff just for the sake of winning the game. I know that as the jr high O-coordinator, I went to camp, took a play book home, and went to HS practices to make sure things were being done the exact same way. I think this gives the kids an incredible advantage once they get into high school because you don't spend weeks teaching them a new offense.

Nice post glad to see someone else saying the same things I am on this. :12223 :12223 :12223