August 17, 2023 Portsmouth 59 - 29 Valley

[coop]

So prior to this game all of the "concerns" were discussed. I wont beat a dead horse, but its been said again and again numbers are down...but on the rise. The culture, facilities, coaching, energy, etc are all headed in the right direction along with the fact that Valley has some talent coming..and will probably have 40+ kids next season too.

Support the kids and the program. I understand the winning past, but in super small town football, unless youve got a pipeline, this is what it is.

The staff is working thier tails off, the community is supporting(for the most part), and good things are coming to Valley.

[transplant]

We have given up 59 points how can anyone not be upset

I get it. What is the fix? Who are you upset with that you come here every year with nonsense. I've got news for all Valley fans. Ever since Scott Rolfe stopped being the OC everything has been in a decline. Primarily, because during those years, those were the best teams ever fielded at Valley. It isn't a knock on any one coach, including Darren. Jmo

Are u mad at Crabtree or his fist cuz Keller?

Valley had some loaded teams during those years but a lot of his talent were transfers. There isn’t no more big time transfers and size of team is cut in half.

A lot of his talent was transfers? You’ll have to help me out. I can’t think of that many big time transfers valley had during those years.

[transplant]

So prior to this game all of the "concerns" were discussed. I wont beat a dead horse, but its been said again and again numbers are down...but on the rise. The culture, facilities, coaching, energy, etc are all headed in the right direction along with the fact that Valley has some talent coming..and will probably have 40+ kids next season too.

Support the kids and the program. I understand the winning past, but in super small town football, unless youve got a pipeline, this is what it is.

The staff is working thier tails off, the community is supporting(for the most part), and good things are coming to Valley.

Agree. Most valley fans know the numbers are just down and depth is an issue. Sometimes it’s not the X’s and O’s It’s the Jimmie’s and joes.

[FIDO]

I agree wholeheartedly. The talent will rebound and dwindle as most teams experience. It is what it is. Blaming coaching is absurd.

[ValleyStrong]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

[coop]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

Valley is D6, but pretty close to D7. The Indians play 1 D4 team, 6 D5 teams, and 3 D6 teams.

While I understand the frustration in giving up points, and thats a natural frustration, I'll allude to what I spoke on earlier, Nolan walked into a situation that wasnt the best, now that said this isnt a knock on Darren or anyone else becuause they were great, are great and Valley has the set up and facilities they have because of the successes Darren and Scott had. I can speak on that as I played for them during the "glory years", and maybe even contributed a time or two ....but towards the end, number were down, energy was a little lower than normal and it seemed that people were looking for something new.

Now, here we are...and were only 12-13 games into his tenure, and ALMOST anyone you speak to, WILL agree that everything is trending in the right direction, its just not an overnight thing.

Valley is fielding what most teams would call a JV team so to speak, playing against older, more experienced kids, and they fight every single night. Thats not an excuse, they just literally have ONE senior on the roster, and I'm not sure how much time he gets. Ive never once seen them "quit" in a game that ive been able to watch, not a one.

I dont think Valley controls when/if the SOC realigns, or when teams drop down and move up. Valley competes very well in every other SOC sport with all of these schools, so I dont know that they would want to move down(maybe they do, I simply do not know) but, I think that would happen within the next 2-3 years anyway.

Valley is working hard, very hard to put a good product on the field, and those kids, that staff, want to win more than any of us want them to win.

Again...re-stocking the cupboard is a slow process in a town of a few thousand people.

Right now, patience is key.

[wobycat]

Valley was outmatched but they have some talent. Number 33 is going to be a problem for opposing defenses in the future. He's very talented.

Both teams need help defensively but their offenses are really good.

[Hoopster98]

Easier said than done but why didn’t Valley stack the box and make Portsmouth throw? Valley is very young and I knew Portsmouth would use their strength but I also thought a defensive adjustment would have been made.

Valley did not give up and I really like the offensive possession where they ran the same play 3x straight then went with a play action pass. Run it until they stop it.

[pmow3]

Valley is still fighting they won’t give up they have to try and establish the run but stop trying to get cute with every play and just line up and go at them

Why don't you ask the staff if you can help coach the team? It seems you are full of suggestions and criticism.

Great suggestion Fido.
I’m not on the staff.
But I just saw some film from one play in particular that Izladoom is calling out coaches for. That’s a TD If it’s ran properly.
People on here that call out coaches for certain play calling need to read between the lines. These kids aren’t quite where we want them to be yet. They are going to be fine and grow in the next year. Only one senior on this team and we post 30 points in the first game.
No. There is no defense right now. We are young and inexperienced. And smaller. But the coaches know what to do.
It’s hilarious to jump on anyone on here when you can’t read the room.

[pmow3]

I dont know but he has been disgruntled for several years.

We have given up 59 points how can anyone not be upset

I get it. What is the fix? Who are you upset with that you come here every year with nonsense. I've got news for all Valley fans. Ever since Scott Rolfe stopped being the OC everything has been in a decline. Primarily, because during those years, those were the best teams ever fielded at Valley. It isn't a knock on any one coach, including Darren. Jmo

Are u mad at Crabtree or his fist cuz Keller?

He’s obviously mad at the staff for some reason. Or mad he didn’t get a chance to coach.
1. They gave that job to the best coach they could have.
2. Nobody realizes what having 1 senior on a team and only 28 players is like vs schools with 2x the roster size.
3. We are almost D-7. So there is nobody walking the halls up there that are bigger.
4. We had plenty of effort last night from some tough kids but we are young and learning.
5. If you want to keep bashing the coaches, go ahead. But offensively, there isn’t anyone who puts more effort into a game plan and has knowledge of how to move the ball than Coach.
We are outmanned on the lines and young. Let ‘em grow.

[sportsnutscioto]

Both teams played hard on Thursday night to open up the area’s high school football season. Great job both teams in representing your school and your communities. For both programs they are experiencing lower than ideal total numbers. It’s a reality of high school football across the State, minus a few programs. This means some ups and downs. You ride the wave of success for a couple strong classes until they graduate and then you experience some growing pains for a while. Both programs are moving in the right direction. Valley will improve as Portsmouth will too. Portsmouth had a great game plan tactically and executed that plan. Valley has some youth and you could tell execution was a bit of an issue. That will get better as the season progresses. The worst thing anyone from Lucasville can do is come on here or social media and bash players and/or coaches for giving 100% effort in preparation of a high school football game. 15-18 yo boys and a young coaching staff by years in the their positions that have a lot of growing and learning to do this year and years to come and mistakes are going to happen weekly. I wish both teams success.

[pmow3]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

Realign? We’ve been fine with realignment for years. The division 1 basketball schools (specifically clay) has as much power as we do on conference realignment.
We were in SOC 1 for all of the 90’s and much of the 2000’s. It took years to get us into the SOC2. We competed for about 10 years, wining 3 titles in a row. It was a special group of kids for a 5 yrear span there. But that is not the case anymore.
We can’t just decide on our own to drop down.
It’s not that simple.
Conference realignment would be great if you could convince clay and other schools to let us do it.

[jujubean]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

Realign? We’ve been fine with realignment for years. The division 1 basketball schools (specifically clay) has as much power as we do on conference realignment.
We were in SOC 1 for all of the 90’s and much of the 2000’s. It took years to get us into the SOC2. We competed for about 10 years, wining 3 titles in a row. It was a special group of kids for a 5 year span there. But that is not the case anymore.
We can’t just decide on our own to drop down.
It’s not that simple.
Conference realignment would be great if you could convince clay and other schools to let us do it.

Realignment power should only concern those with a dog in the fight. Clay, South Webster, New Boston, and other SOC schools that do not support football should not have a vote. Maybe they don't, but I believe we're talking football, so I'm they do. Maybe it's time to disband "conferences". Not sure what they are good for except it makes scheduling easier.

Valley is competitive in all sports except for football. It's a stale issue but they don't stack up with Wheelersburg, Waverly, Minford and West but nor do they have reason to play East, Green, Eastern, etc.

[BuckeyeBlood]

Portsmouth defense wasn’t very good, however I feel Valley scored 14 of their 29 on fluke plays. The 1st offensive play they had wasn’t really a fluke but just so happened that Portsmouth got bunched up on that play but it was kind of lucky. Then the one right before half was definitely a fluke. So I mean let’s say you take that one off the board they only score 22. Definitely need to work on covering and wrapping up…good lord. 33 was rounding that right side and it was arm tackle after arm tackle. Seen a ton of Trojans standing around watching instead of finishing the play. One kid leveled a Valley kid on a kickoff, instead of making the tackle at the 30, he stood over top of the valley kid staring him down, the running got to the 45 lol. It was a win, the offense ran it well but I wouldn’t be very happy if I were the coaches. Too many mental errors, standing around and bad tackling. Do that against West next week and they’ll be on the opposite end of the scoreboard.

[ValleyStrong]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

Realign? We’ve been fine with realignment for years. The division 1 basketball schools (specifically clay) has as much power as we do on conference realignment.
We were in SOC 1 for all of the 90’s and much of the 2000’s. It took years to get us into the SOC2. We competed for about 10 years, wining 3 titles in a row. It was a special group of kids for a 5 year span there. But that is not the case anymore.
We can’t just decide on our own to drop down.
It’s not that simple.
Conference realignment would be great if you could convince clay and other schools to let us do it.

Realignment power should only concern those with a dog in the fight. Clay, South Webster, New Boston, and other SOC schools that do not support football should not have a vote. Maybe they don't, but I believe we're talking football, so I'm they do. Maybe it's time to disband "conferences". Not sure what they are good for except it makes scheduling easier.

Valley is competitive in all sports except for football. It's a stale issue but they don't stack up with Wheelersburg, Waverly, Minford and West but nor do they have reason to play East, Green, Eastern, etc.

Makes sense, but honestly add a couple teams then go 3 conferences. Scheduling may be harder for a year or two but in the end schools should be playing schools closer in size, and State CB ratings. Hard to compete when the lines they face all have close to equal first string replacements. Valley cannot help the #'s, the first string kids play as hard as they can, and would probably do well or at least closer with comparable Cb ratings.

[pmow3]

What division is valley in? What are the sizes of all the schools they play? 1 to 2 divisions bigger. Having kids in the school, Valley is loaded through and through with skill kids, not so much in the line department. Maybe the answer is in the SOC either expanding ot realigning to be more balanced. Fido That is an insult to all the player's, maybe fixing the defensive schemes or calls would help, giving up on average 32 points per game the past 12 regular season games......wow We know the offense can score and has proven it no matter the low #'s, why can't the defense get stops? If due to #'s then why not realign until they come back up? Even if they come up to 50 kids, if you do not have at least 7 to 8 good lineman the higher #'s do not help in the trenches.

Realign? We’ve been fine with realignment for years. The division 1 basketball schools (specifically clay) has as much power as we do on conference realignment.
We were in SOC 1 for all of the 90’s and much of the 2000’s. It took years to get us into the SOC2. We competed for about 10 years, wining 3 titles in a row. It was a special group of kids for a 5 year span there. But that is not the case anymore.
We can’t just decide on our own to drop down.
It’s not that simple.
Conference realignment would be great if you could convince clay and other schools to let us do it.

Realignment power should only concern those with a dog in the fight. Clay, South Webster, New Boston, and other SOC schools that do not support football should not have a vote. Maybe they don't, but I believe we're talking football, so I'm they do. Maybe it's time to disband "conferences". Not sure what they are good for except it makes scheduling easier.

Valley is competitive in all sports except for football. It's a stale issue but they don't stack up with Wheelersburg, Waverly, Minford and West but nor do they have reason to play East, Green, Eastern, etc.

I don’t disagree. But it is the way it is in the SOC. Clay AD is actually the commissioner or “Secretary” of the conference.
The vote is always swayed not to realign or bring in schools and form a new set up in football.
The politics is comical when it comes to this.
Now… granted.. all schools don’t have to do what’s best for Valley.
I get that. But there is no sense in clay or those small schools (some without football teams) making decisions on football conferences. But they do.
Each school has a seat at the table.
It’s a cluster. It’s been a cluster for a long time. We were close to going to 3 divisions in Football. It would’ve been great.
But it got voted down. Again.
I’ll let you figure out which ones voted it down.

It’s comical.

[KCol]

As an unbiased observer, Nolan Crabtree is absolutely the best hire Valley could've possibly made. There are guys who are the right fit for a particular community or particular situation. He qualifies without question and he has a good staff in place. Be patient Valley fans, the turnaround is coming.

[Buckeye1972]

To correct a couple of points. First, the AD from Clay isn't the secretary or commissioner of the SOC. There has never been a vote on going to 3 divisions in football. However, there is a proposal right now for 3 divisions that HASN'T been voted on yet (it takes 3 readings before being voted on). Scheduling football games is tough for any athletic director. But we get so locked into football issues, we forget the leagues take into almost every athletic program and the balancing act is hard. What is good for a school in basketball may be horrible for them in football or the other way around.

[pmow3]

To correct a couple of points. First, the AD from Clay isn't the secretary or commissioner of the SOC. There has never been a vote on going to 3 divisions in football. However, there is a proposal right now for 3 divisions that HASN'T been voted on yet (it takes 3 readings before being voted on). Scheduling football games is tough for any athletic director. But we get so locked into football issues, we forget the leagues take into almost every athletic program and the balancing act is hard. What is good for a school in basketball may be horrible for them in football or the other way around.

I apologize if the wording is wrong. But mark Rose holds some weight in meetings if I’m wrong that’s fine.
Either way. The biggest problem in my opinion is the fact that non football schools carry as much weight as football schools in this debate.
Why would they have a seat at the table?
Why can’t football have their own situation settled by football schools?
I do realize there hasnt been a vote yet.
But ask yourself why there hasnt? This has been going on for years. There should’ve been 3 divisions a while ago. If you can do it now, then you should.
And non football schools should have no vote in the matter.

[jujubean]

Pmow3, I agree 100%