Athens won at least a share of every TVC title except one

[Daniel Larusso]

We will be having this same debate again next spring when Athens has won 10 or 11 league titles out of 12


I actually hope Athens makes the division 2 football playoffs next year. Even though it would be taking a spot from a team way more deserving the folks in Athens are due for a serious reality check.

[Dundas]

The last team to win the TVC in football prior to Athens was Belpre..before that it was Wellston and prior to them it was VC in 99. Not only football but look at basketball too...Before VC's dominance, Belpre and Wellston were the kings of the TVC in bball. Each and every school goes through ups and downs. Bigger schools dont always dominate. You can also look at the Seoal with Gallia..They were a contender in the Seoal for many years (before the recent downswing) and werent the biggest school in that league either. You are spot on HSFBFAN.

[Orange and Brown]

IMO, the TVC benefits more from Athens being in the league than Athens benefits from the TVC. But I say this more because of football than any other sport.

In every sport BUT football, every team is automatically in the tournament leading to a state championship. But in football, you need to impress the Harbin computer enough to score the top eight points in your region just to MAKE the playoffs. You can play down a division or two and not get hurt in the computer IF your smaller schools have outstanding records to give you second tier points. The smaller schools are rewarded to "playing" up automatically.

But in the case of Athens last fall, their 9-1 only got them a 12th place in DII Reg 7 four places OUT of the playoffs!

They didnt play a single DII team. They played two DIII's, four DIVs, three DV's, and a DVI. Only three of the schools they played had a winning record, and one of them was DVI Wahama; a WVa school. They had no control over the TVC Ohio games they had to play, but they DID have full control over the non conference schedule, and they scheduled very badly for a DII program with playoff aspirations.

Of course there wasnt a single DII reg 7 school in the top 8 that Athens could have beaten, so perhaps it was good to leave it at 9-1 and end on a win. Im not sure if they had beaten N-Y it would have been enough to get them in anyway.

Im not bashing on Athens. Perhaps they are happy with a league championship and 9-1 season. But if they ever want a sniff of what it's like playing in week 11, they are either going to have to adjust their league affiliation, or beef up their five non conference games. Bloom Carroll, Wahama, and a couple of TVC Hocking teams arent going to get it done. Granted in most years a win over GAHS would help, but when was the last time GAHS had a decent team that Athens beat them in football either?

8/27/2010
7:30 PM GALLIA ACADEMY
9/3/2010
7:30 PM @ DAWSON-BRYANT
9/10/2010
7:30 PM WARREN
9/17/2010
7:30 PM @ CHILLICOTHE
9/24/2010
7:30 PM Parkersburg South HS
10/1/2010
7:30 PM @ MEIGS
10/8/2010
7:30 PM VINTON COUNTY
10/15/2010
7:30 PM @ ALEXANDER
10/22/2010
7:30 PM WELLSTON
10/29/2010
7:30 PM @ NELSONVILLE-YORK

This years schedule is much better than last years. we will see if they are able to duplicate last years record.

As far as playoff aspirations go, If you spend any time listening to the COACHES in the program you would find out that right now there focus is on winning and getting kids interested in playing football again. That is happening faster than anticipated so Athens is starting to improve there schedule. It is one thing to want to make the playoffs, but it is another thing to make the playoffs when no one wants to play football.

[boilermaker]

Vinton County has alot of students, spread out over the whole County . This makes it difficult in some cases for kids to play. Vinton County is one of the poorest Counties in the State.
Athens is a City school, all their resources are close and most kids are avalible to play .

[Daniel Larusso]

Vinton County has alot of students, spread out over the whole County . This makes it difficult in some cases for kids to play. Vinton County is one of the poorest Counties in the State.
Athens is a City school, all their resources are close and most kids are avalible to play .

Agreed...... Let's not compare the Vinton County school district to the Athens school district. Vinton County wishes they had the demographics/economics/resources of a city like Athens in rural southeastern Ohio.

[Daniel Larusso]

IMO, the TVC benefits more from Athens being in the league than Athens benefits from the TVC. But I say this more because of football than any other sport.

In every sport BUT football, every team is automatically in the tournament leading to a state championship. But in football, you need to impress the Harbin computer enough to score the top eight points in your region just to MAKE the playoffs. You can play down a division or two and not get hurt in the computer IF your smaller schools have outstanding records to give you second tier points. The smaller schools are rewarded to "playing" up automatically.

But in the case of Athens last fall, their 9-1 only got them a 12th place in DII Reg 7 four places OUT of the playoffs!

They didnt play a single DII team. They played two DIII's, four DIVs, three DV's, and a DVI. Only three of the schools they played had a winning record, and one of them was DVI Wahama; a WVa school. They had no control over the TVC Ohio games they had to play, but they DID have full control over the non conference schedule, and they scheduled very badly for a DII program with playoff aspirations.

Of course there wasnt a single DII reg 7 school in the top 8 that Athens could have beaten, so perhaps it was good to leave it at 9-1 and end on a win. Im not sure if they had beaten N-Y it would have been enough to get them in anyway.

Im not bashing on Athens. Perhaps they are happy with a league championship and 9-1 season. But if they ever want a sniff of what it's like playing in week 11, they are either going to have to adjust their league affiliation, or beef up their five non conference games. Bloom Carroll, Wahama, and a couple of TVC Hocking teams arent going to get it done. Granted in most years a win over GAHS would help, but when was the last time GAHS had a decent team that Athens beat them in football either?

8/27/2010
7:30 PM GALLIA ACADEMY
9/3/2010
7:30 PM @ DAWSON-BRYANT
9/10/2010
7:30 PM WARREN
9/17/2010
7:30 PM @ CHILLICOTHE
9/24/2010
7:30 PM Parkersburg South HS
10/1/2010
7:30 PM @ MEIGS
10/8/2010
7:30 PM VINTON COUNTY
10/15/2010
7:30 PM @ ALEXANDER
10/22/2010
7:30 PM WELLSTON
10/29/2010
7:30 PM @ NELSONVILLE-YORK

This years schedule is much better than last years. we will see if they are able to duplicate last years record.

As far as playoff aspirations go, If you spend any time listening to the COACHES in the program you would find out that right now there focus is on winning and getting kids interested in playing football again. That is happening faster than anticipated so Athens is starting to improve there schedule. It is one thing to want to make the playoffs, but it is another thing to make the playoffs when no one wants to play football.

The schedule is better, but it's still pretty d@mn weak for a team that plays in division 2 region 7. It will not prepare them for the likes of Logan, Louisville, New Albany, Big Walnut, Marion Franklin, Brookhaven, etc. Once again though I would love to see Athens go 9-1 or 8-2 to sneak into the playoffs. Go Athens!!!!!!!!!

[mister b]

Vinton County has alot of students, spread out over the whole County . This makes it difficult in some cases for kids to play. Vinton County is one of the poorest Counties in the State.
Athens is a City school, all their resources are close and most kids are avalible to play .

Agree.

[NYBuckeye96]

Vinton County has always had the disadvantage of not having a "city center" concentration of kids for athletics. I think the Vikings recent success in boys basketball has been the only time VC has dominated anything at any point in time in the TVC over a period of successive years. Even in football, the years VC had a great team, 1996 was the only year VC beat NY by more than one touchdown. I have always thought of VC as being a D III school with D VI demographics. It's hard to have great teams year in and year out when students live so far away from the school and each other.

[Dundas]

VC hasnt had much long term success in any sport..you are correct in that 96. Basketball has been huge in VC for the past 10 years and it all started in the early 90's when the youth leagues really got going. Basically the kids learned the right things and it sparked interest in basketball and thus in the early 2000's..VC has and maintains a great basketball program.

Football on the other hand has been a different story over that time...VC has had IMO...3 really good groups of talented kids. The 2004, 2005 and 2007 graduates all had some success on the field. The 04 grads really got things turned around from a 1-9 to 6-4 in back to back seasons...and then the 04-05 team really had some great talent and went 8-2 and finished 6th in the region. (Only losing to NY by 6 if my memory is correct, and a great Jackson team by 3 scores) The 07 team was very skilled but lacked a good line imo. They went 5-5 and 4-6 in their last two seasons. The Vikings have had talent in the 2000's...its just been strung out. Same cannot be said for the 90's though 96...although they may have only beaten NY a couple times, they did manage to win 5 or the 10 TVC Championships in that decade...same as NY i believe. The 96 team also knocked off Jackson which i think was the Ironmans only loss that year...thats pretty impressive. Hopfully VC can get back to their old ways and a 5-5 season can be looked at as a dissapointing year...not a huge improvement...but for now we will take anything.

I like your statement of VC being a DIII school but the county is like DVI...Thats is very true.

[jervin]

SCHOOL..................MALE.....FEMALE

Alexander.................206...........196
Athens.....................363...........322
Belpre.....................140...........118
Meigs......................223...........228
Nelsonville-York...........161...........139
Vinton County.............296...........263
Wellston...................181...........187

QUESTIONS???

If athens is winning becasue of the size of the school, then shouldn't VC finish second every year, then we can have Wellston, Belpre Meigs and NY battle it out for 3RD 4TH 5TH AND 6TH. I agree the size of the school does play a part, but the talent has to be there. The kids have to be willing to work, and they just have to be good at what they do. If parents and coaches start complaining that we cant beat Athens becasue they are bigger, then how will this relate to the players?

[blubomber89]

@gahs4ever, If there are 363 boys at Athens how many of them do you think play football? Let's take into account that there were probably 40 boys on the Varsity team Including J.V. that came up. That leaves 323 boys that don't play Football. And out of those 40, 10 are first time football players.

[Orange and Brown]

IMO, the TVC benefits more from Athens being in the league than Athens benefits from the TVC. But I say this more because of football than any other sport.

In every sport BUT football, every team is automatically in the tournament leading to a state championship. But in football, you need to impress the Harbin computer enough to score the top eight points in your region just to MAKE the playoffs. You can play down a division or two and not get hurt in the computer IF your smaller schools have outstanding records to give you second tier points. The smaller schools are rewarded to "playing" up automatically.

But in the case of Athens last fall, their 9-1 only got them a 12th place in DII Reg 7 four places OUT of the playoffs!

They didnt play a single DII team. They played two DIII's, four DIVs, three DV's, and a DVI. Only three of the schools they played had a winning record, and one of them was DVI Wahama; a WVa school. They had no control over the TVC Ohio games they had to play, but they DID have full control over the non conference schedule, and they scheduled very badly for a DII program with playoff aspirations.

Of course there wasnt a single DII reg 7 school in the top 8 that Athens could have beaten, so perhaps it was good to leave it at 9-1 and end on a win. Im not sure if they had beaten N-Y it would have been enough to get them in anyway.

Im not bashing on Athens. Perhaps they are happy with a league championship and 9-1 season. But if they ever want a sniff of what it's like playing in week 11, they are either going to have to adjust their league affiliation, or beef up their five non conference games. Bloom Carroll, Wahama, and a couple of TVC Hocking teams arent going to get it done. Granted in most years a win over GAHS would help, but when was the last time GAHS had a decent team that Athens beat them in football either?

8/27/2010
7:30 PM GALLIA ACADEMY
9/3/2010
7:30 PM @ DAWSON-BRYANT
9/10/2010
7:30 PM WARREN
9/17/2010
7:30 PM @ CHILLICOTHE
9/24/2010
7:30 PM Parkersburg South HS
10/1/2010
7:30 PM @ MEIGS
10/8/2010
7:30 PM VINTON COUNTY
10/15/2010
7:30 PM @ ALEXANDER
10/22/2010
7:30 PM WELLSTON
10/29/2010
7:30 PM @ NELSONVILLE-YORK

This years schedule is much better than last years. we will see if they are able to duplicate last years record.

As far as playoff aspirations go, If you spend any time listening to the COACHES in the program you would find out that right now there focus is on winning and getting kids interested in playing football again. That is happening faster than anticipated so Athens is starting to improve there schedule. It is one thing to want to make the playoffs, but it is another thing to make the playoffs when no one wants to play football.

The schedule is better, but it's still pretty d@mn weak for a team that plays in division 2 region 7. It will not prepare them for the likes of Logan, Louisville, New Albany, Big Walnut, Marion Franklin, Brookhaven, etc. Once again though I would love to see Athens go 9-1 or 8-2 to sneak into the playoffs. Go Athens!!!!!!!!!

I know that the schedule is still week, but the coaching staff is just now starting to THINK about the playoffs! They won't be as good this years as they were last year so this schedule will be just fine for a couple of years. As the numbers come up and the work ethic and dedication from the kids get better than the schedule will.

[dazed&confused]

It's not always numbers that count. I recall talking to some folks from Athens a few years ago and they said the Athens community doesn't push/expect great things from some of their athletic teams like Logan does. They have other priorities and other activities. Probably something to that. Some communities stack their chips differently. Schools like Logan and Ironton would not tolerate below-average football on a continuing basis.

[Daniel Larusso]

8/27/2010
7:30 PM GALLIA ACADEMY
9/3/2010
7:30 PM @ DAWSON-BRYANT
9/10/2010
7:30 PM WARREN
9/17/2010
7:30 PM @ CHILLICOTHE
9/24/2010
7:30 PM Parkersburg South HS
10/1/2010
7:30 PM @ MEIGS
10/8/2010
7:30 PM VINTON COUNTY
10/15/2010
7:30 PM @ ALEXANDER
10/22/2010
7:30 PM WELLSTON
10/29/2010
7:30 PM @ NELSONVILLE-YORK

This years schedule is much better than last years. we will see if they are able to duplicate last years record.

As far as playoff aspirations go, If you spend any time listening to the COACHES in the program you would find out that right now there focus is on winning and getting kids interested in playing football again. That is happening faster than anticipated so Athens is starting to improve there schedule. It is one thing to want to make the playoffs, but it is another thing to make the playoffs when no one wants to play football.[/quote]


The schedule is better, but it's still pretty d@mn weak for a team that plays in division 2 region 7. It will not prepare them for the likes of Logan, Louisville, New Albany, Big Walnut, Marion Franklin, Brookhaven, etc. Once again though I would love to see Athens go 9-1 or 8-2 to sneak into the playoffs. Go Athens!!!!!!!!! [/quote]

I know that the schedule is still week, but the coaching staff is just now starting to THINK about the playoffs! They won't be as good this years as they were last year so this schedule will be just fine for a couple of years. As the numbers come up and the work ethic and dedication from the kids get better than the schedule will.[/quote]


The coaches might not be thinking playoffs, but there is a chance Athens might find themselves in them.

[Daniel Larusso]

@gahs4ever, If there are 363 boys at Athens how many of them do you think play football? Let's take into account that there were probably 40 boys on the Varsity team Including J.V. that came up. That leaves 323 boys that don't play Football. And out of those 40, 10 are first time football players.

363 boys is more than any school in southeastern Ohio not named Logan or Marietta. Give me a break blubomber89. Athens has no advantage at all. What is your excuse for the 10 other TVC titles Athens won besides football this season. It must have been that strong senior class that willed Athens to 11 out of 12 TVC titles.

[drunkone]

WOW! One of Athens own is calling the schedule "week"? I guess they see athletics at Athens for what they really are.........Sad.

[mister b]

363 boys and 322 girls makes for a deeper pool to draw talent from.

An enrollment of this size leads to a larger employment base to offer jobs for prospective coaches/teachers.

Add to that, this is a city school that for the most part is competing against schools that are mostly rural or from much smaller towns.

Finally, success breeds success. Kids want to play in winning programs. Athens struggled to win in the SEOAL. The overall road to winning will be easier for them in the TVC.

This is why the TVC needs to consider adding some larger schools and go to 3 divisions.

I agree, the TVC does benefit from having Athens in the conference even if they may dominate yearly.

[Auburntgrfan]

Big fish in a little pond. MisterB makes a valid point. Numbers, numbers, numbers. And to think some were afraid of Warren coming back to the TVC as being a sleeping giant. Its better to go 8-2, 9-1 and complain about not making playoffs, than go 2-8,1-9 in the SEOAL. As far as scheduling goes, the kids have not a single thing in that, they can only play the schedule in front of them, schedules are made years in advance, when the schedule was made very possible those team were having a great seasons and are down now, not the kids fault, we should all be happy for the season they had. I know at Warren it has been a loooooong dry spell, so 7-3 made the faithful happy regardless or who was on the schedule.

[Orange and Brown]

People are going to argue about this forever!!! WHO CARES! Can't we all just be happy that the kids in Athens are playing and doing well in sports! Athens does a great job of giving NY points, so it's a win win here!

[Orange and Brown]

Athens is bigger than all the schools in the TVC. The TVC member schools decided they wanted Athens in the league! Athens was invited, they didn't go knocking on doors..Athens Played NY, Alexander, and Meigs almost every year prior to joining the TVC. Meigs or Alex never complained when Athens did beat them, and they NEVER complained when they were beating Athens! Nelsonville-York has beating Athens on a regular basis for 30 years...Size does matter, bigger schools have an advantage a lot of the time! Smaller schools can beat bigger schools it happens all the time.
Saying that Athens is a city school district while true is a bit misleading. There are 2 elementary schools in the city of Athens, 1 in the plains, 1 in Chauncy, 1 on the outskirts of Athens. The Middle school is in the City of Athens, The High school is in the Plains.
Athens will either raise the bar for competition in the TVC or they will just grow stagnant and blend in. The only people complaining are the ones who either didn't want Athens in the TVC or are still crying they left the soon to be defunct SEOAL!

Athens is forcing the coaches and A.D.'s in the other TVC Ohio schools to make there respective programs better..If those coaches are spending there time complaining that Athens is to big, then they need to think about why they do what they do.