Valley-Portsmouth sign contact for 2012-2013

[Indian till death]

I believe the reason Portsmouth isn't getting admitted back into the SOC is because of Coach Clifford. From what I was told, he and possibly the AD at PHS wanted into the SEOAL because of the possibility to play bigger schools, gain bigger gates, and ultimately make more money. Why should they be let back in now after wanting out so bad? Also, a factor that I heard contributing to their not let back in is that they ran the scores up on SOC schools (back when they were able to)...

Just to reiterate, this is all hearsay.

[TrojanXplosion]

They never ran scores up. They were just that much better in the early 2000's. The most points I even recall them scoring was 66. And that was against Chillicothe in 2000. Lets face it, even when their second string was in, they were probably still better than some other teams starters. JMO.

[eccedomusscientiae]

No way the SEOAL provides bigger gates. Jackson and Gallia are good gates most times, but the rest of the SEOAL are poor, including Chillicothe

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

I believe the reason Portsmouth isn't getting admitted back into the SOC is because of Coach Clifford. From what I was told, he and possibly the AD at PHS wanted into the SEOAL because of the possibility to play bigger schools, gain bigger gates, and ultimately make more money. Why should they be let back in now after wanting out so bad? Also, a factor that I heard contributing to their not let back in is that they ran the scores up on SOC schools (back when they were able to)...

Just to reiterate, this is all hearsay.

What are you talking about? Portsmouth was never in the SOC, so how could we be let back in? Clifford may hurt our chances as he as rubbed some people the wrong way over the years, but it has nothing to do with the SEOAL. We joined the SEOAL because we were repeatedly turned down by the SOC, and wanted to give our athletes a chance to play for something other than the post season. Why shouldn't our kids have a chance at league titles, and league honors? The SEOAL is great except for the travel, sure we haven't had much success because we were in a down cycle when it came along, but we will be back and compete in it if the SOC doesn't invite us( which I'm sure won't happen).
PHS never ran up the score on anybody, even though they very easily could have in the early 2000s. Beat Burg 45 to 0 in 2000, in a game that could have been much worse. Defeated Minford 28-7 in 2000 and although Minford fans will disagree with me, Portsmouth could have made it much worse as well. In that game PHS ran nothing but double tight power I, can't tell me if we opened up in our 1 and 2 back sets that Parker and Hamrick wouldn't have put up 40 on them. If anything it's the SOC that runs it up on PHS if they can, see Burg 2009. That game was over and their best player was still out returning kicks late in the 3rd quarter. Our job is to stop them and we didn't but don't talk about PHS running it up on the SOC. We have been nothing but a class act.

What it comes down to is that most of SOC 2 has no problem playing Portsmouth; because it brings in a huge gate, but nobody want to let us compete for a title. That’s cowardly, period.

[trojandave]

Trojan FB Alum: Good post.......and I want to add that it is cowardly to have a silent vote as to whether to admit PHS to the SOC.

[fbnut]

I believe the reason Portsmouth isn't getting admitted back into the SOC is because of Coach Clifford. From what I was told, he and possibly the AD at PHS wanted into the SEOAL because of the possibility to play bigger schools, gain bigger gates, and ultimately make more money. Why should they be let back in now after wanting out so bad? Also, a factor that I heard contributing to their not let back in is that they ran the scores up on SOC schools (back when they were able to)...

Just to reiterate, this is all hearsay.

What are you talking about? Portsmouth was never in the SOC, so how could we be let back in? Clifford may hurt our chances as he as rubbed some people the wrong way over the years, but it has nothing to do with the SEOAL. We joined the SEOAL because we were repeatedly turned down by the SOC, and wanted to give our athletes a chance to play for something other than the post season. Why shouldn't our kids have a chance at league titles, and league honors? The SEOAL is great except for the travel, sure we haven't had much success because we were in a down cycle when it came along, but we will be back and compete in it if the SOC doesn't invite us( which I'm sure won't happen).
PHS never ran up the score on anybody, even though they very easily could have in the early 2000s. Beat Burg 45 to 0 in 2000, in a game that could have been much worse. Defeated Minford 28-7 in 2000 and although Minford fans will disagree with me, Portsmouth could have made it much worse as well. In that game PHS ran nothing but double tight power I, can't tell me if we opened up in our 1 and 2 back sets that Parker and Hamrick wouldn't have put up 40 on them. If anything it's the SOC that runs it up on PHS if they can, see Burg 2009. That game was over and their best player was still out returning kicks late in the 3rd quarter. Our job is to stop them and we didn't but don't talk about PHS running it up on the SOC. We have been nothing but a class act.

What it comes down to is that most of SOC 2 has no problem playing Portsmouth; because it brings in a huge gate, but nobody want to let us compete for a title. That’s cowardly, period.

the 09 game your referring to I believe the burg was expecting an onside kick on that kickoff late in the 3rd and they actually had their hands team on the feild, not sure if they have a 2nd team hands team.

[Crab's Brother]

I still think Portsmouth isn't getting into the SOC because in years past (I'm talking 20+ years ago) they wanted nothing to do with the league. I have heard this from multiple sources close to the situation and I still think that is with some of the people making these decisions. Maybe there is no truth to this, but I believe there is.

Now, I would like to see Portsmouth in the league, but I feel that it is the smaller schools that are keeping the Trojans out. I know that people think that West, Waverly, Burg, Minford, and Valley make up the SOC, but there are more schools in the smaller division that more than balance out these votes. Everyone's answer is drop Northwest to SOC for football and go from there. From a competition standpoint this make sense, but what if say Minford or Valley falls off the map and Northwest begins to dominate the SOC I? Do you redo the divisions again? Who's to say Northwest can give up the gates that Valley, Burg, West, and Minford bring and replace those with Green, East, Notre Dame? So, the logical thing to do is go on enrollment....right now that would be Burg dropping to the SOC I. We all know that is not going to happen.

Look at basketball....Say you add Portsmouth....That leaves SOC II with 9 teams and then there is always a league team on Friday night without a league game and dates like that are hard to fill. So, maybe Webster goes to SOC I and keeps SOC II with 8 teams, now SOC I has 9 teams. Webster would not be happy here.

I honestly think that the only way Ptown gets in is if they bring a small football playing school with them. The only choice here is of course Manchester. There is a lot of other things here to bring up, but I don't have the time right now. I just don't see P-Town in the SOC in the next 3-5 years.

[vladimir]

I believe the reason Portsmouth isn't getting admitted back into the SOC is because of Coach Clifford. From what I was told, he and possibly the AD at PHS wanted into the SEOAL because of the possibility to play bigger schools, gain bigger gates, and ultimately make more money. Why should they be let back in now after wanting out so bad? Also, a factor that I heard contributing to their not let back in is that they ran the scores up on SOC schools (back when they were able to)...

Just to reiterate, this is all hearsay.

Beat Burg 45 to 0 in 2000, in a game that could have been much worse. Defeated Minford 28-7 in 2000 and although Minford fans will disagree with me, Portsmouth could have made it much worse as well. In that game PHS ran nothing but double tight power I, can't tell me if we opened up in our 1 and 2 back sets that Parker and Hamrick wouldn't have put up 40 on them. :

Ha ha lol, that is wrong. PHS threw 4 first half INTs, so they tried to open it up and got picked off. PHS came out the 2nd half and ran the ball between the tackles to burn the clock.

[FarAwayFalcon]

If Portsmouth gets another SOC II team on the schedule they'd almost have to let them in. If not Portsmouth could go undefeated non-conference and have more SOC wins than the SOC Champs some years.

[wipala]

On the subject of PHS getting into the SOC or not..here are two cents from an very old Trojan who remembers the late 50's and 60's very well..PHS at that time was just too good for any local team..i.e. beat West two years in a row 44 or 45 to 0 and West was a very good team...That is when Portsmouth had several elementary schools a couple of junior high and a JV team that played nothing but JV..the high schoo system was pretty much ran at the lower levels and when the players got to HS they new the system and there were a LOT of guys going out for sports..they even had to cut players to meet the numbers they were alloted....NOW having said that---fast forward to 2011,,,,how many elementary schools and junior highs does PHS have feeding them? What system to all the pee wee teams run? how many young men and women just do not want to play organized sports? Times change,,who in their right mind thought they would see Nebraska in the Big 10?! I guess what I am saying is that the SOC and PHS would indeed be a good fit for all concerned..What has to happen that the schools that want PHS in must get after the ones that will not support and most likely not even play the Trojans and put them in this league...The 50's, 60's, 70's, 80' and 90's are long gone...Sorry about the long post but this is a subject that would be great for the area....it would be a win win for all!!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

I believe the reason Portsmouth isn't getting admitted back into the SOC is because of Coach Clifford. From what I was told, he and possibly the AD at PHS wanted into the SEOAL because of the possibility to play bigger schools, gain bigger gates, and ultimately make more money. Why should they be let back in now after wanting out so bad? Also, a factor that I heard contributing to their not let back in is that they ran the scores up on SOC schools (back when they were able to)...

Just to reiterate, this is all hearsay.

Beat Burg 45 to 0 in 2000, in a game that could have been much worse. Defeated Minford 28-7 in 2000 and although Minford fans will disagree with me, Portsmouth could have made it much worse as well. In that game PHS ran nothing but double tight power I, can't tell me if we opened up in our 1 and 2 back sets that Parker and Hamrick wouldn't have put up 40 on them. :

Ha ha lol, that is wrong. PHS threw 4 first half INTs, so they tried to open it up and got picked off. PHS came out the 2nd half and ran the ball between the tackles to burn the clock.

Ok, like I said I honestly don’t remember 4 ints but it’s possible, our passing game was less than impressive that year. I however am not wrong I know that we did not run our normal offense, and instead ran double tight power I, instead of the pro and ace sets we ran most of the year.
This isn’t what this thread is about though, maybe I didn’t pick a good example here ( although I think I did) just trying to show that PHS doesn’t run the score up on the SOC.

the 09 game your referring to I believe the burg was expecting an onside kick on that kickoff late in the 3rd and they actually had their hands team on the feild, not sure if they have a 2nd team hands team.

Burg may have thought we were going to attempt an onside kick, and they may not have a 2nd team hands team that seems odd if they don’t isn’t there a JV team? Anyway if that is true, you can’t tell me they couldn’t have grabbed some younger guys off the side line and stuck them out there real quick in that situation instead of who they had. I think it was in poor taste, just my opinion though. Even more than that it was an unneeded risk leaving your best player out there in what is a possible dangerous position.

Back to what this is really about, PHS and the SOC. I agree that in the 70s and 80s PHS had no interest in the SOC schools, and that rubbed several people the wrong way. Think about it really though, why would PHS at that time have had any interest in the SOC, PHS was a much larger school then and would have been far to be to play those schools. Even though PHS struggled some times in the 70s and 80s much of it was do to playing the Upper Arlington’s and such of the world. With the exception of a few strong years from West, PHS would have ran away with games at that time against all of the SOC excluding Burg and truthfully Notre Dame at that time. Then the primarily sport at PHS at that time basketball, PHS would have only hurt itself playing in the SOC, because we wouldn’t have played enough quality opponents. Sorry if that sounds bad, not trying to upset anyone; PHS was just still too big at that time for the county schools. Sure there would have been times when PHS was down and they were up, but over all PHS was too big for most to compete with. PHS was in the same boat with the SEOAL, with Zanesville, Logan, and Marietta. In 07 PHS had a decent football team beating Burg, and West but still got destroyed by Logan and Zanesville. Size makes a difference, but the size between PHS and the SOC now has narrowed so much that it is no longer a problem like it was in the 70s and 80s.

If Portsmouth gets another SOC II team on the schedule they'd almost have to let them in. If not Portsmouth could go undefeated non-conference and have more SOC wins than the SOC Champs some years.

Done that before,
O7 undefeated against SOC victories over Burg, and West
02 undefeated against SOC regular season (West won playoff game) victories over West, Burg, Minford, and Waverly (was 1st round playoff), only SOC2 team not on the schedule was Northwest, as Valley was still SOC1 at that time I believe.
01 Undefeated against SOC victories over West, Burg, Minford, and Waverly
00 Undefeated against SOC victories over Burg Minford and Waverly
99 Undefeated against SOC victories over Burg, and Waverly

[LetsGoPSU]

the SOC is a not a football only issue. When Portsmouth puts together its basketball program, the SOC may not be a great fit.
Speaking of the 80,s, in my era of the early 80,s, we played West, Wheelersburg, Minford and Waverly, although Waverly was not in the SOC at that time.

[live4sport]

I for one, am all for bringing Portsmouth into the SOC but........Before calling people, communities, teams, etc. cowards on here I would hope as Portsmouth people you keep in mind that this isn't an vote that's open to everyone. Also, you should keep in mind ALL SOC schools get a vote-----that's SOCI and II----and not all of them have football. Therefore, I can tell you first hand, some don't want their league alignments messed with and they don't all like the idea of bringing in another smaller school for balance. MANY people I have spoken with from Northwest take it as insult they could be pushed into the other division if Portsmouth comes in. Portsmouth, I believe, probably has the support from the more competitive SOCII football schools. But from what I hear, that is it. So I wouldn't get on here and whine about grudges and past beat downs being the cause for rejection because everyone looks out for their own school's best interest---- it's not just to pay back "big bad" Portsmouth in some little way. The grudge schools being mentioned are the only ones voting you in. That's the old arrogance (that is still fully alive in Portsmouth---I live and work here) coming out. It would be a win-win for just about everyone but mainly for Portsmouth. There is A LOT of work involved to make it happen but it can be done. You have to get the smaller schools on board because they face changes from this as well and get no "gate" from it. The other schools are also already established in the conference and will get as much on a business end from a non-conference gate playing Portsmouth as a conference gate. As far as points for playoffs---SOC's been making it fine. I would like to see Portsmouth in the SOC but you will have to find a way to make it appeal to both divisions of the league and not end up insulting one community or another. Remember, the SOC is a strong league either way-- being humble with a sense of humility would better your chances if you want in. just my useless opinion.

[oneoak]

Good post live4sport. All I know about Portsmouth's past attempts to join the SOC are what I read on here. I don't think any of these perceived missteps by Portsmouth in past, true or not, should have a bearing on their interest in joining today. However, as live4sport pointed out, this isn't just a matter of PHS being added and things continuing as they are. As an Oak Hill fan, PHS joining wouldn't directly affect us in football. However, I think eight teams in the league is enough for the other sports. Would another school have to move to the SOC I? Who would it be?

[NYBuckeye96]

If Portsmouth wants in the SOC, maybe they should throw some games. Loose to the SOC teams for a few years. This will get them to let their guard down and vote you in!

[Westfan]

Not real familiar with the 50's to early 80's, but if some of these posts are accurate they make it sound as if Portsmouth made their bed in the past. Sometimes when that happens you have to lay in it.

One thing that is kinda irritating to me every time this comes up is posters making it sound like Portsmouth is owed the opportunity to be in. Before you were to big (or good) to play in our little league. Now, since you've reduced in size and frankly aren't very good in football compared to the school that you once were, you result to calling the local schools chicken for not voting you in. And really why are they chicken? We heard since middle school how good the seniors of last year were for Portsmouth. They would have finished no better than 5th if the were in the SOC II last year.

The problem with this is the SOC I. It wouldn't be fair to them for Northwest to be in that league. They are too big.

[wipala]

siderman,,,what you say is a very good point...however,,one must remember--PHS, the school, is not calling out anyone or any school, it is us, the posters that are doing the smack..I agree with the statement that PHS made their bed and must lie in it...but remember times and things change..the youth that is in the schools today do not have anything thing to do with the past,,,shoot most of the young men and womens parents did not even go to the schools in question...Yes there was a day when I went to school,,a long long long time ago we lorder over the county schools..was this right-NO, but that is the way it was. I would be a good fit if PHS and maybe say an Ironton came in the same time and the SOC logisitics would not be hard to figure out...PHS would have more to gain by not having all the long trips, ie. Logan and Marritta (spl) and the SOC would gain a good member and name recoginiton school to its league...Now we all know that PHS is NOT going to get voted into the SOC but it sure is fun to talk about...would you not agree? The West and PHS games have turned into a really good and interesting game and I do believe both schools really look forward to it...Keep up the posts since I live in AZ this is a wonderful way to stay in touch with the ole hometown and area.....wipalawalt

[Crab's Brother]

I have a pretty good feeling that if Ironton and Portsmouth tried to join together, that Valley and maybe Minford would vote it down. The reason I say that is becuase chances are, based on enrollment, they could be one of the schools that would have to drop to the smaller division.

[Bleeding Red]

Well Ironton and Portsmouth are not going to both be in the SOC. Ever.

[Westfan]

Portsmouth has alot of potential, and they will be back.

Will not be long until Ironton starts a steep decline. Their numbers are falling. Just look at what happened a few years ago when Lutz quit for one season. They had an excellent coach and kids still started transferring out (or catching the bus in front of the house). Bob Lutz is a legend and when he's gone, their program will implode.

I guess what I'm saying is in 10 years or less, is Ironton going to lower it's standards and start enquiring about the OVC or SOC? It's very possible.