Byrd Makes it two in a row

[Dirtydawg]

Well Byrd lost a heartbreaker. I would have liked 'em to have another shot at ECA.

Watched WM/Slidell. Slidell was 12-0 :lol: . Pretty pitiful for a 12-0 team though. They wouldn't have showed with the schedules played by N.La. 5A teams. Who the heck to those folks play down there? Do they have 5A football in South Louisiana?

No, we don't. That's why I knew Byrd would have no trouble with Catholic. We do, however, have college football. Do they have that in North Louisiana?

Seriously, though. Most of our best teams are in the smaller divisions. I think that's due to the larger number of private schools, and really, just regular schools. Our talent pool at each school is watered down to a larger degree than it is up there. Plus, as I've said before, down here there is not as much support for high school sports as there is for college. Most high school alums down here may go back for one or two games a year, and I doubt that there are many people who will go see a neutral game like the WM/Evangel game drew last year. I've been to 2, maybe 3, Redemptorist games since I graduated nearly 20 years ago and one of those was only because I went to see Shelton Sampson and John Black, and then it was only because I had a friend from Benton down here that wanted to go otherwise I would not have gone. I also have only been to one neutral game and that was to see Catholic and Carencro and once again that was because of my friend from Benton.

[PawDawg]

My thoughts............

The common factors in programs that continue to win year in and year out. #1 Athletes want to attend there and be part of the winning (ex: ECA, WM, John Curtis) #2 Weight training. The conditioning has never been more obvious than it was in the WM/Slidell game. It looked like men against boys.

I can't say for down there, but I see Byrd, Airline, and Ouachita moving up. Ruston better do something, they are headed down but could still win most S.La. 5A districts.

[dawg80]

I haven't followed high school football close enough to make any true contribution to this discussion, BUT! that's never stopped me before!

I think perhaps it's a case of a few strong programs in N. LA., rather than an overall swing in power from south to north. I don't agree that Ruston could simply win any 5A district in south La. any year they felt like it.

In years/decades past, N. LA has had its share of powerhouses that dominated the north and won their share of state titles too. Heard some older gentlemen at the game Friday night discussing that very thing. One mentioned the Capt Shreve teams under Coach Lee Hedges, for whom the stadium is named, as one example. Ruston and Neville were powerhouses in the early to mid '80's, but Ruston has dropped off and Neville dropped OUT of 5A! Now, it's Evangel and West Monroe. But who else is consistently winning statewide from the north?

I have followed high school football in Louisiana all my life. My dad was an all-state RB at Holy Cross and I grew up going to HC games at Tad Gormley Stadium. The battles for #1 were always between Holy Cross, Cor Jesu, St. Aloysius, and Catholic (BR). One year Bogulusa entered the fray with a powerful team.

St. Augustine was THE powerhouse in the early to mid 70's. Then Shaw emerged after that.

The toughest district has been, and remains, the Catholic League, of which Rummel, Shaw, St. Aug, Bro. Martin, Holy Cross, Jesuit, and De La Salle compose. It's a grueling schedule to have to play year after year. I think it has lost some of its luster, mostly because the New Orleans inner-city schools are now located in less than desirable neighborhoods, which keeps enrollments down and limits what they can do. Rummel and Shaw are located outside of the city and that is why those two continue to maintain a high level.

If Evangel continues to recruit and emphasize football like they do, they will not fade away anytime soon. WM, if it plays by the same rules as other public schools, will have its up and down years. It is inevitable.

I was very impressed with Byrd. But, how many seniors did they have and can they maintain that level of play again next year?

Natchitoches Central, the only 5A school in all of central Louisiana, has its up and down years, as they are dependent on the pool of kids that happen to come to that school in a given period of years. They are usually competitive and make the playoffs. But, they have decent years and better years, nothing consistent.

I asked an old friend, who is admissions director for Rummel, Friday night if Rummel recruits athletes. He was appalled I even asked that question. Rummel is expensive, costing more than most of Louisiana's public colleges in tuition. Not everyone can attend Rummel. Academics, you have to pass an entrance exam, and the family's ability to pay, or the criteria. The few partial scholarships available, through private endowments, go to those who score highest on the entrance exam, but whose family made need some assistance. If Rummel ever truly recruited athletes, watch out! We do fine now, just playing with what we got.

But, with what WM did, with the holdbacks, and what Evangel is doing, by recruiting is probably changing the face of high school sports. Much like college sports went from something kids did for fun into a billion dollar industry! I can see high schools following suit, using athletics to help fund the school. If that happens, then schools like Rummel will be best suited to play that game.

[Dirtydawg]

The toughest district has been, and remains, the Catholic League...I think it has lost some of its luster, mostly because the New Orleans inner-city schools are now located in less than desirable neighborhoods, which keeps enrollments down and limits what they can do...

That's the case with many inner-city Catholic schools especially in Baton Rouge. I can see that Catholic might have that problem in another 10-20 years. Redemptorist, even though not 5a is in a terrible part of town with occasional shootings in the neighborhood in which it's located. I think most of the alums from Redemptorist will start sending their kids to Bishop Sullivan, and in fact know some that do, and if Redemptorist does stay open 10 to 20 years from now, it will most likely be more of an inner-city private school for the neighborhood kids which is what it originally started as many, many years ago.

[farright30]

Its tougher to win in South Louisiana, because public schools do not go as far as recruiting players/giving parents jobs for the simple fact that its just not taken as serious down here. We have other things to be concerned with rather than worship a bunch of 14-18 year olds playing football.

[PawDawg]

Its tougher to win in South Louisiana, because public schools do not go as far as recruiting players/giving parents jobs for the simple fact that its just not taken as serious down here. We have other things to be concerned with rather than worship a bunch of 14-18 year olds playing football.

You too funny boy! :lol: I don't know what the public schools do down there. Obviously nothing. Tell 'em to get a weight program!
The private schools down there were recruiting when recruiting wasn't cool. Funny thing is that it was no holds barred until North Louisiana started dominating. Suddenly we have a problem with hold backs and recruiting.

[Dirtydawg]

[quote:54fd590a17="farright30"]Its tougher to win in South Louisiana, because public schools do not go as far as recruiting players/giving parents jobs for the simple fact that its just not taken as serious down here. We have other things to be concerned with rather than worship a bunch of 14-18 year olds playing football.

You too funny boy! :lol: I don't know what the public schools do down there. Obviously nothing. Tell 'em to get a weight program!
The private schools down there were recruiting when recruiting wasn't cool. Funny thing is that it was no holds barred until North Louisiana started dominating. Suddenly we have a problem with hold backs and recruiting.[/quote:54fd590a17]

Actually, the public schools recruited years ago when the chemical industries started up. Remember the years when Istrouma was so good?

[PawDawg]

Is Istouma public? I can't keep up with all those cajun sounding names down there :lol: . It's hard to tell who's Catholic and who ain't. We have normal names up here like Block, Vidalia, Neville, Mangham, Springhill. Now those sound like football team schools, not prissy uniform schools. :thumbsdo:

[farright30]

With private schools, especially Curtis, Catholic League, etc., I agree. If you look at Curtis' roster from years past, most were from Florida. I'm just speaking of public schools here. You can not honestly tell me that West Monroe plays with the same rules as other public schools, especially in south LA. Its not my place to care honestly, but if they want to win that badly I guess that is their own decision. I'm just stating that we aren't comparing apples with apples here.

[PawDawg]

What rules do you think they have broken? Holdbacks? They changed that one on them, but they still win. BTW, a majority of WM seniors are 17 or just turned 18. Been that way for years. How about recruiting? Name a player that WM has recruited away from another school. I can name several that have transferred, but would you deny a student his/her right to change schools? The LHSAA thought they should be the high athority on what schools kids attend soooooooo they changed that rule too, but WM is still winning. I look for a rule change concerning weight training anytime now.

The LHSAA is now sick of ECA winning so it looks like they will rain on their parade too. It's funny to me that nobody cared what anybody did for years and years. Now all of a sudden, they want to play fair. N.La. has dominated 5A football for 20 years now. They will continue. The LHSAA will do their best to change that.

[Dirtydawg]

...Name a player that WM has recruited away from another school. I can name several that have transferred, but would you deny a student his/her right to change schools? The LHSAA thought they should be the high athority on what schools kids attend soooooooo they changed that rule too, but WM is still winning...

Come on now maddawg. You know as well as I do that there are many parents who will move to the correct neighborhoods if it means their kid will have the opportunity to play for the best program which will get them noticed and afford them the best opportunity to get a scholarship especially if the coach of that program "innocently" mentions that he would love to have that kid playing for him.

[PawDawg]

...........and your point is?

Hey it's a free country. If I want my son/daughter to go to another school, I have the right buy a house (or rent one) in that district and send him/her to school there. I also have a right to send him/her to a private school 60 miles away or even in another state.

What is NOT fair is for the LHSAA to suddenly decide that the rules that were fair for South Louisiana for so long are no longer fair because North Louisiana schools now dominate 5A football.

[Dirtydawg]

My point is that you were giving the impression that West Monroe doesn't recruit, whereas my point is that there are more ways to recruit than offering jobs. Whether it's right or wrong for a kid to transfer for athletic reasons only isn't for me to determine. I do think it's awfully irresponsible, though. To me, it's much like cheating.

As far as the LHSAA trying to change things only because it's the North La schools winning now, that's laughable and ludicrous. I've been friends with the second in command at LHSAA since before memory having grown up with his kids, and I can tell you without a doubt that he doesn't work that way. If, in fact, the LHSAA is starting to try to regulate these things more than they did years before, I can bet you it's because the coaches down here are complaining whereas the coaches years ago from North La weren't. You know what they say about the squeaky wheel. It has nothing to do with the LHSAA being against the schools of the north. Besides, you know as well as I do the schools up there have been trying to recruit for as long as the schools down here have. When that didn't work because of the lack of proper spoken English in rural North La, you folks decided to start holding back your kids to level the playing field. After all, by the time they were 25 they were ready for complete sentences.

[PawDawg]

Here are the facts............

Up until recently (within the last five years):

Holdbacks were not considered a problem. It was fine for certain teams to have a roster full of 18 or 19 year olds, but when winning programs started using this to their advantage the LHSAA cried foul. Again, why should some third party (the LHSAA) decide if my personal decision to hold back my son/daughter is right or wrong? They punish the child by not letting them compete in sports while not considering whether it was REALLY in the best interest of the child to be held back.

There was no consideration given to student transfers. All of a sudden some of the teams that were losing good athletes go all nuts over losing some of their players. Oh, it was just fine until certain ones were the ones losing the players. It was also just fine until certain schools started winning consistantly with some of those transfers.

Lastly, it looks like the LHSAA will now try to prevent a team from playing up in class. This has ALWAYS been allowed before. This change is directed at one school only (ECA).

Funny thing is that winners will always find a way to win. They can change the rules all they want, but you can't stop good coaching or good conditioning by changing the rules.

[dawg80]

Well, I can state emphatically that Rummel does NOT recruit athletes. Never has, and I hope, never will. But, as I posted previously, high school sports are changing and maybe Rummel will have to start recruiting athletes to be able to compete. If it becomes a money-maker, then they probably will do it.

Anyone who saw the Rummel-Byrd game would laugh at the notion that Rummel is recruiting. Byrd was bigger, faster, just better athletes, overall. Rummel has always played with the kids who could make it into the school from an academic and financial point.

That's why we were called the Super Ants! We had one guy over 200 lbs on our entire defense, and he was a whopping 215 lbs!

I like what Rummel does. Our grads go to college! it is an academic school. Our sports' teams over-achieve through dedication and great coaching.

Rummel is overmatched against Evangel. But our kids will play hard and do the best they can. Then win or lose, they will go home and hit the books!

Raider Pride!