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Sorting out the LHSAA
So tell me again what the Louisiana High School Athletic Association decided last week.
Get back!
You are telling me the association is splitting the 2013 football postseason into separate "select" and "non-select" brackets.
Holy Waterboy, Batman!
Principals voted, 206-119, to pass the controversial proposal No. 18, which will split the 2013 football postseason into separate "select" and "non-select" brackets.
"Select" schools from Classes 3A, 4A and 5A would compete in one Division I bracket, while those in 2A or 1A would form a Division II tournament.
Part of me is going YES! The other part of me is going NO!
The yes part is for Vidalia, Ferriday and Block.
Not to mention Franklin Parish head football coach Barry Sebren, who must feel as if he hit at least part of the lottery with the obstacles he has faced in Class 4A.
Sebren has actually been part of the LHSAA committee discussing private and public schools in the LHSAA since 2007.
"I'm disappointed it had to get to this point," Sebren said. "This is an issue we have been looking at for seven years."
You will have a hard time finding someone as passionate about this issue as Sebren. And he admits adjustments will have to be made, even before teams hit the playing field in August.
"It's far from perfect," Sebren said. "But we can tweak it over time and make it better. What passed the other day on the floor will still undergo changes."
Sebren led Franklin Parish to an impressive 9-3 record last year, 3-1 in rugged District 2-4A, which includes Bastrop, Neville, West Ouachita and Wossman.
The Patriots lost to Vandebilt Catholic 20-15 in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs last year, after losing to St. Thomas More in the second round in 2011. Franklin Parish defeated St. Michael in the first round in 2011. Vandebilt Catholic, St. Thomas More and St. Michael are all now "select" schools.
Franklin Parish was seeded No. 9 last year.
"We would have been the fourth seed under the new format," Sebren said. "We were playing people who can recruit players from all over. We have an agreement with our neighboring parishes that we cannot accept students from their parish, such as Richland Parish. We can consistently be in the top 10 in 4A if we stay at the level we are at right now. We still have the likes of Neville, Bastrop, Franklinton and Lutcher we have to compete So tell me again what the Louisiana High School Athletic Association decided last week.
Get back!
You are telling me the association is splitting the 2013 football postseason into separate "select" and "non-select" brackets.
Holy Waterboy, Batman!
Principals voted, 206-119, to pass the controversial proposal No. 18, which will split the 2013 football postseason into separate "select" and "non-select" brackets.
"Select" schools from Classes 3A, 4A and 5A would compete in one Division I bracket, while those in 2A or 1A would form a Division II tournament.
Part of me is going YES! The other part of me is going NO!
The yes part is for Vidalia, Ferriday and Block.
Not to mention Franklin Parish head football coach Barry Sebren, who must feel as if he hit at least part of the lottery with the obstacles he has faced in Class 4A.
Sebren has actually been part of the LHSAA committee discussing private and public schools in the LHSAA since 2007.
"I'm disappointed it had to get to this point," Sebren said. "This is an issue we have been looking at for seven years."
You will have a hard time finding someone as passionate about this issue as Sebren. And he admits adjustments will have to be made, even before teams hit the playing field in August.
"It's far from perfect," Sebren said. "But we can tweak it over time and make it better. What passed the other day on the floor will still undergo changes."
Sebren led Franklin Parish to an impressive 9-3 record last year, 3-1 in rugged District 2-4A, which includes Bastrop, Neville, West Ouachita and Wossman.
The Patriots lost to Vandebilt Catholic 20-15 in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs last year, after losing to St. Thomas More in the second round in 2011. Franklin Parish defeated St. Michael in the first round in 2011. Vandebilt Catholic, St. Thomas More and St. Michael are all now "select" schools.
Franklin Parish was seeded No. 9 last year.
"We would have been the fourth seed under the new format," Sebren said. "We were playing people who can recruit players from all over. We have an agreement with our neighboring parishes that we cannot accept students from their parish, such as Richland Parish. We can consistently be in the top 10 in 4A if we stay at the level we are at right now. We still have the likes of Neville, Bastrop, Franklinton and Lutcher we have to compete against. But now we don't have O.P. Walker, Karr, Teurlings Catholic and St. Thomas More."
Just take a look back to December to get an idea of the frustration of Sebren and other public school coaches.
In Class A, Ouachita Christian beat Plaquemine. In 2A, John Curtis defeated Evangel. In Class 3A, Parkview Baptist took the title over Notre Dame. Class 4A saw Karr beat Neville. And in Class 5A, Archbishop Rummel defeated Barbe for the title. If you are keeping score, that's five championships won by five "select' teams.
Sebren said the ruling is unfortunate for those "select" schools that do not use their advantages as some other schools.
"It puts a lot of people in in the group that don't belong in the group," he said. "There is a difference is having an advantage and utilizing that advantage."
Our local teams now have a more legitimate chance to compete and still be playing football around Thanksgiving.
My first thought was what might have been back in 2002.
Vidalia was the No. 2 seed, while Ferriday was the No. 7 seed in Class 2A.
Kind of blows the mind now doesn't it?
Anyway, Vidalia defeated Pine in the first round, 43-16, while Ferriday blanked Pope John Paul, 44-0.
Vidalia was upset by No. 15 Riverside in the second round by a 41-20 score.
Otherwise, Vidalia would have been facing Ferriday in the quarterfinals after the Trojans beat No. 10 Homer by a 14-7 score.
Riverside eliminated Ferriday 41-20 before losing to eventual state champion Port Barre 23-8 in the semifinals.
No. 1 West St. John was upset by Iota in the quarterfinals. West St. John, one of the best-ever Class 2A teams I have ever seen, eliminated Vidalia in the semifinals the next year before beating Sterlington in the championship game. There is no doubt in my mind Vidalia would have beaten Sterlington if they had been in the other bracket, but no way they would have beaten West St. John in the Superdome.
Riverside would have been classified as a "select" school back then.
Iota beat "select" school Episcopal in the other semifinals.
It's not a reach to believe Vidalia or Ferriday could have been playing Port Barre or Iota in the semifinals.
John Curtis and Evangel played for the Class 2A state title last year - yep, two "select' teams.
John Curtis beat Pope John Paul 64-0 in the first round, North Webster 50-6 in the second round, Riverside 62-10 in the quarterfinals, Springfield 55-0 in the semifinals and "select" team Evangel 35-13 in the finals.
There's no doubt in my mind John Curtis and Evangel are the main reason for the recent vote by principals.
Although in Class 2A alone last year, there were 11 "select" schools in the playoffs. That number is 12 in Class 1A.
I think the only person more shocked than me is former Vidalia High coaching legend Dee Faircloth.
Faircloth has seen his postseason end to the likes of Riverside, Notre Dame, St. Louis and Christian Life.
"They all knocked out some of my better teams," Faircloth said. "We lost a lot of playoff games to the eventual state champions. I used to tell the coaches when we played them, 'Congratulations, you will win the state championship because you are playing Vidalia.' But we won twice as many as we lost to those schools in the regular season. It's going to be interesting to see what those schools do. But it does even out the playing field for the public schools who don't have the opportunity to recruit players."
And he had the added disadvantage of losing kids to ACCS, Trinity and Cathedral.
John Curtis and Evangel have claimed a combined 38 state championships during the past four decades.
Steven Fitzhugh, head football coach at Ouachita Christian, led his team to the last two Class A state championships, beating non-select Haynesville and West St. John.
"I don't think football in Louisiana will ever be the same," Fitzhugh said.
OCS, which opens its season at home against Block, will not be facing John Curtis in the playoffs in 2013 because Curtis voted to move up to Class 3A last fall.
Fitzhugh said he expects the separation to eventually cover all sports.
"Why separate one sport from other sports," Fitzhugh said.
Fitzhugh said there are still plenty of questions to be answered, such as if a team finished ranked No. 5 in Class A and No. 5 in Class 2A in "select," who gets that spot.
"There are now 27 teams in Class A and 15 of those teams had losing records and did not make the playoffs," Fitzhugh said. "It's going to be interesting to see how that works out. But it still all comes down to hard work throughout the year. We're not going to change anything. We're a school where kids come to get an education and have a great Christian environment. We're going to work just as hard on and off the field as we have in the past."
As for my NO sentiment. I like the idea of the John Curtis' and Evangel's being in the LHSAA playoffs. But let them move up to 4A or 5A where they can compete.
Fitzhugh has the same sentiment.
"We're the only state that makes our best teams play down," he said.
I agree with Fitzhugh in that I still can't figure out how this is going to work. The "select" teams (I hate that designation) will still compete in district play, but be split up in the postseason.
Huh?
I have to admit I loved when Ferriday drew John Curtis or watching Ouachita Christian play Vidalia, even if it was the regular season. The 1981 Class 2A semifinal contest between Ferriday and John Curtis ranks at the top of high school football games I have seen in this parish.
How is the new system going to affect the power rankings? Are you going to have less teams in the "non-select" playoffs?
And will private schools start their own leagues or bolt to Mississippi?
"I don't get this notion that the association is split," Sebren said. "The association isn't split. It's just the playoffs. The regular season is still the same, and they have the opportunity to play us in the regular season and in district and things like that. But for championship purposes, it's not feasible for us to play against teams that can go out across the lines and be able to grab athletes."
I took a glance at Dandy Don's top 60 players for next season and 25 of the 80 attend a "select" school, and six of them attend John Curtis. That is not in concrete because I have to admit I'm still not 100 percent sure on which schools will be "select."
Either way, who knows what affect this change will have on the entire Louisiana high school football landscape, if any?
John Curtis, Evangel and Ouachita Christian will continue battling for titles, but is that now less an accomplishment under the new system?
And who does this now open the door for in Class 1A and 2A? Block certainly, but Mangham, Oak Grove, Haynesville have to be clicking their heels.
Right now you will no teams or a handful of teams being left at home in the non-select division if 32 teams still advance to the playoffs.
The LHSAA's Executive Committee will continue to look into potential issues moving forward, including how to determine which "select" teams made each division's bracket and whether to split the "select" schools into three divisions rather than two. Executive Director Kenny Henderson also referenced a pressing need to check with the Superdome, which typically hosts the association's state title games, as the association attempts to define a championship schedule.
Rumors of potential legislative involvement or legal action also began to circulate duing the three-day convention.
In the end I'm happy with the ruling because it will definitely benefit Franklin Parish, Vidalia, Ferriday and Block.
There will be kinks to be worked out just like anything else new.
And there will be a lot of grumbling with how the LHSAA formats everything because if it can be messed up, Louisiana's high school association will find a way to do it.
But the bottom line is that it evens the playing field for our local teams.
Thanksgiving may start becoming fun once again around here. |
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