The curmudgeon's HS football review

[curmudgeon]

I love HS football. I follow Mississippi HS football as much as college football.

After Week 1 of District Play, here are some thoughts.

1. Prep/Bassfield

Prep needs to lead the charge to breakup the MAIS. The bigger schools need to join the MHSAA much like what happened in Alabama a few years ago. Prep and JA would be large 4A, MRA would be 3A. All three of them would be competitive for state titles. Would podunk academy suffer? Yes, but the bigger schools would be competitive, as you saw last night. Dylan Favre led St. Stanislaus to a 4A state title a few years back - their only loss? A 21-20 loss to Prep.

The win over Bassfield is legit. Bassfield is not South Panola, Olive Branch, or even Madison Central, but Bassfield is as good as it gets in 3A/4A which is where Prep is. When Prep decides to make the move, others will follow. Unfortunately, race relations have as much to do with it as logistics. If you don't believe me, start talking to people.

2. 6A Thoughts

Region 1
Look out, Tupelo, the school with more potential than any other in the state to be a powerhouse is 5-0. Its a weak 5-0, but still. South Panola and Olive Branch will still dominate Region 1, but #3 and #4 are up for grabs.

Region 2
Madison Central skulldragged Clinton, and STarkville did the same to Columbus. October 25 those two play in Madison and it will be for the region title. Like Region 1, its a crap shoot for the other two spots. I like Columbus and the Murrah-Clinton winner to be the sacrificial lambs to South Panola and Olive Branch.

Region 3
Brandon, Petal and Oak Grove are all 5-0 and Meridian is 4-1 with a loss to South Panola. Those are your four playoff teams and this will be an awesome division to watch this year, starting with Oak Grove/Petal next week.

Region 4
D'Iberville, Gulfport and Ocean Springs opened with region wins to improve to 4-1. That fourth spot is up for grabs and don't discount Hattiesburg. They are 1-4, but its against a tough schedule, played both Petal and Oak Grove from Region 3. Plus, for you uniform junkies, they have the best HS helmet in the state.

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3. Other MHSAA

Nine unbeatens in 5A going into last night - three emerged (Callaway, Oxford and Laurel) Callaway is the best JPS team in years and has a solid chance to win Region 2. Still think Oxford and Pascagoula are your 5A championship participants.

Four unbeatens remaining in 4A - Ripley, Leake Central, Yazoo City and St. Stanislaus. Rock-a-Chaws leading 4A averaging 44 ppg.

3A- Water Valley and Louisville only unbeatens. That is destined to be the North Half (and de facto state) championship. In the South, Philadelphia is 5-1 and giving up just 4.5 ppg.

2A - Five unbeatens led by East Webster and Eupora. They play each other in regular season finale and they will both be unbeaten.

1A - Bogue Chitto is the only unbeaten but I'm not sold they are the best team in the state.

4. MAIS

AAA Division I - Parklane and Presbyterian Christian play each other next week for the final playoff spot. Winner gets JA/MRA winner.

AAA Division II - Three of the best four teams are in the North, but the state champion will be Lamar from the South.

AA - Indianola is only unbeaten. What is this, 1988? Still, Simpson is the class of AA.

A - Trinity is my best team, but DeSoto is also good. Watch out for Marshall though.

[Coach34]

thanks 615

[bully99]

Curmudgeon you brought your "A"game in that report. Well done

[Bo Darville]

Would prep and JA really be large 4A? Based on their per grade enrollment, wouldn't they be 3A?

Edited to add after I did some research:

The breaking point between 4A and 5A is around 730 students. The breaking point between 3A and 4A is around 470 students. Wikipedia says prep has 820 students in 7 grades. That averages to about 117 students per grade. Assuming enrollment is evenly split in the 7 grades, they would be around 465-470 in grades 9-12. That would make Prep one of the largest 3A schools, or one of the smallest 4A schools.

[State82]

Nice work, Dude. Keep it up.

[curmudgeon]

Would prep and JA really be large 4A? Based on their per grade enrollment, wouldn't they be 3A?

Edited to add after I did some research:

The breaking point between 4A and 5A is around 730 students. The breaking point between 3A and 4A is around 470 students. Wikipedia says prep has 820 students in 7 grades. That averages to about 117 students per grade. Assuming enrollment is evenly split in the 7 grades, they would be around 465-470 in grades 9-12. That would make Prep one of the largest 3A schools, or one of the smallest 4A schools.

Also have to remember that private schools would be indexed at 1.2 times enrollment. St. Stanislaus is indexed at 2 times enrollment since its an all boys school.

[Bo Darville]

Also have to remember that private schools would be indexed at 1.2 times enrollment. St. Stanislaus is indexed at 2 times enrollment since its an all boys school.

Why would you index private schools at 1.2 times enrollment? Is that so they don't whup the public schools as often? Doesn't make sense.

[curmudgeon]

Why would you index private schools at 1.2 times enrollment? Is that so they don't whup the public schools as often? Doesn't make sense.

You have to because private schools can recruit and give scholarships. That Barlow kid that Prep had a few years back was from Mendenhall. I know a kid going to JA that pays $2000/year. Need-based Scholarship pays the other $10,000+. As long as private schools can do that, you need to index them.

Alabama started with a 1.4 index and now its 1.25. My research says 1.2 would be right for Mississippi.

[Bo Darville]

You have to because private schools can recruit and give scholarships. That Barlow kid that Prep had a few years back was from Mendenhall. I know a kid going to JA that pays $2000/year. Need-based Scholarship pays the other $10,000+. As long as private schools can do that, you need to index them.

Alabama started with a 1.4 index and now its 1.25. My research says 1.2 would be right for Mississippi.

Certainly getting kids from outside a district is an advantage. However, public schools have an advantage because every kid in school pays ZERO tuition. So making a few kids pay $2000 rather than $12,000 isn't an advantage at all. You say a kid goes to JA and only pays $2000 a year? My kid goes to public school and I will tell you that every single player on the football team goes for FREE! All 70 of them. Who has the advantage now?

[Coach34]

You have to because private schools can recruit and give scholarships. That Barlow kid that Prep had a few years back was from Mendenhall. I know a kid going to JA that pays $2000/year. Need-based Scholarship pays the other $10,000+. As long as private schools can do that, you need to index them.

Alabama started with a 1.4 index and now its 1.25. My research says 1.2 would be right for Mississippi.

That's a great idea

[curmudgeon]

Certainly getting kids from outside a district is an advantage. However, public schools have an advantage because every kid in school pays ZERO tuition. So making a few kids pay $2000 rather than $12,000 isn't an advantage at all. You say a kid goes to JA and only pays $2000 a year? My kid goes to public school and I will tell you that every single player on the football team goes for FREE! All 70 of them. Who has the advantage now?

I agree with you. But most families can come up with $2000 a year. Big beefy Callaway linemen at JA gives them an advantage as well as MRA being able to get kids from NWR. Its a small penalty. Doing this in Mississippi would see similar results as Alabama. Take a look at 2012:

6A: No Private Schools
5A: 3 Private Schools. 2 made playoffs (1 district champ) - St. Paul's beat Briarwood in quarterfinal, then lost to eventual state champ in semifinal.
4A: 2 Private Schools. 1 made playoffs as district champ. UMS- Wright won state championship.
3A: 7 Private Schools. 4 made playoffs (1 district champs). 1 lost first round, 2 lost second round and Madiaon Academy won state championship.
2A: 7 Private Schools. 4 made playoffs. 3 lost first round, one made Quarterfinals
1A: 8 Private Schools. 3 made playoffs. 2 lost first round, one lost second round.

The other private schools play in the AISA.

So 27 schools play with the big boys. 14 made the playoffs and eight won a playoff game, 4 made round of eight, 3 made final four and 2 won state. You'd see about the same in MS, except our largest schools might not quite be 5A.

There are 25 or so SACS accredited private schools in Mississippi. They should be extended invitations to the MHSAA. The others can stay in the MAIS.

[Todd4State]

I don't think Prep would ever move to the MHSAA for several reasons. One is they would be forced to do away with football in the 4th grade- which is when their players start now at First Pres. That's the biggest reason I don't think it will happen- and yes it gives them a big advantage over public schools. That's part of the reason why they are so fundamentally sound. They also largely control the MAIS- that won't happen in the MHSAA.