Hey Bellmont - Whats with the schedule?

[Guest DT]

Why does 3A Bellmont open the season with two 1A schools?

How do you get better and prepare for conference play play by playing against little 1A schools?

 

 

 

BELLMONT
BRAVES
Coach: Eric Davis, 0-10 in 2nd year at school, 27-85 in 12th year overall

DATE	OPPONENT		EASTERN TIME				OA 0.0, DA 0.0
Aug. 21	at	Adams Central 1A	7:00 pm
Aug. 28		South Adams 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 4	at	Columbia City 4A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 11		Norwell 3A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 18	at	Huntington North 4A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 25		Leo 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 2	at	New Haven 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 9	at	DeKalb 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 16		East Noble 4A ©	7:00 pm

[cw13]

I believe football in that little Adams County is pretty good. Those two 1A's are small competition compared to Bellmont, but they (AC/SA) play some pretty good football.

[CoachDurham]

Yeah 2 of the top favorites in 1A... how dare they!

[GC42]

Those two schools have beaten Bellmont for the last 4 seasons so I'd say that is solid competition for them to open with.

[Guest DT]

1 hour ago, GC42 said:

Those two schools have beaten Bellmont for the last 4 seasons so I'd say that is solid competition for them to open with.

Shame on Bellmont.  How embarrassing

[Irishman]

They are all in the same county; so county rivalries for small communities are not bad things. 

[NE8Fan]

I’ve been following The Braves closely for a long time.  I thought adding AC would be good for us (2014 or 2015 I believe). We used to beat up on the Starfires but things have changed.   We aren’t that far removed from a State Championship.  I will say that SA and AC could and do currently beat a majority of 2-4A schools.  They are some of the best 1A schools in the state. County rivals is also part of this.  The kids know each other well and enjoy playing each other.  Hope we can turn it around this year.  The talent is in our building.

[brvheart63]

Question: What do you say to a 5A team excited about playing 3A schools on their schedule? Should a big 5A brag about this?

[Lysander]

3 hours ago, DT said:

Why does 3A Bellmont open the season with two 1A schools?

How do you get better and prepare for conference play play by playing against little 1A schools?

 

 

 

BELLMONT
BRAVES
Coach: Eric Davis, 0-10 in 2nd year at school, 27-85 in 12th year overall

DATE	OPPONENT		EASTERN TIME				OA 0.0, DA 0.0
Aug. 21	at	Adams Central 1A	7:00 pm
Aug. 28		South Adams 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 4	at	Columbia City 4A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 11		Norwell 3A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 18	at	Huntington North 4A ©	7:00 pm
Sep. 25		Leo 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 2	at	New Haven 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 9	at	DeKalb 4A ©	7:00 pm
Oct. 16		East Noble 4A ©	7:00 pm

I’ll give you some credit....only a HS football geek would go so far into the weeds that you’d dig deep into Belmont’s schedule and notice they open the season with 1A teams.

Sounds like something I’d do.  

That said,  once I realized it I wouldn’t have cared much either way given their record last year.

[foxbat]

6 hours ago, brvheart63 said:

Question: What do you say to a 5A team excited about playing 3A schools on their schedule? Should a big 5A brag about this?

If it's the likes of 3A schools like Chatard and West Lafayette, I'd think so 

[Muda69]

6 hours ago, Lysander said:

I’ll give you some credit....only a HS football geek would go so far into the weeds that you’d dig deep into Belmont’s schedule and notice they open the season with 1A teams.

Sounds like something I’d do.  

That said,  once I realized it I wouldn’t have cared much either way given their record last year.

Not the only one in the state, and this is a "4A" school:

 

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Muda69

[JustRules]

There is a lot of crossover in quality of teams, especially in 4A and below. There are 1A schools that are better than 4A schools so it's entirely possible they could play each other and compete. That's completely different than the top of each class playing each other. And even then there isn't always a huge difference.

[Muda69]

5 minutes ago, JustRules said:

There is a lot of crossover in quality of teams, especially in 4A and below. There are 1A schools that are better than 4A schools so it's entirely possible they could play each other and compete. That's completely different than the top of each class playing each other. And even then there isn't always a huge difference.

Agreed.  Goes to show what a fallacy the mostly-enrollment based classification system the IHSAA employs for football really is.   A true system of promotion and relegation would mitigate or even eliminate this.

 

[BTF]

I get that Bellmont took state back in 2008, but that was twelve years ago and they've been less than average ever since. Now, if they can get back into state championship form and sustain that for a few years, then they should seriously consider dropping the 1A schools. But in the meantime, South Adams and Adams Central are good programs for Bellmont to schedule. I know that no one is impressed with 1A, but those are two rock solid programs and both are on par with Bellmont from a football standpoint. 

[psaboy]

Clinton schools and Frankfort are within 15 miles of each other, so a case of neighborhood rivalry. It looks like.  Clinton Central has beaten Frankfort last two years and Clinton Prairie  has beating Clinton Central 3 of past 5 years. Shame on Frankfort, looks like they need to step it up a bit LOL!!

[Basementbias]

My previous avatar was of the county championship trophy I created. I'm not sure it's passed along but was at my alma mater AC. Last year was the first time the Starfires won it. The first year when Bellmont played AC again in many years, believe 2014 Bellmont won it (though it wasn't created yet). AC won it every year after until 2019. Not sure if the playoff result means it should be back to AC or not. 😄 It was presented in 2016 at the award banquet. The trophy was 24" x 14" as the county is 24 mi x 14 mi. The front is the school district boundaries in each school color and the back was split into 3rds with Adams County Champions in the schools' colors. I will say this, that Coach Davis is trying his best, but in my opinion he's not getting enough support from other coaches in that school. I know the AD does support him though. It's "bad knowledge" by DT as Gary Radnich and Tony Bruno used to say on KNBR 680 about questioning AC and SA. Those 2 teams beat many 2,3, and 4A schools. Bellmont has some good talent coming up if they stick with it. The problem has been numbers coming out even at the youth level. Disclaimer: I'm on the youth football board that Bellmont and AC play and coached AC youth teams. Last year was the best year for the Bellmont teams as one won the regular season against very talented AC teams. Injuries though cost that team and they finished last in the playoff. It was a good sign though as the numbers were much closer to AC participation than in the previous years. 

[Basementbias]

9 minutes ago, BTF said:

I get that Bellmont took state back in 2008, but that was twelve years ago and they've been less than average ever since. Now, if they can get back into state championship form and sustain that for a few years, then they should seriously consider dropping the 1A schools. But in the meantime, South Adams and Adams Central are good programs for Bellmont to schedule. I know that no one is impressed with 1A, but those are two rock solid programs and both are on par with Bellmont from a football standpoint. 

2008 to 2010 or so Bellmont was better than both and from then to 2016 they were close to AC and SA. Other than that AC has been way ahead of Bellmont during the Minnich years and from 2017 on. South Adams has been better since 2017 and on. It's cyclical of course, but Bellmont has never been the football program of the county like Adams Central. Bellmont refers to AC as "Football Heaven" and AC could say the same of Bellmont wrestling as "Wrestling Heaven".

[JustRules]

25 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

Agreed.  Goes to show what a fallacy the mostly-enrollment based classification system the IHSAA employs for football really is.   A true system of promotion and relegation would mitigate or even eliminate this.

 

That's a completely separate discussion. I don't see a reason why the worst team in 3A has to be better than the best team in 2A. That's not true in NCAA football either. There are D3 teams that can beat D2 and FCS teams. There are D2 teams that can beat G5 and possibly the bottom of FBS. There are several FCS teams that can beat G5 and some P5 schools. NAIA generally falls between D2 and D3 and the same applies there. Enrollment is a good place to start with classification, because it's an easily measurable number and generally equates to likely ability. The Success Factor helps to provide some balance. Ultimately high school sports are about team building, leadership skills, physical activity, and education. Along the way they get to compete and try to win championships, but that's not the only goal.

[Gipper]

South Vermillion dwarfs all other members in the WRC, but I think that conference is pretty strong.

[Lysander]

20 minutes ago, JustRules said:

That's a completely separate discussion. I don't see a reason why the worst team in 3A has to be better than the best team in 2A. That's not true in NCAA football either. There are D3 teams that can beat D2 and FCS teams. There are D2 teams that can beat G5 and possibly the bottom of FBS. There are several FCS teams that can beat G5 and some P5 schools. NAIA generally falls between D2 and D3 and the same applies there. Enrollment is a good place to start with classification, because it's an easily measurable number and generally equates to likely ability. The Success Factor helps to provide some balance. Ultimately high school sports are about team building, leadership skills, physical activity, and education. Along the way they get to compete and try to win championships, but that's not the only goal.

In NCAA lacrosse, the top 20 DIII teams could compete in DI.  In fact, just a few years back, perennial DIII lacrosse champ Salisbury, beat top ranked DI Duke in a preseason scrimmage.

More specifically, at year end last year, Sags had a 3A team as the 6th best team in the State overall (5th in “Predictor”).

Just a few years ago, when 1A LCC was on its several championships runs, I’d challenge anyone to say they weren’t among the top 20 teams in the State all classes. 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Lysander

[Muda69]

57 minutes ago, psaboy said:

Clinton schools and Frankfort are within 15 miles of each other, so a case of neighborhood rivalry. It looks like.  Clinton Central has beaten Frankfort last two years and Clinton Prairie  has beating Clinton Central 3 of past 5 years. Shame on Frankfort, looks like they need to step it up a bit LOL!!

Yes, a county football rivalry, but one that only started up again within the last 3 years as the Frankfort football program fortunes continued to decline.    Prior to this the Hot Dogs non-conference schedule included mostly quality programs like Tipton, Western, Logansport, and Twin Lakes.   CC and CP smell 'blood in the water' and a chance to defeat a hated larger county school while its fortunes are down, while FHS hope eking out a win against a much smaller opponent will inject much needed confidence into a moribund program.

 

 

[Guest DT]

12 hours ago, NE8Fan said:

I’ve been following The Braves closely for a long time.  I thought adding AC would be good for us (2014 or 2015 I believe). We used to beat up on the Starfires but things have changed.   We aren’t that far removed from a State Championship.  I will say that SA and AC could and do currently beat a majority of 2-4A schools.  They are some of the best 1A schools in the state. County rivals is also part of this.  The kids know each other well and enjoy playing each other.  Hope we can turn it around this year.  The talent is in our building.

It looks like a case of lazy, convenient scheduling to me.  As a matter of principle, i do not think it is appropriate for a 4A school to schedule down to the 1A level, while competing in a 6 class system.  It just defeats the purpose of having a class system in the first place.

Bellmont is in a no win situation.  Beat the !a schools, and they get no credit because they are 4 times largfer and that is the expectation.  Lose to the 1a schools, and they are criticicized for losing to a school with significantly lower enrollment and overall resources.

If Im correct, the 1A schools are of the "high flying" variety.  Not necessarily the types of teams that would prepare Bellmont for normal conference play.  If the Braves want to return to past glory, they would be wise to walk away from the easy scheduling fix and go after some bigger game in the SAC .  Thats the way you test and challenge your team in pre conference play.  Losing to the 1A schools not only hurts Bellmont in the won -loss column, it damages their collective psyche.  

The AD should take note and take appropriate action.

 

[Basementbias]

3 minutes ago, DT said:

It looks like a case of lazy, convenient scheduling to me.  As a matter of principle, i do not think it is appropriate for a 4A school to schedule down to the 1A level, while competing in a 6 class system.  It just defeats the purpose of having a class system in the first place.

Bellmont is in a no win situation.  Beat the !a schools, and they get no credit because they are 4 times largfer and that is the expectation.  Lose to the 1a schools, and they are criticicized for losing to a school with significantly lower enrollment and overall resources.

If Im correct, the 1A schools are of the "high flying" variety.  Not necessarily the types of teams that would prepare Bellmont for normal conference play.  If the Braves want to return to past glory, they would be wise to walk away from the easy scheduling fix and go after some bigger game in the SAC .  Thats the way you test and challenge your team in pre conference play.  Losing to the 1A schools not only hurts Bellmont in the won -loss column, it damages their collective psyche.  

The AD should take note and take appropriate action.

 

With all due respect, you need to learn about the 1A schools you are referring to. Adams Central will pound the ball down your throat and beat the tar out of you on defense when you try to run the ball. South Adams is a spread team that goes full throttle. I'll argue that they prepare Bellmont better than some conference foes they have in the NE8 some years. They have a 2 year glory run while Adams Central has had a 20 year and South Adams had a 4 year run in the 90s and a few smaller ones lately. They can't schedule the SAC because the SAC only plays each other! The problem they've had is other sports not wanting their athletes to play football and focus on other sports. Bellmont is and always has been a wrestling and then baseball school. Get the facts straight!

[foxbat]

2 minutes ago, DT said:

It looks like a case of lazy, convenient scheduling to me.  As a matter of principle, i do not think it is appropriate for a 4A school to schedule down to the 1A level, while competing in a 6 class system.  It just defeats the purpose of having a class system in the first place.

Bellmont is in a no win situation.  Beat the !a schools, and they get no credit because they are 4 times largfer and that is the expectation.  Lose to the 1a schools, and they are criticicized for losing to a school with significantly lower enrollment and overall resources.

If Im correct, the 1A schools are of the "high flying" variety.  Not necessarily the types of teams that would prepare Bellmont for normal conference play.  If the Braves want to return to past glory, they would be wise to walk away from the easy scheduling fix and go after some bigger game in the SAC .  Thats the way you test and challenge your team in pre conference play.  Losing to the 1A schools not only hurts Bellmont in the won -loss column, it damages their collective psyche.  

The AD should take note and take appropriate action.

 

West Lafayette would likely disagree with you.

[Bartrum Trail]

dt  

Please share with us which AD's have taken note and acted appropriately  on your thoughts.