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Post by football415 on Aug 8, 2009 21:19:12 GMT -5
Healdsburg has always been competitive....playoffs year in year out.
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Post by firemanbill on Aug 9, 2009 12:46:51 GMT -5
Healdsburg will get a real test in their first game. Mckinleyville has their best team in years this year. Chris Pender is the top senior QB/athlete in the HDN-L. This group of Mckinleyville seniors was undefeated when together on JV. Could be a very good opening game.
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Post by Ben Herrington on Aug 9, 2009 13:24:49 GMT -5
McKinleyville also dropped division to NCS Div. IV. I spoke with the Drake coach and he scheduled their contest with McKinleyville before they dropped from Div. III. He already said there wont be a game with them next season just for that reason. I would think Healdsburg is in the same boat. A win for a Div. III program (Drake, Healdsburg) over a Div. IV program (McKinleyville) isnt worth a lot when it comes to playoffs.
If McKinleyville beats Healdsburg, thats some trouble for Kirkpatrick come seeding time.
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Post by seamus on Aug 9, 2009 16:43:08 GMT -5
I think one of the points gocougs was making about HBG was that they are a small school playing in Div III. I believe they are at the lower end of the enrollment and the Clayton Valley's are at the top end. That they compete at a serious level is testimony to the coaches and players. The enrollment of HBG and McK are very similar. If I'm not mistaken, HBG is the smallest school in the SCL. They will probably be the underdog in every league game this year with the exception of perhaps Elmo.
I read the posts last year ripping HBG for playing schools their size in the preseason. The arguments did not make sense then and they still don't. Scheduling for the State Tournament does not make a lick of sense for a school caught in this dilemma. HBG's schedule prepares them for league play and gives them a chance for post season. You want evidence; ask Mirramonte what they ran into last year in the playoffs escaping in the fog with a lot less mouthing and posturing.
The fact is HBG is probably 750 students potential for playing football on a good day. They are competing in a league with schools approaching 2,000 and over; and no, HBG is not an all boys school ( I don't mean an offense to Newman, either). The state playoff system is not kind to schools that are at this tweener size. I am sure that HBG is not alone with this predicament; you just deal with it.
You deal with it by scheduling appropriately and preparing well. The contest between HBG and McK should be very good; similar sized programs, and communities. The two teams played twice last year and matched up well. Both are good programs. You need to give McK credit; this is a team that has worked hard and deserves to be taken seriously, and not dismissed because they are "smaller".
The future for HBG competing in the SCL is not going to get better; quite the opposite. The school board's decision to go the Basic Aid route for funding will seriously damage athletics and academics at the school. They will have to drop a division. However, that is the future and not now. HBG gains its success from preparation, dedication, players believing in themselves and the coaches; like all other programs. They will need all of that as they prepare for a very good McKinelyville team.
Sorry, got long winded here.
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Post by scobserver on Aug 9, 2009 21:08:18 GMT -5
seamus, I find it interesting...
coould not find an official figure but a couple sites said HHS enrollment about 900-1,000...tho still certainly on the lower end of the division.
I don't think a school can "choose" to go down, so whatever H'burg's enrollment, they are within D3 guidelines.....McK I assume had to drop down a division (do we know this for sure?)...Sonoma, for example, goes "down" this year, tho traditionally they have always been classified as the same level of HHS and Analy, so the old gang of three are back more or less on even keel...with El mo pretty much always the "small fry"...that leaves four D3 and three D2, with the the three D2s keep growing with no end in sight..
SCL is a great, stable league, but looks like it's going to get a nasty makeover next realignment
but agree with the basic point that H'burg deserves continued praise for its success against odds. And nothing wrong with their pre season schedule, they have tough ones and some "winnable" ones, nothing wrong with that. (I don't know a lot about basic aid districts, but there are advantages to it, too, so I don't know if in the long run it is bad for the Healdsburg district)
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Post by Ben Herrington on Aug 9, 2009 21:15:30 GMT -5
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nblfan
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by nblfan on Aug 9, 2009 22:06:45 GMT -5
The bottom number for Div 2 is 1400 students. They have Piner listed at 1410 students and moved them up to Div 2. If you contact the enrollment office at Piner you will find they have less than 1300 students this year. They belong in Div 3. Alot of schools can make these same comlaints I am sure.
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Post by seamus on Aug 9, 2009 23:21:47 GMT -5
Not making complaints; you deal with what cards your given. I agree with what everyone has said; all schools have some kind of issue. My point is, and remains, that it is foolish to hammer HBG for their preseason schedule. They are playing teams from schools their size, and trying to get better for league. The right thing to do is focus on being competitive in the SCL and let the playoffs handle themselves.
HBG and Elmo are the two smallest schools in the SCL, with HBG being the smallest. HBG is considerably smaller than both Analy and Sonoma, but that is not the point I was making. HBG has been competitive and hopefully will remain so. You don't make excuses; you work with what you have and compete. You prepare by scheduling appropriately, as you say, and not get your brains beat in because 15 years ago you where a large school and ego demands you keep the same kind of schedule.
The basic aid point is that there are no interdistrict transfers allowed now. To be sure there are financial benefits to be gained for the district. However, it is an issue for a school with the rich regional tradition of HBG. The pain will be felt in the academics also; namely the only school north of SR with a vocational agricuture program will not be accepting transfers. I have heard projections of HBG enrollment dropping into the low 600, counting continuation. That is a topic for another time and place though.
I think we have exhausted this one.
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Post by htown707 on Aug 10, 2009 11:55:26 GMT -5
Yeah let's remember that H-town didn't have a cake walk in the pre-season either last year. They played the 2007 NCS Champs Riodan, I know they were not that good in 2008 but still. Also Mack was a decent team, even Acalanes wasn't a bad team. This year even Piner is going to be a tougher game than it has been in the past. The financial benefits thing does nothing good for the program. If the program was in affect last season, 8 of the Healdsburg starters on defense or offence would be lost beause they live out of district. H-town doesn't have a big team to begin with they can't afford to loose players like that.
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Post by Ben Herrington on Aug 10, 2009 13:39:00 GMT -5
Riordan was the CCS Medium Class Champ, not NCS. They finished something like 8-3-2.
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Post by htown707 on Aug 10, 2009 20:41:34 GMT -5
oh ok. well the point is they were a good team.
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Post by newmanfan on Aug 10, 2009 23:03:19 GMT -5
How does middletown and cloverdale look this year
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Post by Ben Herrington on Aug 11, 2009 0:59:21 GMT -5
Middletown is going to do very well this season, but I dont know about Cloverdale.
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