2016 SCOL Football Preview: Will anyone unseat Clinton-Massie in final year?
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
This is it for the South Central Ohio League, as the 2016 season will be the end of one of the oldest high school leagues in the state as eight teams have decided to go one of two ways next season, but for one final year, they will compete against each other on the gridiron as members of this historic league.
The reigning champions for 10 years and counting are the Clinton-Massie Falcons, sharing the title with Miami Trace and Washington during that span in ’07, but since that season ended, the Falcons haven’t just dominated the league, but they’ve been perfect, winning 52 consecutive SCOL games and every championship since then.
CM has the goal to finish out this league with an 11th consecutive title. Others in the league have different ideas as well to win the league championship, but they will have to knock off the Falcons to do so.
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“We look forward to finishing up the SCOL and then joining the SBAAC next year,” McSurley told The Highland County Press. “We are real excited to finish the SCOL out. The league is going to disband, and we’ve built some great relationships with the schools, but we are looking to move on to another era after this year.”
It was announced in late February that Chillicothe, Hillsboro, McClain, Miami Trace and Washington would disband from the league to start a new league for competition with Jackson in 2017-18, all but ending the SCOL, which began in 1923, but twice before has disbanded, from 1931-35 and 1992-2002.
Last season, the Falcons were undefeated in the SCOL at 7-0, and in all but one season since the league came back in ’03, the winner of the SCOL went undefeated in league play as Miami Trace won the league the first three seasons of the rebirth with records of 5-0, 5-0 and 6-0 from ’03-05, then CM won their first league title in ’06 at 6-0 in league play.
The ’07 year was strange, but competitive with CM, MT and the Washington Blue Lions tying for the league at 6-1, being the lone year since reforming where the champions of the SCOL didn’t have a perfect league record.
That said, the feel of the league will be a bit different this season as it is the final year of play, but there is still some solid football to be played from Weeks 4-10 when league play takes place. With the past in the rearview mirror, and by the choosing of five schools after a “series of meetings,” this season is all that remains for the league.
Entering the ’16 season, the Falcons are coming off a year where they outscored opponents 352-83 in league games last season, followed by Chillicothe, who was 6-1 with a point differential in the league at 252-107, and Wilmington at 5-2 outscored league foes 275-111.
The Blue Lions were 3-4 in the SCOL in ’15 (128-218), followed by Miami Trace at 3-4 (139-207), McClain at 2-5 (124-309), Hillsboro at 2-5 (103-213) and East Clinton finishing at 0-7 (70-216).
The South Central Ohio League has some coaching changes as well this season, with Hillsboro hiring Jack O’Rourke (previously a head coach at Blanchester), and the Blue Lions hiring Chuck Williamson (previously an assistant head coach at Central Crossing).
The goal for teams in the SCOL is to win the league title, and though it is a tough task, if regular-season expectations and goals want to be met, competing for a league title has to be accomplished.
“The expectations this year are to grow as a team and compete for a league title,” Wilmington head coach Scott Killen said. “Our goals for this year are simple … win the league, and the rest will take care of itself.”
The ’16 SCOL football season will begin one final time in Week 4 and end at the conclusion of Week 10.
The reigning champions for 10 years and counting are the Clinton-Massie Falcons, sharing the title with Miami Trace and Washington during that span in ’07, but since that season ended, the Falcons haven’t just dominated the league, but they’ve been perfect, winning 52 consecutive SCOL games and every championship since then.
CM has the goal to finish out this league with an 11th consecutive title. Others in the league have different ideas as well to win the league championship, but they will have to knock off the Falcons to do so.
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“We look forward to finishing up the SCOL and then joining the SBAAC next year,” McSurley told The Highland County Press. “We are real excited to finish the SCOL out. The league is going to disband, and we’ve built some great relationships with the schools, but we are looking to move on to another era after this year.”
It was announced in late February that Chillicothe, Hillsboro, McClain, Miami Trace and Washington would disband from the league to start a new league for competition with Jackson in 2017-18, all but ending the SCOL, which began in 1923, but twice before has disbanded, from 1931-35 and 1992-2002.
Last season, the Falcons were undefeated in the SCOL at 7-0, and in all but one season since the league came back in ’03, the winner of the SCOL went undefeated in league play as Miami Trace won the league the first three seasons of the rebirth with records of 5-0, 5-0 and 6-0 from ’03-05, then CM won their first league title in ’06 at 6-0 in league play.
The ’07 year was strange, but competitive with CM, MT and the Washington Blue Lions tying for the league at 6-1, being the lone year since reforming where the champions of the SCOL didn’t have a perfect league record.
That said, the feel of the league will be a bit different this season as it is the final year of play, but there is still some solid football to be played from Weeks 4-10 when league play takes place. With the past in the rearview mirror, and by the choosing of five schools after a “series of meetings,” this season is all that remains for the league.
Entering the ’16 season, the Falcons are coming off a year where they outscored opponents 352-83 in league games last season, followed by Chillicothe, who was 6-1 with a point differential in the league at 252-107, and Wilmington at 5-2 outscored league foes 275-111.
The Blue Lions were 3-4 in the SCOL in ’15 (128-218), followed by Miami Trace at 3-4 (139-207), McClain at 2-5 (124-309), Hillsboro at 2-5 (103-213) and East Clinton finishing at 0-7 (70-216).
The South Central Ohio League has some coaching changes as well this season, with Hillsboro hiring Jack O’Rourke (previously a head coach at Blanchester), and the Blue Lions hiring Chuck Williamson (previously an assistant head coach at Central Crossing).
The goal for teams in the SCOL is to win the league title, and though it is a tough task, if regular-season expectations and goals want to be met, competing for a league title has to be accomplished.
“The expectations this year are to grow as a team and compete for a league title,” Wilmington head coach Scott Killen said. “Our goals for this year are simple … win the league, and the rest will take care of itself.”
The ’16 SCOL football season will begin one final time in Week 4 and end at the conclusion of Week 10.