A last look at the SCOL football year
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The 2011 South Central Ohio League football season is in the books. It wasn't the best of seasons for the league, but it was still football, and that alone is something to enjoy in itself.
The league had one team advance to the postseason, that being the Clinton-Massie Falcons as they went 6-0 in SCOL games and 8-2 overall this year.
Though the league had just one team with an overall winning mark (see: Clinton-Massie), the final week in itself was full of excitement as it always ends with rivalry week. Like I've said many times, the basketball season needs to end its regular season like the football year does … who cares about "potential" tournament match-ups anyway?
I don't.
Back to football … here are some numbers which will tell the story of the 2011 SCOL football campaign.
1 — The number of teams in the SCOL that finished with a winning overall record. If you would have bet me $5 at the start of the season this would have occurred after 10 weeks of football … well, I'd be out $5. Never did I think there would be just one team that had an overall winning mark. My guess would have been two, maybe three teams. I guess one is the loneliest number.
3 — That is the number of total wins combined for teams from Highland County this past season. Again, I didn't have the feeling it was going to be a winning season headed into the first game of the year, but I thought the overall total was going to be a tad bit higher. I guess that is why they play the games.
3(2) — Another “three” that caught my attention was there were three teams in the SCOL that each went 4-2 in league games. They included London, Miami Trace and Washington. A fun fact with these three teams is LHS defeated Washington, Miami Trace defeated LHS and Washington defeated Miami Trace. This was a wacky season, to say the least.
1,646 — The number of total points scored by all seven SCOL football teams this season. CM led the way with 475 of those points, followed by London (309), Miami Trace (236), Washington (253), Hillsboro (152), Madison-Plains (127) and McClain (94).
2,001 — This is the number of points allowed by the seven SCOL teams this season. This is just a few too many points, but when London and CM each score 70-plus points in games, this number will blow up. I don't blame them, though … for one, it could have been a much larger number, but luckily the brakes were put on in a majority of games.
4 — This is the number of teams in the SCOL to end the season on a winning note. CM, London, Hillsboro and Washington all earned wins in their final game of the season. All the teams I thought were going to end the year with a win did, in fact, finish the year with a win.
6 — Clinton-Massie won their sixth straight SCOL championship in a row. (Note: They did share the '07 title with MT and Washington). In terms of competition, nobody was even close to the Falcons this season when it came to SCOL games. Look at the scores if you don't believe me. But, again, that's expected when teams play the champions from Clarksville.
Enough numbers ... let's list my "favorite" moments of the season.
Favorite Game — The best game I watched this season was the final game of the season with Hillsboro winning, 28-27, over their cross-county rival, McClain, for the Rotary Bowl at McClain Field. It wasn’t the "best-played" game, but it was full of the most excitement and drama. How can't you love a game that comes down to a final two-point conversion? Wonderful stuff.
Favorite Concession Stand Item — Yeah, once again, I bring up food and sports. Maybe I'm destined to be a food critic one day … the problem is I like a lot of different things. Anyway, my favorite item, besides the fish sandwiches, was the coney cheese hot dog from the Greenfield Athletic Boosters’ booth. Let me explain this one … a hot dog covered with sloppy joe and cheese sauce. I only had it once because I like my heart to be in working shape, but it was good. How can you not like that combination on a hot dog bun?
Now for a couple of the ‘Bests’ of the season.
Best Student Section — This has to go to the Hillsboro Indians. Once again, they have the biggest and maybe even the loudest student section of all the schools I’ve covered this football season. They really know how to have fun.
Best Team Performance — I can’t seem to shake the London Red Raiders’ overall performance against McClain in Week 4. LHS was on fire that night with many rushing touchdowns, and these were big-time runs they were scoring on. Their defense didn’t allow a point, and I’d say that was easily the best team performance I watched all season.
Best Individual Performance — Out of all the football I watched this season, the best individual performance was Miami Trace’s Clayton Dyer’s Week 8 performance. He scored six touchdowns (one on defense). That doesn’t happen much, and it's one game I won’t soon forget.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of the Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.
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The league had one team advance to the postseason, that being the Clinton-Massie Falcons as they went 6-0 in SCOL games and 8-2 overall this year.
Though the league had just one team with an overall winning mark (see: Clinton-Massie), the final week in itself was full of excitement as it always ends with rivalry week. Like I've said many times, the basketball season needs to end its regular season like the football year does … who cares about "potential" tournament match-ups anyway?
I don't.
Back to football … here are some numbers which will tell the story of the 2011 SCOL football campaign.
1 — The number of teams in the SCOL that finished with a winning overall record. If you would have bet me $5 at the start of the season this would have occurred after 10 weeks of football … well, I'd be out $5. Never did I think there would be just one team that had an overall winning mark. My guess would have been two, maybe three teams. I guess one is the loneliest number.
3 — That is the number of total wins combined for teams from Highland County this past season. Again, I didn't have the feeling it was going to be a winning season headed into the first game of the year, but I thought the overall total was going to be a tad bit higher. I guess that is why they play the games.
3(2) — Another “three” that caught my attention was there were three teams in the SCOL that each went 4-2 in league games. They included London, Miami Trace and Washington. A fun fact with these three teams is LHS defeated Washington, Miami Trace defeated LHS and Washington defeated Miami Trace. This was a wacky season, to say the least.
1,646 — The number of total points scored by all seven SCOL football teams this season. CM led the way with 475 of those points, followed by London (309), Miami Trace (236), Washington (253), Hillsboro (152), Madison-Plains (127) and McClain (94).
2,001 — This is the number of points allowed by the seven SCOL teams this season. This is just a few too many points, but when London and CM each score 70-plus points in games, this number will blow up. I don't blame them, though … for one, it could have been a much larger number, but luckily the brakes were put on in a majority of games.
4 — This is the number of teams in the SCOL to end the season on a winning note. CM, London, Hillsboro and Washington all earned wins in their final game of the season. All the teams I thought were going to end the year with a win did, in fact, finish the year with a win.
6 — Clinton-Massie won their sixth straight SCOL championship in a row. (Note: They did share the '07 title with MT and Washington). In terms of competition, nobody was even close to the Falcons this season when it came to SCOL games. Look at the scores if you don't believe me. But, again, that's expected when teams play the champions from Clarksville.
Enough numbers ... let's list my "favorite" moments of the season.
Favorite Game — The best game I watched this season was the final game of the season with Hillsboro winning, 28-27, over their cross-county rival, McClain, for the Rotary Bowl at McClain Field. It wasn’t the "best-played" game, but it was full of the most excitement and drama. How can't you love a game that comes down to a final two-point conversion? Wonderful stuff.
Favorite Concession Stand Item — Yeah, once again, I bring up food and sports. Maybe I'm destined to be a food critic one day … the problem is I like a lot of different things. Anyway, my favorite item, besides the fish sandwiches, was the coney cheese hot dog from the Greenfield Athletic Boosters’ booth. Let me explain this one … a hot dog covered with sloppy joe and cheese sauce. I only had it once because I like my heart to be in working shape, but it was good. How can you not like that combination on a hot dog bun?
Now for a couple of the ‘Bests’ of the season.
Best Student Section — This has to go to the Hillsboro Indians. Once again, they have the biggest and maybe even the loudest student section of all the schools I’ve covered this football season. They really know how to have fun.
Best Team Performance — I can’t seem to shake the London Red Raiders’ overall performance against McClain in Week 4. LHS was on fire that night with many rushing touchdowns, and these were big-time runs they were scoring on. Their defense didn’t allow a point, and I’d say that was easily the best team performance I watched all season.
Best Individual Performance — Out of all the football I watched this season, the best individual performance was Miami Trace’s Clayton Dyer’s Week 8 performance. He scored six touchdowns (one on defense). That doesn’t happen much, and it's one game I won’t soon forget.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of the Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.
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