Hungry Like The Wolf, Epilogue

[SpartanOfYore]

A couple of other observations springing from the research done for the "Hungry Like The Wolf" thread.

The Mighty That Have Fallen - Or Slipped A Bit

Woodrow Wilson
The hands-down, runaway winner of this category. Incredible as it now seems, the Presidents were a state power in the late eighties and early nineties. Wilson won AAA, Division 5 titles in '89 and '91. As the Wilson faithful celebrated on the field after the second of those championships, I doubt that any of them could have ever envisioned that that would be the last time their team would even sniff the playoffs. As a result, Wilson's all-time playoff record stands frozen at an excellent 14-7.

E. C. Glass
Glass was a long-time football big boy in the pre-playoff era. The Hilltoppers continued to thrive into the nineties, winning the Division 5 crown in '88, and finishing as runners-up in 1995. In the twenty seasons since, Glass has made only six playoff appearances, going a combined 1-6 in those trips.

Park View (Sterling)
The Patriots stormed to the 1988 Division 4 championship, and were state runners-up on three other occasions. Following the most recent of those in 2000, PV has a 4-8 playoff record, and has not visited the postseason since 2011.

Powhatan
Winners of titles in both Division 2 (1996) and Division 4 (2003), the Indians are mired in a four-game playoff losing skid, last notching a win in 2011.

Harrisonburg
Seemingly a perennial contender until the last decade, the Blue Streaks last made the post-season in 2011; their last playoff win came the previous season.

Handley
Though not atrocious, the Judges' 10-11 playoff record since finishing as Division 3 runners-up in '99 seems rather uninspired for a two-time state champion ('84 and '94). Handley hasn't tasted postseason victory since 2010.


Surprising Postseason Underachievers
These are schools whose lack of playoff success took me aback. Although there are many other schools with even worse resumes, I somehow thought these teams had fared better.

William Fleming
I knew Fleming hadn't been wildly successful in the postseason, but their all-time record of 8-16 still came as a surprise. And even that limited success is very narrow: Fleming has twice finished as runners-up, in '97 (Div. 5) and '03 (Div. 4). Aside from those two years, Fleming has a combined grand total of two playoff victories. None in the seventies, one in the eighties.

Charlottesville
The Knights' all-time playoff mark stands at 4-11. Only once have they ever won more than one playoff game in the same season.

Grafton
Being located in such a talent-rich area, I would have thought the Clippers would have managed to do better than 4-9 in their playoff trips. At least they paired those victories up nicely, reaching state semis in '04 and '11.

Smithfield
I'm not sure why exactly, but I found the Packers' dismal playoff record of 2-12 to be one of the biggest surprises. It just seems like I've heard about them forever; apparently, not for reasons related to football glory.

 

[tommythecpa]

A couple of other observations springing from the research done for the "Hungry Like The Wolf" thread.

The Mighty That Have Fallen - Or Slipped A Bit

Woodrow Wilson
The hands-down, runaway winner of this category. Incredible as it now seems, the Presidents were a state power in the late eighties and early nineties. Wilson won AAA, Division 5 titles in '89 and '91. As the Wilson faithful celebrated on the field after the second of those championships, I doubt that any of them could have ever envisioned that that would be the last time their team would even sniff the playoffs. As a result, Wilson's all-time playoff record stands frozen at an excellent 14-7.

E. C. Glass
Glass was a long-time football big boy in the pre-playoff era. The Hilltoppers continued to thrive into the nineties, winning the Division 5 crown in '88, and finishing as runners-up in 1995. In the twenty seasons since, Glass has made only six playoff appearances, going a combined 1-6 in those trips.

Park View (Sterling)
The Patriots stormed to the 1988 Division 4 championship, and were state runners-up on three other occasions. Following the most recent of those in 2000, PV has a 4-8 playoff record, and has not visited the postseason since 2011.

Powhatan
Winners of titles in both Division 2 (1996) and Division 4 (2003), the Indians are mired in a four-game playoff losing skid, last notching a win in 2011.

Harrisonburg
Seemingly a perennial contender until the last decade, the Blue Streaks last made the post-season in 2011; their last playoff win came the previous season.

Handley
Though not atrocious, the Judges' 10-11 playoff record since finishing as Division 3 runners-up in '99 seems rather uninspired for a two-time state champion ('84 and '94). Handley hasn't tasted postseason victory since 2010.


Surprising Postseason Underachievers
These are schools whose lack of playoff success took me aback. Although there are many other schools with even worse resumes, I somehow thought these teams had fared better.

William Fleming
I knew Fleming hadn't been wildly successful in the postseason, but their all-time record of 8-16 still came as a surprise. And even that limited success is very narrow: Fleming has twice finished as runners-up, in '97 (Div. 5) and '03 (Div. 4). Aside from those two years, Fleming has a combined grand total of two playoff victories. None in the seventies, one in the eighties.

Charlottesville
The Knights' all-time playoff mark stands at 4-11. Only once have they ever won more than one playoff game in the same season.

Grafton
Being located in such a talent-rich area, I would have thought the Clippers would have managed to do better than 4-9 in their playoff trips. At least they paired those victories up nicely, reaching state semis in '04 and '11.

Smithfield
I'm not sure why exactly, but I found the Packers' dismal playoff record of 2-12 to be one of the biggest surprises. It just seems like I've heard about them forever; apparently, not for reasons related to football glory.

 

[tommythecpa]

Lane was a power in Charlottesville way back. Glass was the only hs in Lynchburg until 1976. GW Glass games were huge hard hitting games back then with full stadiums.

 

[shauntclair]

A couple of other observations springing from the research done for the "Hungry Like The Wolf" thread.

The Mighty That Have Fallen - Or Slipped A Bit

Woodrow Wilson
The hands-down, runaway winner of this category. Incredible as it now seems, the Presidents were a state power in the late eighties and early nineties. Wilson won AAA, Division 5 titles in '89 and '91. As the Wilson faithful celebrated on the field after the second of those championships, I doubt that any of them could have ever envisioned that that would be the last time their team would even sniff the playoffs. As a result, Wilson's all-time playoff record stands frozen at an excellent 14-7.

E. C. Glass
Glass was a long-time football big boy in the pre-playoff era. The Hilltoppers continued to thrive into the nineties, winning the Division 5 crown in '88, and finishing as runners-up in 1995. In the twenty seasons since, Glass has made only six playoff appearances, going a combined 1-6 in those trips.

Park View (Sterling)
The Patriots stormed to the 1988 Division 4 championship, and were state runners-up on three other occasions. Following the most recent of those in 2000, PV has a 4-8 playoff record, and has not visited the postseason since 2011.

Powhatan
Winners of titles in both Division 2 (1996) and Division 4 (2003), the Indians are mired in a four-game playoff losing skid, last notching a win in 2011.

Harrisonburg
Seemingly a perennial contender until the last decade, the Blue Streaks last made the post-season in 2011; their last playoff win came the previous season.

Handley
Though not atrocious, the Judges' 10-11 playoff record since finishing as Division 3 runners-up in '99 seems rather uninspired for a two-time state champion ('84 and '94). Handley hasn't tasted postseason victory since 2010.


Surprising Postseason Underachievers
These are schools whose lack of playoff success took me aback. Although there are many other schools with even worse resumes, I somehow thought these teams had fared better.

William Fleming
I knew Fleming hadn't been wildly successful in the postseason, but their all-time record of 8-16 still came as a surprise. And even that limited success is very narrow: Fleming has twice finished as runners-up, in '97 (Div. 5) and '03 (Div. 4). Aside from those two years, Fleming has a combined grand total of two playoff victories. None in the seventies, one in the eighties.

Charlottesville
The Knights' all-time playoff mark stands at 4-11. Only once have they ever won more than one playoff game in the same season.

Grafton
Being located in such a talent-rich area, I would have thought the Clippers would have managed to do better than 4-9 in their playoff trips. At least they paired those victories up nicely, reaching state semis in '04 and '11.

Smithfield
I'm not sure why exactly, but I found the Packers' dismal playoff record of 2-12 to be one of the biggest surprises. It just seems like I've heard about them forever; apparently, not for reasons related to football glory.

I can make a few comments on Powhatan. They played in the SouthSide for years. Maybe the weakest 4A ever. They went undefeated in District play for over a decade. Somehow, they were always powered by a team of horses up front. You'd come onto their home field with your stallions and were suddenly faced with Clydesdales. With these front lines, they stayed basic and said beat us if you can. And they had outstanding Coaching.

For this reason, they got the the semi's often. Even a State Championship. But they eventually faced teams like Broad Run and Briar Woods. The Indians had good teams but couldn't get over the hump against these guys. No one else could either. Then came the unimaginable losses to EV who spread them to death and Chancellor, who overcome a 35 - 7 halftime deficit in Regionals. The spiral started. Then the move to the Jefferson District, where they actually had opponents. With the new District and reclassification, the path to the semi's was far more difficult than the easy road they were used to.

Still a quality program. Still a tough team to beat. I believe this is Salem in the same situation. No disrespect to the 2015 squad. The teams they beat to get to the final were very high quality. They earned it 100% and were the best team in 4A but on a year to year basis, their road is not difficult to get far. Two competitive regular season teams is about all they get. 8 - 2 or better is almost a lock, year in and out.