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This could be fun---How many smaller schools could have beaten the best 5a and 6a schools?

southbottomU

VaPreps All District
Dec 5, 2004
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I agree with Rod that it is about 30% overall where the smaller school wins. But which smaller schools would have been able to play with and or beat the best 5a 6a schools in Virginia (that same year)? I think what we are talking about are the best A, AA, AAA,AAAA schools of relatively recent times. I know that it's all opinion but for the most part that is what this board is about.

Here are some of my nominations: Lake Taylor 2014------Dinwiddie 2013------Salem 98-----Powell Valley (can't remember the years but when they had the Jones brothers), Phoebus (yr?)

I am sure you guys and gals can nominate some more and there might be some interesting disagreements. After all its Tuesday and no reason to pay attention to Friday nights games just yet.
 
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I agree with Rod that it is about 30% overall where the smaller school wins. But which smaller schools would have been able to play with and or beat the best 5a 6a schools in Virginia (that same year)? I think what we are talking about are the best A, AA, AAA,AAAA schools of relatively recent times. I know that it all opinion but for the most part that is what this board is about.

Here are some of my nominations: Lake Taylor 2014------Dinwiddie 2013------Salem 98-----Powell Valley (can't remember the years but when they had the Jones brothers), Phoebus (yr?)

I am sure you guys and gals can nominate some more and there might be some interesting disagreements. After all its Tuesday and no reason to pay attention to Friday nights games just yet.
Amherst with Abell and the Rose brothers would've been a tough win for anyone..
 
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I agree with Rod that it is about 30% overall where the smaller school wins.

FWIW, that is not a guesstimate on my part.

In the summer of 2013, I asked my friends over at VHSL-Reference.com to run a report out of their database showing the results of games based on enrollments from 2000-2013.

The results were that 30% of the time, the team with the smaller enrollment (not classification, enrollment) won.

Agreeing or disagreeing with that number is moot. It is a fact.
 
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Possibly Phoebus, Hampton or LT as 5A schools might have beat the 6A champ. Maybe LT as a 4A could have done it. Those are the only ones, IMO, that would garner much serious consideration.
 
Amherst with Abell and the Rose brothers would've been a tough win for anyone..
Agreed, the 2006-2009 Amherst teams were formidable. Throw in 2006 Louisa, 2006 Goochland with DJ Coles, and the Vic Hall Gretna teams especially.
 
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Rod is right on the statistics ! Phoebus , for several years beat larger enrollment schools ! I was wondering about division five and six this year in northern Virginia area where I have heard rumblings that division five may overall be better this year , especially the cream at the top !
 
I'm not sure how good Hampton was in '98 after losing Curry(Rod?) but I know they had boatloads of talent so I don't know how Salem would have done there but I would have liked that Salem squad against a lot of bigger schools.
 
I'm not sure how good Hampton was in '98 after losing Curry(Rod?) but I know they had boatloads of talent so I don't know how Salem would have done there but I would have liked that Salem squad against a lot of bigger schools.

Dunno, either. Didn't get to VA until 2002
 
The thing is how big is the difference in enrollments. If a school with 1001 students beats a school with 1002 that's not news. If a school with 500 beats a school with 1500 that's news and happens a lot less often, I'm sure.
 
The thread topic is broad but I would like to make an exertion. Last year the (3A) Magna Vista Warriors entered a 7 on 7 tournament held at UNC Chapel Hill in which the Warriors won the tournament. Among entrants in this tournament was 2014 state 6A champions Ocean Lakes, a team comprised of 757 talents called "Wide Receiver U" not to mention schools from Florida and Georgia I think. So would you say 3A Magna Vista beat higher division schools or technically they did not? Just saying the topic was broad.

7x7 is to football as driving to church on Sunday is to NASCAR, just saying
 
The thread topic is broad but I would like to make an exertion. Last year the (3A) Magna Vista Warriors entered a 7 on 7 tournament held at UNC Chapel Hill in which the Warriors won the tournament. Among entrants in this tournament was 2014 state 6A champions Ocean Lakes, a team comprised of 757 talents called "Wide Receiver U" not to mention schools from Florida and Georgia I think. So would you say 3A Magna Vista beat higher division schools or technically they did not? Just saying the topic was broad.
Vastly different scenario. Lake Taylor and Chancellor were 1st and 2nd in a 7-on-7 tournament in Pennsylvania (I believe), comprised of a bunch of teams.
 
To that you're removing what is most likely the largest divider between bigger schools and smaller schools: line play.

The biggest difference on any level of play is in the lines. It's a whole lot harder to find 5 quality OL(i.e. not just fat kids) in a school of 600 students than a school of 2000 students. Skill position talent is another thing entirely, lone wolf talents that exist regardless of where you are but finding 5 kids that are worthwhile and having them play as a cohesive unit gets harder the smaller your school is in size. If you remove that then a lot of things become possible in the 7-on-7 realm.
 
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