Cates is one of the best around, and Charles Ray Arrington deserves some credit as well for setting the stage last season with a young team and ridding of some of the dealings that had been going on. There was little question that this staff was going to win at ER again. Didn't take long. Will be interesting when ER goes to 1A.
AHS v WEST STANLY
- Thread starter susancoleman
- Start date
Our first 2 games were winnable..Need to keep these 2...ER and UP are out if our league..Need to drop these 2..Just hope the kids can jeep their morale up till we get in conference play..Our biggest problem is NO DEPTH..If a starter is out we feel it..Just one starter..Till we can get more kids out for football we will continue to struggle...
Will agree with that. The improvement I saw was great. A night and day difference from last year. Very well coached team that will be a problem I think.
Unless UP has improved greatly from last year it is a winnable game but we will have to play a heck of a lot better with more pride and toughness than we showed at ER.
In regards to the competition I don't see a problem with playing good teams. If your goal is to improve your program you can't hide from these teams. You want them to play teams that are better. A loss by 1 or 40 is still a loss. If you go undefeated against weak teams it won't help you come Conference or the playoffs.
Schedule doesn’t matter. Everybody complained how albemarle whooped up on everybody back in the day who was considered weak. You play who’s on the schedule, you don’t schedule teams for easy wins...TF.
As far as this season goes...I’m highly disappointed. We’re gonna have to do something about that offense, I don’t see Morgan, Dunlap, or Christan at QB so I don’t know what type of team we got lol “Leadership” goes a long way.
I have no clue of the identity of Albemarle, but I’m just a fan.
As far as this season goes...I’m highly disappointed. We’re gonna have to do something about that offense, I don’t see Morgan, Dunlap, or Christan at QB so I don’t know what type of team we got lol “Leadership” goes a long way.
I have no clue of the identity of Albemarle, but I’m just a fan.
Good point about OOC scheduling. Selfishly, as a fan, I love games against 2A and 3A teams, but getting blown out by those teams takes a toll on confidence when a program is in rebuild mode. One problem is that AHS has gotten so small that there aren't any "peer" schools within easy driving distance besides the YVC teams. Even Mt. Pleasant is now a lot bigger than AHS. Of course it is also all about $$ and timing so not all within the coaches' and AD's control.
Back in the day the non-conference schedule was West Stanly, North Stanly, and maybe Mt. Pleasant. All three are big gates for a home game. This year with only four home games and two of them being with Union Pines and North Moore they won't even have to open the concession stand on the visitors side.You have to have money to run the program and you can't do it with this schedule.
Two most important items in scheduling is comparable competition and gate which often translates into distance traveled. Albemarle is limited as they are surrounded by a lot of 3A schools and some really solid football programs. Except for a few schools Union and Cabarrus County do not have potential opponents that meet the competitive category.
Currently, West Stanly and Thomasville are perfect competitively. West is a good gate. Doubt AHS took many to Thomasville and doubt T-ville would bring many to Albemarle but it is competitive.
I have had conversations with coaches and they are not interested in playing Albemarle for two reasons. Some stated both while other coaches pointed out one or the other. The Dogs do not bring a decent gate and they are not competitive.
Mount Pleasant would be a good gate for AHS but it is not for MP. Their non conference is all Cabarrus County schools, East Rowan, and Shelby. They lost a conference game with CATA folding the program. Shelby filled that date as they lost an opponent due to the one off with Rock Hill South Pointe last season. Last year MP had two losses by a total for five points but this year they are getting rolled. If they are not required to play county schools (and they should not be as the only non 3A/4A school) Coach Johns may be looking for a little relief.
Anson would be the other team that I think AHS should play. That would be a good gate. Do not think it is very competitive currently nor is Mount Pleasant but they have to start somewhere.
Thomasville, West, Mount, and Anson would be a good non conference schedule for them. Limited travel and good gates other than T-ville.
Other schools that may fit the bill are Salisbury (2A), Central Davidson (2A), East Montgomery (2A if not consolidating with West after next school year), Union Academy (1A but terrible gate), Forest Hills (2A), and may be Piedmont (3A) as it could draw a good crowd.
Currently, West Stanly and Thomasville are perfect competitively. West is a good gate. Doubt AHS took many to Thomasville and doubt T-ville would bring many to Albemarle but it is competitive.
I have had conversations with coaches and they are not interested in playing Albemarle for two reasons. Some stated both while other coaches pointed out one or the other. The Dogs do not bring a decent gate and they are not competitive.
Mount Pleasant would be a good gate for AHS but it is not for MP. Their non conference is all Cabarrus County schools, East Rowan, and Shelby. They lost a conference game with CATA folding the program. Shelby filled that date as they lost an opponent due to the one off with Rock Hill South Pointe last season. Last year MP had two losses by a total for five points but this year they are getting rolled. If they are not required to play county schools (and they should not be as the only non 3A/4A school) Coach Johns may be looking for a little relief.
Anson would be the other team that I think AHS should play. That would be a good gate. Do not think it is very competitive currently nor is Mount Pleasant but they have to start somewhere.
Thomasville, West, Mount, and Anson would be a good non conference schedule for them. Limited travel and good gates other than T-ville.
Other schools that may fit the bill are Salisbury (2A), Central Davidson (2A), East Montgomery (2A if not consolidating with West after next school year), Union Academy (1A but terrible gate), Forest Hills (2A), and may be Piedmont (3A) as it could draw a good crowd.
Btango as from one of my earlier posts on this subject is there a rule where you can’t play a team twice in the regular season? For the money play South Stanly or North or West Stanly twice Home and away and if they are in the same conference designate one as the conference game and the other as the non conference game. It would help both schools make money. Just an idea.
No such rule. In Wayne County at Eastern Wayne in the 90's, we played Goldsboro and Southern Wayne as non conference games...then turned around and played them opposite site in the league. With away games traveling 2 hours for Jacksonville and Wilmington in the league, it saved the athletic gates. It is not ideal, but it does pay the bills when you have guaranteed home games with county rivals every year.
Outstanding info and analysis as always. Thanks, btango. Like the idea of playing Forest Hills and Central Davidson. FH was a big shot back in the Rocky River days. I can remember one AHS game (I think) against Central Davidson in the last 30 years. Thinking it was during the Gaster era.
I should know this, but do schools split the gate, or does the home team keep it all? I believe for endowment games the home team keeps it all, correct?
No. Absolutely no rule on that. If it is a conference team the first game would normally be the non conference game. About 25 years ago Richmond and Scotland played twice for a few years in this manner. Some of the smaller schools down east will match up twice and I think some may have played three times to get games.
If they could get North and South to play non conference it would be helpful for a few years with competitiveness, also. Kids are going to get after it both games and South is very comparable. Not sure North would see the sense in it except for the gate. If they get North and South to play non conference along with games against Anson and another 2A school they would do well. Right now it is about keeping the sports department functional and improving the football performance to get the program back on solid footing.
They can contract as they wish on non conference games. On endowment games the state gets 25% off the top.
A lot of big time programs will pay a visitor a guarantee or an amount per ticket or get that to travel.
Ya'll talking about "Gates" and I'm talking about "Wins"...
You have to be realistic. The teams are being charged per mile to use an activity bus. The gate money is down. The booster club money is down. They have to generate some income. It is not coming from having Albemarle fans attend a home game against Eastern Randolph and Union Pines and there is not a W coming n those games. May be a learning experience but the better learning experience is not getting rolled and physically beaten down but competing.
Who are they going to play non conference that is within sixty or so miles that they will get a guaranteed W against? Who wants to play Albemarle non conference? There is not a non conference team they would be favored to beat in Cabarrus, Rowan, Anson, Davidson, or Montgomery. Probably one (Union Academy) out of ten schools in Union County they would be favored to beat. Those are the counties that border Stanly plus Rowan and there is one out of 35 schools they would be favored to beat that is a potential non conference opponent.
Stanly County also is charging the county schools the full amount for activity buses this year. Each County school is now paying 2.22 a mile instead of the 1.00 a mile that most other counties charge. It will be interesting to see how that affects scheduling in the future, now that it cost approximately 350 dollars just to go play a Cabarrus County school.
In 2020 Montgomery County will have one 3A high school and West Montgomery will be lost from the conference.
Current 1A and 2A schools located in bordering counties plus Rowan that have football programs.
Stanly: AHS, North, South. 2A: West.
Union: UA. 2A: Forest Hills, CATA (no football this season, unsure of future).
Anson
Cabarrus: Mount Pleasant.
Davidson: South. 2A: Central, East, West, North, Ledford, Oak Grove, Lexington, Thomasville,
Rowan: North. 2A: South, Salisbury.
Community School of Davidson is in Meck County near the Cabarrus County line but the 1A school is only a 44 mile drive.
Post additions or corrections.
Current 1A and 2A schools located in bordering counties plus Rowan that have football programs.
Stanly: AHS, North, South. 2A: West.
Union: UA. 2A: Forest Hills, CATA (no football this season, unsure of future).
Anson
Cabarrus: Mount Pleasant.
Davidson: South. 2A: Central, East, West, North, Ledford, Oak Grove, Lexington, Thomasville,
Rowan: North. 2A: South, Salisbury.
Community School of Davidson is in Meck County near the Cabarrus County line but the 1A school is only a 44 mile drive.
Post additions or corrections.
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The talk has been when west and east combine Chatham will come back into our non football conferences. Personally I would love a split conference 1a/2a
Would not have guessed that so many Davidson County schools are 2A. North Davidson was 4A for many years as its catchment area included the southern suburbs of Winston-Salem. Has it lost that many students? Also, you have South Davidson listed as 1A and 2A.
Thanks for the catch on South. Should have listed them as Denton High School for nostalgia. Albemarle scrimmaged them a few times in the 1980's and played Central around 1983 and 1984.
Kind of an issue but North was moved to 2A on the new alignment. Last year Oak Grove had only freshman and sophomore classes so North Davidson did not lose students from their junior and senior classes. This year their seniors are ones that went through all four years. Next year, they will be at their "new" numbers and Oak Grove will be at their full enrollment. Basically North Davidson had 3A numbers last year but played 2A. I say that because they had not lost students from the "varsity" classes (11 and 12).
If u look at the history of the Stanly Cup (94’ 95’ can’t remember when it started) West won it first an had 7 or 8 in a row then Albemarle got hot an won it back to back several years then West got it back a few years then the went around from Albemarle to North back to West I don’t think South has ever won it but West an Albemarle are on the cup 20+ times combined I remember in 97 at West both AHS an WS were undefeated goin into that game an it was standing room only I think attendance numbers were 4500 + that night Yea north an Albemarle has been a rivalry for decades but since the Stanly Cup started the best rivalry was an has been Albemarle an West