Whats a new HS to do?

[ttech10]

Ok I am seeing alot of people saying that Cinco Ranch is overated. Which they very well might be. We will all find out this Saturday. But my question for this thread is: What is a new High School such as Cinco Ranch and other new schools aka Seven Lakes to do about scheduling to earn some respect? I know this isnt college football and I know that computers wont be determining who will be playing in the Texas State Championship games. But what should a new school do to earn respect from fans and other HS football programs? New schools arent able to schedule powerhouse teams such as Katy playing against Woodlands or Lufkin playing against Woodlands, i.e. The powerhouse teams playing other powerhouse teams. So I was thinking about the problems with trying to schedule one of these teams. I may be wong about this so correct me if I am wrong. I think it takes two to three years to schedule a non-district team. So if a new school has just opened and they are naturally thinking "ok we wont be state contenders right out of the gate, so lets schedule some mediocre to easy games to boost the players confidence and gain some momentum going into the district season." So if a team such as Cinco who has only had one winning season to date, 2004-2005, and they would be scheduling the 2006-2007 season in 2003-2004 or 2004-2005.

So when is it that a team takes a chance to play against a powerhouse?

and that is just the first problem. Then you have the problem of a powerhouse team saying "Why would we want to waste one of two or three non-district games against a program that has only had one winning season or a brand new team?"

So if you cant get a powerhouse team to play against you, what do you do?

I do realize this might come off as a rant but I would seriously like to hear some opinions on what you would do.

[FarmerFootballPlayer]

You could try to throw together some kind of pre-season scrimmage if scheduling real games really does take that long.

[The Dude]

Actually, a lot of "powerhouses" play "scrubs" in their predistrict schedule. Go look at the majority of the powerhouses this year and their schedules, I bet more so than not, they have atleast 1 "scrub" or "non-powerhouse" on their schedule. So the difficulty of getting a powerhouse team to play you is not the case, just don't be waiting around at the end of the scheduling part of every other year and hope to find someone because most "powerhouses" have their schedules solidified from the early going.

And even if your theory was correct, "what is a school to do?"...Make the playoffs and beat good teams when you get the chance to play them. That's how you earn respect.

[KT2000]

I would say a good formula for newer schools is to try and schedule as many playoff teams as possible in non-district to give the players a taste for what they would see in the post-season, as well as a challenging game that will have them better prepared to battle in district. I don't think you necessarily have to go out and schedule the perennial powers.

[Humblefied]

I would say a good formula for newer schools is to try and schedule as many playoff teams as possible in non-district to give the players a taste for what they would see in the post-season, as well as a challenging game that will have them better prepared to battle in district. I don't think you necessarily have to go out and schedule the perennial powers.

I concur. Go out and get some team that is going to end up second or third in district and put them on ur schedule. Maybe do that for two games. You need at least one game to be a total blow-off game where you know ur going to kill them.

[zippy]

Actually, a lot of "powerhouses" play "scrubs" in their predistrict schedule. Go look at the majority of the powerhouses this year and their schedules, I bet more so than not, they have atleast 1 "scrub" or "non-powerhouse" on their schedule. So the difficulty of getting a powerhouse team to play you is not the case, just don't be waiting around at the end of the scheduling part of every other year and hope to find someone because most "powerhouses" have their schedules solidified from the early going.

And even if your theory was correct, "what is a school to do?"...Make the playoffs and beat good teams when you get the chance to play them. That's how you earn respect.

It is kind of difficult to find teams to play when you are considered a powerhouse. Right now in 5A its difficult to get a schedule period. I know at SV they had Permian scheduled but had to change. The Woodlands were the only good team out there, and they thought Spring was going to be better than they were. Another thing to consider is when you schedule a team, you might think they will be a certain way (good/average/bad), and by the time you play, they could be totally opposite than expected. I agree, all you can do as a new team is beat who ever you play, make the playoffs, and at the very least win the Region. Once you do this a time or two, the respect will follow.

[unbiasedobserver]

I think a lot of it is dependent on how well your fans attend games both at home and away. Not only are the powerhouses looking for competition, but they want a full stadium. More attendance equals more money.

[twhfan#1]

I think a lot of it is dependent on how well your fans attend games both at home and away. Not only are the powerhouses looking for competition, but they want a full stadium. More attendance equals more money.

everything on this thread is true --- but another factor to consider is that coaching is the ultimate " good ole boy " network . In other words it is up to the head coach to schedule the non-district games ( on a 2 year cycle ) -- so if the HC has contacts & respect among his peers -- it helps to get a good schedule --- bottom line that is how a non-district sched is made ( with the excetion of the showcase games in week zero -- the game promoters shedule those )

[Phoenixrising05]

I think you're worried too much about scheduling powerhouses. To me it's fairly simple: beat Katy and you'll get noticed. Then go into playoffs and make some noise. You don't have to play killer schedules like The Woodlands to win. Carroll has won state 3 of the last 4 years but looking at their pre-season/regular season schedule, you won't see many tough games. Yet it hasn't hurt them too bad come playoff time! Concentrate on a solid win against the Tigers and that'll be Cinco's first step to the big-times.

[KT2000]

The big difference between Carroll and Cinco is that Carroll is obviously a very well-established program like Katy with a ton of tradition and big game experience.

Cinco's only played in one playoff game since they started in 2000. How are you going to learn how to compete with the better teams if you don't play against them? In Cinco's case, they need big game experience in a bad way and you can get a taste of that by going after a playoff team or two in non-district.

I don't think Cinco's overrated. They are still a new program that's trying to grow up and establish itself. It takes a while to build that experience, and it's definitely not something that usually happens within 5 to 10 years for a new school.

[78 Spartan]

Experience and tradition are nice to have, but not necessary. New schools can win the state championship, as has been proven by Brazoswood, Stratford, and West Brook.

What is more important is team confidence. The trick for the newer school is how to convince itself that it is good enough to be there. Katy and Lufkin and North Shore, etc. etc. don't have to convince themselves. They know.

It's like an average golfer who is playing above his head, when he realizes he might to break 80 for the first time, his lack of confidence will always kick in and he will revert back to being mediocre. Success starts with believing, which is a lot different than hoping.

You need a breakthrough game to create team confidence.

In the early years at Stratford, we had a measuring stick. We played Port Neches-Groves to begin every year. They were Region III champs four years in a row I believe, with a championship and a finalist team among those four. We knew if we could develop to the point where we could compete against them, we could win our district and make some noise in the playoffs. PNG beat our *** year after year, until my senior year we finally got them and it sent us on our way. And for about ten years we were regular fixtures in the playoffs with several more teams that went deep. (Demographics have since taken their toll).

Cinco Ranch has a similar huge opportunity every year: beat Katy and you are for real, and will begin to believe in yourselves. Good luck on Saturday.