Our Final(s) Thoughts, Not Yours

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• Duffy resigned today.

  • If true, not surprising.

    • Why do u say that

      • Exactly. I was told many times this was his last season.

        • Cupboard is bare.

        • Not a shock at all, more thank likely will be Derek Anderson taking over

      • It’s been somewhat known he would step down after this season.

• Chris, why do you hate the Catholic Schools so much?

  • He sent his daughter to Gabriel Richard.
    Doubt he hates catholic schools.

    • Thanks Gary.

• Thanks guys for a great year on the blog.
  Look forward to next year.
  By the way, OL stands for Ottawa Lake.
  I think!

• Gary,

  Which is somewhat of our point on JLC. JLC comes to the table with 70 guys, Clinton, Grass Lake, or SMCC even comes with 25 to 30 max. Lumen outmanned Clinton at nearly every position up front. 2 D1 commits on the line of a D7 team is un heard of. To an extent its a resource deficiency. Clinton's tight ends were 170 and 210 lbs. Lumens DE's are division 1 football players (one going to CMU, the other to Cincy). That is a tough ask to compete with. But at the end of the day it is what it is. Clinton has had some great teams eliminated by SMCC, GRWC and now Lumen. MHSAA has made it very clear that no changes will occur. The small guys will have to find a way and hope for some breaks. You all do a great job on here, our kids wait for Franks video picks everytime we play a Monroe County team. Thank you all for a great season!

• Chris.....Forest Hills has three high schools.
  FHC, Forest Hills Northern and Forest Hills Eastern.
  FHC and FHN are both in Grand Rapids
  FHE is in Ada
  South Christian is technically in Byron Center, but still uses the Grand Rapids name.

• I think it is time for the MHSAA to put the private schools in their own tournament and the public schools in their own tournament.

  • Why ?

  • I'm not necessarily a fan of that, but many states do that. Texas is one and I believe Virginia does as well.

• How is JLC hiding?

  • They had 70 kids dressed with 15 coaches on a division 7 football team. Can you name another D7 team that comes to the table with that? It is well known throughout Jackson County that they pull the premier talent from all 13 districts within the county. I'm sure they work hard and coach hard, but when you start every year with an all-star team going nearly undefeated with a D3/D4 schedule then drop to D7 for playoffs, its not equitable. That is my take at least.

    • There are a lot of ways to look at this sort of thing.

      You have to ask yourself, if JLC wasnt a ultra successful program, would people still want them playing up?
      In other words, should Riverview Gabriel Richard be playing up?

      Its likely because they are successful that people want them up... not because they are a private school.
      You have to be honest there.

      If thats the case, then you have to look at all the ultra successful programs, to include the public schools.
      Should Muskegon move up to D1? Whiteford D6? What do you do with Belleville in D1?
      Nobody was complaining about Ithaca and Pewamo, when they were unbeatable for many years.

      Then you have to ask yourself, why are these kids going to schools like JLC?
      Is it because they are an excellent program already and the other Jackson area schools are not?

      Many districts have school of choice.. kids can almost start their high school days anywhere.

      I agree, JLC does not have a D7 roster, but you have to ask yourself why.

      To add, JLC doesnt steam roll teams, they have had some very competitive games in the playoffs.
      If they were winning by 30 points, I would be included in thinking they should move up.
      And likely, if they had moved up, they would have won D6 as well.

      • Gary, you make a very valid point with other catholic programs like Riverview for example. The success that Lumen has had at all levels cannot be disputed. As their enrollment has declined they have won titles in all divisions (5,6,7). Being a Clinton guy also and having watched Clinton play SMCC, Pontiac NDP and Lumen Christi over the years it is clear that they are an elevated talent every year. Lumen in my opinion would have given NDP all they wanted this year and it wouldn't surprise me if they beat them. Having witnessed Clinton take on SMCC 8 or 9 times over the years there were times were SMCC was a superior team and beat some of our really good teams. Our best team in school history (my opinion) beat SMCC 14 to 10 on a last minute hail marry. That SMCC team was good, but not the best we have faced over the years. Watching Lumen physically decimate these small D7 teams the last two years has been rough to watch for some of these communities. Clinton had chances to win this year against them, but Lumen was physically superior. I don't know the best answer, but I feel in Lumen's case that team is not a D7 football team, not even close. Its a perfect problem in an imperfect system.

        • Even SMCC is trying to figure out how to compete with JLC.... and Riverview for that matter.

          Starts in the weight room.. In order to beat a team like JLC, it can never be done with smoke and mirrors.

          They rely on their Johnny and Joes to be better than yours. Simple formations. Toss right, Toss left, I formation - Iso's.
          Simple football, but effective when you have the horses. I mean, if they ever ran a naked boot,
          or reverse off the toss, there would never be anyone back side.
          I'm glad they didnt in 2014, because SMCC had to sell out to "stop" Willis on the toss.
          But they dont have to. They are disciplined and stay the course.

    • Well said.

      • Thanks, guys for the great coverage each week.

        I am undecided about private schools being separated for playoffs. I think Schools of choice has gone along way to leveling the playng field.

        I know my alma mater Clinton could have won more playoff games without facing the likes of MSMCC, JLC, or GRCC. At the same time, several of their most memorable wins have been over those schools. So, I go back and forth.

        Again, thanks to the FNV area coaches and athletes, and your coverage of them, for another fine season.