MVP’s Top 10 Programs of the Decade: Nos. 7-8
By Adam Adkins
Nos. 9-10 & Intro
Today we continue our countdown of MVP’s Top Football Programs of the Decade…
#8: St. Marys Memorial Roughriders
- 1 State Runner-Up (2004)
- 7 Playoff Appearances
- Regular Season Record Of 77-23
- Playoff Record Of 7-7
- Overall Record Of 84-30
St. Marys Memorial had a fine decade. Not a truly awesome one—they are 8th after all—but only losing 30 games all decade is something to be proud of. There are schools that lose 30 games in 3 to 4 years.
The playoff record isn’t sterling, no, but they rarely were beaten by bad teams, which eases that blow. 7-7 means they often won in round 1, too.
Some of you might not know the name, but twice St. Marys ran into Sunbury Big Walnut—that’s the name of the school, seriously—and lost twice, but neither time they were blown out. Big Walnut won the state title in 2007.
But I’ll be frank with you. What separates St. Marys from Versailles and Piqua is the 7 playoff appearances and the substantially better record—the gap between losing 30 games versus 45 and 44 is quite a bit. I love that each brought home a title, but neither had anything approaching consistent success like St. Marys did.
It leads me to a question a lot of baseball writers ask. Peak or Career? Basically, it boils down to the question of a long, dependable but only good production versus a short period of excellent production but little longevity.
Versailles and Piqua both had a far better peak, but man, being a Tiger or Indian fan wasn’t great at times. If you followed the Roughriders, only 3 times did your team fail to make the dance. If nothing else, those things equal each other. Remember, make Versailles or Piqua’s titles anything but and they struggle to make the list.
That said, St. Marys needed to at least have one year where their flame burned hot.
2004’s state runner up was the year. They did lose by 13 to a terrific Cleveland Benedictine team in the final, but getting that far is an accomplishment of its own.
The overall record isn’t deceiving either. Their conference is at least solid, and at best a darn tough place to live. The Western Buckeye League has some talent in it.
For one, Kenton’s a heck of a team with a sterling playoff reputation, including winning consecutive state titles in 2001 and 2002 (Note: They are not in our defined area, sorry Wildcat fans).
Ottawa-Glandorf is a consistent playoff contenders. Defiance can be formidable.
Basically, in order to rank St. Marys ahead of Versailles and Piqua, I had to ask myself if being a fan of theirs was more entertaining and gratifying than following the other two.
And I’d say it was, overall. That’s why the Roughriders are a fine fit to be #8.
#7: Dayton Carroll Patriots
- 2-Time State Semi Finalist (2004, 2005)
- 7 Playoff Appearances
- Regular Season Record Of 75-25
- Playoff Record Of 9-7
- Overall Record Of 84-32
I like to think of Carroll as an improved version of St. Marys. They lost fewer games—St. Marys didn’t always play 10 full games in a couple seasons—and won more in the postseason.
Now, you’re thinking: it’s two games. Carroll won two more games and you put them ahead?
Yes. (And other reasons.)
But let’s go over this. Two more wins in the postseason is more important and valuable than more wins in the regular season. If you look at St. Marys playoff resume, they got past the second round only once.
This isn’t a big difference—remember how I said the gap here is only inches?—but Carroll did it twice. That’s how close these teams are. Two more state appearances wins for Carroll.
But that’s not all. I said that I liked St. Marys conference from a competition stand point, and I do.
But wait until you see who Carroll gets to play every year. (Little hint: one is the current two-time defending D-IV state champions, and the other is a former D-II state champion.)
Playing Kettering Alter and Chaminade-Julienne every year isn’t fun, guys. It sucks, actually. Now, of course, Carroll joined the GCL in 2006, and before that you might be wondering who they typically played. Here we go.
In 2004, a year they finished 12-2 overall, Carroll played the following in the regular season:
- (9-4) CJ
- (7-3) Edgewood
- (10-2) Springboro
- (8-3) Bishop Fenwick
- (5-5) Miamisburg
- (5-5) Lebanon
- (7-3) Fairborn
And 3 nobodies. That’s 7 games that can be called challenging. Pretty nice schedule, no? It stayed more or less the same up until joining the GCL.
If you give Carroll a state ring, they leap up into CJ-St. Henry territory. Both of those teams have interesting cases and I won’t make them now—come back in a few days—but that shows how strong Carroll really was.
Their strength of schedule impressed me, and it made the Patriots an easy choice for #7. Not good enough to crack top 6, but enough value to push past Versailles, Piqua and St. Marys.
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