MVP’s Top 10 Programs of the Decade: Nos. 9-10
By Adam Adkins
The decade is just about over. That means one thing in this age of know-it-all writers like me.
Best of the decade lists. And I’ve got a good one.
I am counting down MVP’s Top 10 Football Programs of the Decade. (Read here to see if your school is in our coverage area. Fair warning, if you play in Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleveland, you probably aren’t here.)
I wanted to do this because it’d be fun, first off. Figuring out who was truly the best for our area was a tough task, and everyone has an opinion.
But this is my project and we’re playing by my rules. These are the conditions I chose to determine the Top 10:
1- Got Rings?
State Championships are the goal, are they not? That’s why the boys suit up and sweat all August long, so they can shiver in November up in Canton. In football, particularly high school football, deep playoff runs tend to separate the weak from the mighty.
There is a good reason why Tippecanoe rarely makes a run in the postseason. There’s also a good reason why Marion Local does it routinely.
It’s not all luck.
The top programs in this countdown will be the ones that have not only advanced deep into November, but have survived it. If you want to be in my top 5, you better have a ring. Or two. Or three.
Championships are how we define our sports. Even in situations where titles don’t necessarily represent the best team–like MLB–we still label a player/coach/team a success based on one thing…Have you ever won it all?
It’s especially true for football, and again, even more apparent at the high school level. Lots of factors are in play when a team makes a deep playoff run.
For starters, it’s Ohio, which means it’s colder than you know what. That means, as the cliché goes, the hits hurt worse, all of that.
That’s true, but the bigger issue can be keeping muscles and ligaments loose. It’s tough for any player to keep from cramping up. And cramps, in case you’ve never had one, aren’t fun.
By the Regional Final, surviving teams will have likely played 12 games. Both teams will be tired and sore. But there’s another factor.
Chances are, both teams will be close to or facing the best team of their season.
So, it’s cold, you can’t stay loose, everything hurts and your exhausted. The reward?
The best team you’ve faced all year.
So yeah, titles are important, and they are my far and away #1 criteria.
2-Making It To November And Making Some Noise
You can’t do #1 without #2. Making the playoffs on a consistent basis is an excellent way to determine the quality of a program.
But, winning playoff games is even better.
It’s terrific that the aforementioned Tipp makes the postseason nearly every year. It’s an accomplishment. Lots of teams can’t even do that.
But we’re searching for the best.
And the best don’t lose in the first or second round.
No, they win games. Maybe not titles, but advancing out of a team’s region is a serious achievement and I absolutely gave team’s credit for doing so.
3-How Many Games Did You Win This Decade, Anyway?
This is the last one I’ll give you, and it’s #3 (read: least important) for a specific reason. I’ll get to that.
Figuring out a team’s overall win-loss record (Playoff Record + Regular Season Record) is a nice way to clear out some fat in a pile of research this large. Why?
I have no room for a team that lost more than they won, obviously. But what about a team that went, oh, 64-56?
It depends on context. Versailles and Milton-Union have similar regular season records (both are over .500, but just barely). Versailles won 8 more games, but when we remember who both teams consistently played, that number can mean a great deal more.
Milton-Union is of course an SWBL team. No offense to the SWBL, but it’s hardly…well, you know.
Versailles plays in the MAC. And it is full of powerhouses. It literally is the difference between Eaton, Valley View and Brookville as opposed to Marion Local, Coldwater and Delphos. Not hard, is it?
See what I mean? Versailles won more games against better competition. That’s a death blow if the argument boiled down to Milton-Union versus Versailles.
Now, the pendulum can swing backwards. Covington lost a stunning 11 games this decade in the regular season. Pretty amazing, right?
Not really.
Covington plays in the less-than-challenging Cross County Conference, which harbors teams like National Trail (remember how they snapped a 20+ game losing streak recently?), Bradford (they routinely won 1 game a year, a defeat usually of Trail), Mississinawa Valley, Tri-County North, and Twin Valley South.
Hmm.
Context is important.
There were other factors, but those three above were the important ones. I’ll highlight some others as we roll on.
Anyway, that’s how the pudding was made. So, without further adieu…
#10: Versailles Tigers
- 1 State Championship (2003)
- 1 Runner Up (2004)
- 3 Playoff Appearances
- Regular Season Record Of 59-41
- Playoff Record Of 9-3
- Overall Record Of 68-44
I spent a great deal of time deciding if Versailles deserved to make the list at all. That State Championship and the subsequent 2nd place finish were hard to overlook of course, but so are the other two rather eye-popping stats.
Versailles only made the playoffs 3 times?
I was surprised. I knew the Tiger program had faltered after legendary head coach Al Hetrick unofficially officially joined his son, Mike, at Brookville. But, before 2003, the Tigers didn’t exactly light the world on fire.
From 2000 to ’03, they won a whopping 18 games out of a possible 30. Hardly a bad showing, but it doesn’t stand up to the reputation Versailles has. In fact, going 59-41 in the regular season isn’t really a chip in their favor, either.
The defining reason they are on this list is obvious. Context played a major role for Versailles making it. I knew they had to be in the discussion—the ’03 to ’04 run is impressive—but by no means were they a lock.
The overall record is okay, hardly a rousing accomplishment. (Wait until you see what awaits in terms of overall record.)
Only reaching November three times is frankly unimpressive. In fact, out of all the teams I researched, it was the lowest figure for playoff appearances.
Before you decide that they stink and I’m an idiot for having them here, let’s remember one important thing: their league. The MAC is a freakin’ mine field.
Nearly every single year they face at least 4 perennially excellent teams – Marion Local, Coldwater, St. Johns and St. Henry – all of which made this list. That’s a major factor. They kept their nose above water and even had some success while playing in what was arguably the toughest conference in the state, and what was without question the toughest for our coverage area.
The context of their situation and the state championship kept Versailles on the list, but it was very, very close, and they could’ve easily not made it. Make that state championship a state semifinals appearance and they become an honorable mention.
But I weigh titles very highly, and that’s why Versailles is #10.
#9: Piqua Indians
- 1 State Championship (2006)
- 1 Runner Up (2000)
- 4 Playoff Appearances
- Regular Season Record Of 59-41
- Playoff Record Of 11-4
- Overall Record Of 70-45
Very similar to Versailles, the Piqua Indians are here because of their magical 2006 season, where they rampaged to a nifty 13-2 overall record and a State Championship.
Piqua has the context factor working in their favor. The GWOC is solid, and Piqua residing there means they on occasion play teams from the bigger divisions, like Northmont, Wayne and Centerville.
Piqua doesn’t have a sterling overall record, but it’s better than Versailles, and they reached the playoffs once more. No, it’s not a big margin, but the difference between these early teams are inches. Considering both have equally impressive playoff runs and nearly identical records, it came down to that one appearance.
Looking at Piqua, the 2006 season easily transcends the others, for a multitude of reasons. Making their first playoff appearance since 2001’s round 2 exit, the Indians finished 8-2 in the regular season, mustering the 7th seed in the playoffs. Consider also they won just 15 games in the last three years.
They faced the second seeded Toledo Central Catholic Fighting Irish, and not only upset them, they pounded them by 19 points. To say it was a surprise was adequate. (Never mind the puzzling question of why a team from Toledo is playing a team 2 hours to their south in round 1.)
The run didn’t end there. The week after, they repeated the performance by pummeling 10-game winner Wapakoneta, 40-21. Another surprising 19-point victory over a higher seeded team.
It was a fun story. Had I been writing about high school football at the time, I’d have likely said something along the lines of, “Great story, it’s gonna end this weekend, give me Ashland by 21.”
Alas, Piqua did it again. In the Region 6 Final, facing a talented Ashland team, not only did the Indians win, they threw a shutout, 27-0.
They’d win their next two games by a combined score of 48-16, and claim the 2006 D-II State Championship in the process, capping an unexpected run that finished with a stunning defeat of the excellent Pickerington Central Tigers.
But how? Piqua’s a decent program, sure, but they weren’t coming off the heels of a great run. Was it just luck?
Yeah, maybe. But great stories make football fun. The Indians came out of nowhere, caught fire and raised a banner. Did we mention tradition? Or Brandon Saine? Mr. Football?
Those things matter.
Piqua couldn’t reasonably be higher than this on the list, but I feel comfortable having them past Versailles.
Nos. 7-8 released tomorrow…
Adam maintains his blog, www.adamadkins.net, and can be reached at adamdadkins@gmail.com.
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