A Don McCormack column: Who played the toughest schedule?

DON McCORMACK
Star Beacon

November 04, 2009 03:22 am

— Paying another visit to the variety store...

Schedule stuff
A Loyal Reader dropped me a few lines yesterday and asked if now that the 2009 high school football season for the 10 area squads have come to a conclusion if I could revisit our look at the strength of schedule for each team.
Not being a rocket scientist nor a math wiz, my stone age formula is simple, cut and dried... basic — the combined won-lost record for the opponents of each area team.
So, without further ado, using my elementary, my dear Watson formula, here’s the data the Loyal Reader requested, going from the most difficult to the least difficult:
n 1. Jefferson. Coach Jimmy Henson’s Falcons played 10 opponents that put up a combined record of 56-44 (.560) this season.
n 2. Riverside. The Beavers of coach Ryan Wolf were just a game off the pace of the Falcons as their 10 opponents went a collective 55-45 (.550) this fall.
n 3. Madison. No wonder coach Tim Willis’ Blue Streaks began the 2009 season with six consecutive losses — their 10 opponents were a combined 54-46 (.540) this season.
n 4. Lakeside. Coach Bill Lipps got the job three days... OK, it was three weeks, but it seemed like three days, before the season started and the schedule his Dragons faced wasn’t exactly chopped liver. Lakeside’s 10 opponents broke even — 50-50 (.500) — this season.
n 5. Pymatuning Valley. Coach Jason Root’s Lakers played in the Northeastern Athletic Conference, whose teams are not large in terms of roster size, but don’t lack for talent. PV’s 10 opponents went 49-50 (.495) this season (NAC champion Southington played only 9 games this season).
n 6. Perry. Playing in the rugged Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division, the only surprise here is that the Pirates are not higher on this list. However, coach Matt Rosati’s squad played opponents that went 49-51 this season (.490).
n 7. Conneaut. The opponents of coach Ken Parise’s Spartans went a collective 46-53 (.465) this season (like PV, Conneaut played Southington, which played only 9 games this season).
n 8. Geneva. This is what cost the coach Tony Hassett’s Eagles a spot in the playoffs this fall — their 10 opponents going a combined 44-56 (.440) this season.
n 9. Edgewood. The fact the opponents of coach Joe

Kearney’s Warriors were a collective 35-64 (.354) this season takes absolutely nothing away from the excitement generated by the seven-win season put on the board by the Warriors. Edgewood’s Week 4 opponent, Richmond Heights, played only nine games this season.
n 10. Grand Valley. OK, the Mustangs’ 10 opponents were a nondescript 31-68 (.313) season. However, coach Tom Henson’s sophomore-laden Mustangs doubled their victory total from 2008 (3) this fall and with an impressive list of returnees coming back next season, this is a program on the rise.

Flag day
While we’re on the subject of high school football, let’s take a look at some of the data in regards to penalties.
Here’s how the 10 area teams ranked in terms of number of penalties assessed, lowest to most:
n 1. Grand Valley — 40.
n 2. Conneaut — 45.
n 3. Madison — 46.
n T4. Perry and Pymatuning Valley — 49.
n 6. Geneva — 50.
n 7. Edgewood — 63.
n 8. Jefferson — 66.
n 9. Perry — 68.
n 10. Lakeside — 81.
Here’s how the area teams ranked in terms of number of penalty yardage assessed, least to most:
n 1. Grand Valley — 306.
n 2. Conneaut — 351.
n 3. Geneva — 361.
n 4. Pymatuning Valley — 363.
n 5. Madison — 392.
n 6. Riverside — 419.
n 7. Edgewood — 523.
n 8. Jefferson — 527.
n 9. Perry — 579.
n 10. Lakeside — 681.
Here’s how the area’s 10 teams ranked in terms of the average number of penalty yardage assessed per penalty, least to most:
n 1. Geneva — 7.2.
n 2. Pymatuning Valley — 7.4.
n 3. Grand Valley — 7.7.
n 4. Conneaut — 7.8.
n 5. Jefferson — 8.0.
n 6. Lakeside — 8.4.
n T7. Edgewood, Madison, Perry — 8.5.
n 10. Riverside — 8.6.
And finally, here’s some odds and ends:
n Congratulations go out to Henson’s young Mustangs, who were the least-penalized team in the area for the second straight season.
n Along those lines. GV’s zero-penalty performance in a Week 6 game against Ledgemont was the only such performance in the area this season.
n Jefferson’s 15 penalties against visiting Edgewood in Week 9 were the most times an area was flagged this season.
n Lakeside’s 135 yards assessed against in a Week 3 36-7 win at Edgewood on a Saturday night were the most by any area eleven this season.
n Edgewood was a magnet for drawing penalties out of the opposition. Jefferson’s 15 penalties (134 yards) and Lakeside’s 14 flags (135) — the two highest totals in each category — were piled up when the Falcons and the Dragons were playing against the Warriors.
n The 10 area teams were penalized 550 times during the season for 4,472 yards, an average of 5.5 penalties a game for an average of 8.1 yards per flag.
n The busiest week for area teams in being penalized was Week 9, when the 10 elevens were hit with 82 flags for 643 yards.

McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.

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