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1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A- What's the difference?


AERoadrunners
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That is true. Like I said earlier. Some schools no matter what classification will do well in any classification. Some of the elite 5A schools will still be elite if these lower classification schools come up. But the fact is that some smaller classification can compete with any school. Therefore you can't use classification as a justification of saying one school would thrash another. It should be based on individual teams. I think that is where AEroadrunner was going with that. A couple of years ago Maryville would have played well with any body.

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I've thought the same thing a time or two myself. I can't remember the exact year, but for instance, Trousdale Co. had a team in the 90's that I thought "might"

could beat any team in the state. Including Vandy LOL just kidding. That same year though Pearl Cohn had players that now are either playing in or getting shots at the pros. So I've had to tend to rethink my position before I get my heart ahead of my head. If AE and Riverdale played (a real game, my little ole' 3A has had some success in scrimmages) for the next 20 years, I'll bet my savings that Riverdale would win at least 17 of them. As a matter of fact if AE (at the level they are now, which I consider a very good 3A team) played each of the top 4 teams in 4A and 5A for the next several years I would bet they would have a losing record. That's how much difference I think there is between classes. Good luck to all.

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There are years where a lower classification state champ could beat a higher classification state champ. I am biased but I think Maryville in 1998 and 2002 could have beaten the 5A champion.We will never know though. I think the 5A champ in 2000(Red Bank) and 2001(Riverdale) would have beaten anyone in the state. Those teams were loaded. I think Maryville in 2001 would have given Riverdale a much better game than Hendersonville did though.

 

Alcoa 2A state champs in 2000 did beat Maryville 4A state champs in 2000 14-7.

 

 

I thought the 2 best teams in 1996 were 5A Brentwood Academy and 3A Melrose. I would have loved to see them 2 teams square off.

 

In higher classifications there are more good teams. That is why 5A is tougher than 4A,4A is tougher than 3A,3A is tougher than 2A and 2A is better than 1A.

 

Here is an Example.

 

Fulton was a great team last year. This is not a slight to them. They deserve their state title.

 

Here is who Fulton beat in the playoffs.

 

Sullivan North

Seymour

AE

Macon County

Covington

 

Here is who Oak Ridge had to beat to get to Mufreesboro. Didn't get it done vs Riverdale.

 

Sevier County

Jefferson County

Dobyns Bennett

Riverdale

 

You can see that Oak Ridge had much tougher teams to play in the playoffs.

 

Maryville's playoff opponents were much tougher than Fulton's but not as tough as Oak Ridge

 

Rhea County

Chatt Central

Knox Central

MOWest

 

 

Who knows. Fulton might have had a good enough team to get to Murfreesboro in 5A.

 

 

What Riverdale has accomplished in 5A the last several years is amazing. They have a great program. When Maryville moves up I hope the Rebels and Warriors play each other every year in the semifinals.

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I agree that football is football but I do also agree with the fact that the larger schools have the advantage of depth to wear down smaller schools. Also size and speed are easier to obtain from a larger number of enrollees. BUT when I get upset is when someone tells a small school person that they cannot compete in college in DIV 1 because they have attended a small school and just can't compete with the big boys. Then - the statement of football is football is TRUE. No matter what the division - the game is the same. If someone is good on a small school team, 1A - 5 AAAAA or Div 11 A thru AAA they are good period. They can still play the same game - anywhere they are and colleges sometimes misses that point. True the smaller schools don't have the money and the equipment, etc., that large schools do but I think that the small school player has the advantage of wanting to prove themselves more - it is just that the college recruiters will not give them the chance sometimes. But football is like the rest of the world, money and numbers talk - every once in a while a players gets the chance - but it is rare. Maybe one day the colleges will see this cause they miss out on a lot of good players by just visiting larger schools. It is a shame though that great players have to put football (where they play) before everything else if they want a chance at a scholarship from a Div 1 school. There are MANY schools, Div 1 and 11 that are quality schools and that would offer the student so much more but if they are good at football - they have to overlook those - to have a chance at a scholarship in Div 1, usually. That is so wrong and bad for the student but thats the way it is.

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AEroadrunner. Just save this post. AE scrimmages Maryville, central and Oak Ridge this summer. When they see AE's depth at line and of course skill position they will see what you were saying. I remember a lot of people didn't know what we had until they scrimmaged Maryville last year. Then it seemed that AE program got respect. And that team was not one of AE's better teams. But Maryville program and fans have credibility and by gaining respect from them we got a little from the rest of the area. A lot of people think AE is the old AE from the past. Their not. Coach Stevens is in total control of his kids and coaches. They are very discipline and hard working. This year team has line depth. Oh yeah I remember AE playing Riverdale in a passing league at Tennessee Tech a couple of years ago. They beat them by 2 or more touchdowns. They just ran by them beep beep.

Yeah...that passing league win means you would pound them...right? We had a 3-way scrimmage with Riverdale and Marion County a few years ago. With just backs and receivers...we actually did better than them. In lineman drills...we held our own. When we lined up for a few series scrimmage...I don't think we gained a yard. Even at that...scrimmages and passing leagues mean nothing on how good you will be.

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  • 14 years later...

I play for a 2a school, were in a very small town but very sports oriented and we have 87 players on our team AND right now we are ranked 19 in the state, remember were a 2a school. On top of that we just played a 5a school and skunked them 35-0, so uhh no it dont really matter what div. Your in and someone said something about the size of the o line, we have 4 300 pounders on ours..

Edited by Ty65
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It's as simple as math. You can argue depth, money, ect… all day and be right about all of it, but to simplify it...

Eleven players on the field on any given play, no matter the classification (I get your point). Compare it to poker...seven card stud. All players show down five cards of the seven...even odds between all players.

Now lets say that you get the standard seven cards, but I get ten to make my hand of five...you are going to win some hands, but at the end of the night I'm going to have all your money.

Bigger enrollment equals more sheer numbers to select from to put the best eleven on the field every play...simple.

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A bigger school should have the advantage. Bigger schools usually come with a larger talent pool, more depth, more coaches, more money, etc. 

 

I will say this, usually when you have an real good 1-3A school it's comprised of a lot of 3 even 4 year starters. And these kids usually play together since they join football in flag or youth tackle leagues. This familiarity and experience can make for an advantage because at bigger schools you usually only start a year or two and you could be playing with a lot of kids you didn't grow up with

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The lower the level (Youth, middle school & high school) the more important coaching becomes.  Often times the smaller 1A schools only have 3 or 4 coaches on the staff and your lucky if those guys played beyond high school.  Someone can only coach/teach what they know and if they have never been exposed to high quality coaching they cannot deliver high quality coaching.  If you look closely most all of the successful D2AAA programs have a staff where almost everyone played in college and some even played in the NFL.  It truly makes a difference.

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On 9/8/2018 at 7:26 PM, tradertwo said:

It's as simple as math. You can argue depth, money, ect… all day and be right about all of it, but to simplify it...

Eleven players on the field on any given play, no matter the classification (I get your point). Compare it to poker...seven card stud. All players show down five cards of the seven...even odds between all players.

Now lets say that you get the standard seven cards, but I get ten to make my hand of five...you are going to win some hands, but at the end of the night I'm going to have all your money.

Bigger enrollment equals more sheer numbers to select from to put the best eleven on the field every play...simple.

The difference is when a good bigger school uses different players on both sides of the ball and rotates quality replacements in an out.  It would be like a boxer fighting 2 fights in one night.

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On 9/8/2018 at 3:09 PM, Ty65 said:

I play for a 2a school, were in a very small town but very sports oriented and we have 87 players on our team AND right now we are ranked 19 in the state, remember were a 2a school. On top of that we just played a 5a school and skunked them 35-0, so uhh no it dont really matter what div. Your in and someone said something about the size of the o line, we have 4 300 pounders on ours..

This thread was started when you were 3 or 4 years old, lmbo.

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On 9/8/2018 at 6:26 PM, tradertwo said:

It's as simple as math. You can argue depth, money, ect… all day and be right about all of it, but to simplify it...

Eleven players on the field on any given play, no matter the classification (I get your point). Compare it to poker...seven card stud. All players show down five cards of the seven...even odds between all players.

Now lets say that you get the standard seven cards, but I get ten to make my hand of five...you are going to win some hands, but at the end of the night I'm going to have all your money.

Bigger enrollment equals more sheer numbers to select from to put the best eleven on the field every play...simple.

Size of the talent pool definitely matters. If you have more quality depth, you can sub more players in and out over the course of the game, and let me tell you, it makes a BIG difference in the 4th quarter. We won a state championship doing exactly that in 2013, and I'm not sure we had a single 'great' player on the team, just a whole bunch of really good ones. 

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