It's been interesting to see some of the teams in the Mahoning valley use these last 3 games as a chance to play some more equal opponents. Teams like Waterloo, Sebring, and East Palestine are playing close games against competition more in line with their current talent level. It has to spark some enthusiasm among the players and fans of those teams who usually go into games completely outmatched. Do you think in the future we might see the regular season shortened to 8 or 9 games which would allow for teams who did not make the playoffs to play each other during weeks 9, 10, maybe even 11? I know Western PA has a version of this already.
Was at the Waterloo-Windham game. No doubt about it. That game mattered to the kids on both sides. And that win meant a lot for them.
To give an example of another state:
In New York, the state has a ten game season. The state playoffs are three weeks. Only teams that qualify for the state playoffs can play more than ten games. However, the state is split into 11 Sections, and to determine which team wins their section, they started sectional playoffs. However, the state won't let them play any more games. So the sections carved their games out of the 10 game season.
in Section 6, which is the Buffalo area (far west NY), the section plays a 7 game season and three rounds of playoffs. If you don't make the playoffs or lose, you can play up to three more games during the ten game season schedule. Many schools will play at least one additional game. Sometimes a rivalry matchup that didn't get played. Sometimes just winless teams wanting to extend things. Due to official availability, a lot of NY consolation games get played on Wednesday or Thursday night. Or Saturday for stadiums without lights.
A few years ago, Springville Griffith was 0-7, and scheduled three games. The first was at Tonawanda. I was at that game. They lost in the rain, 14-7. But were competitive. The next week, they played at East Aurora/Holland. They were competitive, but was 14-7. At least better than the regular season matchups. Unfortunately, their third consolation game didn't go as well as the first two. They played at Alden, who were also 0-9. They had lost 9-6 and 51-34 in other consolation games. The final game of the season was on a Tuesday in Alden, and Alden won their first game of the season on their last try: 50-22.
It might not be much. But two 0-9 teams playing on a Tuesday still meant someone would win. And they did. And it made their season at least a little bit better.