St. Thomas Aquinas Disaster?

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EddieMoney

New member
I am hearing they are losing a ton of players. Kids going back to McKinley and other schools. They may not have enough for a football team next year this kid who is on the team told me yesterday. Anyone hear this? Sounds crazy. Weren't they kinda deep in the playoffs?
 
 
Haven’t heard anything, but wouldn’t be the first time in the last 5 years where the program had very low numbers.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas won 2 DVI playoff games before running into the buzzsaw that was Springfield. Their best player, Burt, is graduating in a couple weeks. He was a heck of a playmaker for the Knights. He made my alma mater look silly when they played. There didn't appear to be much behind him on the roster though.

I don't know if this rumor of a mass exodus is true or not. I won't know until I see who's on the field in August. However, it's not beyond the realm of possibility. Don't forget that current McKinley AD Antonio Hall spent a year at St. Thomas Aquinas as Dean of Students and Assistant AD after McKinley hired Wattley. He may have had some kids follow him to St. Thomas Aquinas. By rule, the kids can transfer back to their home public district without having to sit.
 
STA was in D5 for many years through 2012. Then they dropped to D6 for a few years, then down to D7 for a couple, and now back to D6. So it seems like they have had declining enrollment over the last decade with a slight increase in 2020. Perhaps they were bumped back into D6 because of competitive balance?
 
Mr. Slippery said:
St. Thomas Aquinas won 2 DVI playoff games before running into the buzzsaw that was Springfield. Their best player, Burt, is graduating in a couple weeks. He was a heck of a playmaker for the Knights. He made my alma mater look silly when they played. There didn't appear to be much behind him on the roster though.

I don't know if this rumor of a mass exodus is true or not. I won't know until I see who's on the field in August. However, it's not beyond the realm of possibility. Don't forget that current McKinley AD Antonio Hall spent a year at St. Thomas Aquinas as Dean of Students and Assistant AD after McKinley hired Wattley. He may have had some kids follow him to St. Thomas Aquinas. By rule, the kids can transfer back to their home public district without having to sit.
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Nice post. Would like to hear some feedback from true McKinley fans on the possibility of kids from STA transferring in. I know a few who have really spoken out about this and would like to hear their thoughts.
 
There was a mass influx of kids the last couple of years, no coincidence that it was the same time frame as Hall being there. They had kids from Massillon, McKinley and other places come in. They tried to load up and win, didn't work. I'm not surprised at all that thise kids are leaving.

I do see a pretty big push on Twitter by STA to attract students, bigger than usual. They might be hurting like a few years ago.
 
Jaws31 said:
There was a mass influx of kids the last couple of years, no coincidence that it was the same time frame as Hall being there. They had kids from Massillon, McKinley and other places come in. They tried to load up and win, didn't work. I'm not surprised at all that thise kids are leaving.

I do see a pretty big push on Twitter by STA to attract students, bigger than usual. They might be hurting like a few years ago.
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“Massillon“ kids??????
 
Declining student enrollment is not a Divine revelation. Over the past 50+ years STA high school has been drawing student-athletes from Alliance, Louisville, GlenOak, Timken, etc., not just from McKinley. However, the overall enrollment situation at STA has been a serious concern for some time, which is true for many, if not most, parochial schools. Sports facilities at many parochial schools are inferior and competitive play is declining. If you look at the "Traditional Big Boys" of parochial schools, such as Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cincinnati Moeller, and even Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, those programs, at least in football, are not nearly as strong and dominant as they once were. Mooney, over the past 10 years, has become a joke. Moeller has had losing records in three of the last four seasons. Iggy had a losing record last year and a 5-5 record the previous football season. Point being, declining enrollments are very prevalent in the Catholic school systems across Ohio and many other states. Has very little to do with who is he the AD or the Head Coach.
 
St Thomas Aquinas is now part of a new league, the Portage Trail Conference and should do very good. Schools are small and more in line enrollment wise.
 
ohiocrew said:
Declining student enrollment is not a Divine revelation. Over the past 50+ years STA high school has been drawing student-athletes from Alliance, Louisville, GlenOak, Timken, etc., not just from McKinley. However, the overall enrollment situation at STA has been a serious concern for some time, which is true for many, if not most, parochial schools. Sports facilities at many parochial schools are inferior and competitive play is declining. If you look at the "Traditional Big Boys" of parochial schools, such as Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cincinnati Moeller, and even Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, those programs, at least in football, are not nearly as strong and dominant as they once were. Mooney, over the past 10 years, has become a joke. Moeller has had losing records in three of the last four seasons. Iggy had a losing record last year and a 5-5 record the previous football season. Point being, declining enrollments are very prevalent in the Catholic school systems across Ohio and many other states. Has very little to do with who is he the AD or the Head Coach.
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Your take on parochial schools may be accurate for NE Ohio, but that's definitely not the case in SW Ohio. Enrollment doesn't seem to be a concern down there, and the facilities are first class. You mention Moeller as not being strong lately, but it's cyclical for the GCL schools. It's been X for a few years now, next it'll probably be Elder. Moeller will rebound in a few years and probably win another State Title.
 
John Lee Pettimore said:
Nice post. Would like to hear some feedback from true McKinley fans on the possibility of kids from STA transferring in. I know a few who have really spoken out about this and would like to hear their thoughts.
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I hate the transfer game. It kills McKinley but I've waved the white flag of surrender on this topic. I've learned not to lose sleep over things I can't control in something as simple as sports. Same with the playoffs and the amount of schools that qualify per region. IMO the best playoff games was when 4 teams per region qualified. IMO transferres in or out and the playoff system as it is set now ruined high school football for myself personally.
 
ThaXFactor said:
What happened to the coach that was at STA in 2011 and 2012? I think his name was Budd. Where did he end up at?
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Was one of those years the one that Crestview beat St Thomas something like 52-50? I was there....that was definitely a game that whoever had the ball last was going to win.
 
Raider#23 said:
Was one of those years the one that Crestview beat St Thomas something like 52-50? I was there....that was definitely a game that whoever had the ball last was going to win.
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You are correct, Sir! The 2011 game ended up a blowout, as I believe STA was pretty dinged up at the time. The 2012 game was one of the craziest, most entertaining games I've been to in person!
 
ThaXFactor said:
You are correct, Sir! The 2011 game ended up a blowout, as I believe STA was pretty dinged up at the time. The 2012 game was one of the craziest, most entertaining games I've been to in person!
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Yes, that was one of the most entertaining games I have ever been to also. Completely packed stadium, home and away sides, and a grass field. Both teams had a ton of speed and athleticism. The type of atmosphere that game had is much, much rarer today, just 9 years later with the significant declining interest in high school sports.
 
Summa said:
Yes, that was one of the most entertaining games I have ever been to also. Completely packed stadium, home and away sides, and a grass field. Both teams had a ton of speed and athleticism. The type of atmosphere that game had is much, much rarer today, just 9 years later with the significant declining interest in high school sports.
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The funniest thing to come out of that game was the Aquinas coach's comment afterwards. He said something along the lines that he felt pretty good that they held Crestview under their scoring average.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: I think the Rebels averaged something ridiculous like 56 points per game that year.
 
Raider#23 said:
The funniest thing to come out of that game was the Aquinas coach's comment afterwards. He said something along the lines that he felt pretty good that they held Crestview under their scoring average.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: I think the Rebels averaged something ridiculous like 56 points per game that year.
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I remember that, it was a great quote! R17 was an absolute meatgrinder that year. I think the final AP poll had 5 teams from R17......and Ursuline at #12 (they were obviously much better than #12.) IIRC, Kirtland, Garaway, C-View, STA, and Cuyahoga Heights were all in the top 10.
 
Aquinas should probably close up shop and forget about football. After all, the greatest bestest coach of all-time, Drew Sarachman is no longer with the Knights, so is it even worth trying to compete? :rolleyes::cool:o_O
 
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