2021 Inaugural Season: Three Rivers Conference

[Bless Em All]

I believe Milton typically has a JV team. My son played back in 9-11. Two of those years Milton had over 80 on the team. That's been a few years ago. The kids were still hyped after the Mitchell Evans years.
Right now they are hanging that pride on Washington RG Wes Martin. But COVID had something to do with low numbers last year.

 

[Bless Em All]

Bump

 

[SmallTownFootball]

I just hope there is a consistent amount of JV squads, its good for the younger kids to get the reps and will ultimately make the varsity squads better. Hopefully with the new league there will be more excitement from some of the schools to get kids to go out for the football team.

 

[Bless Em All]

With the schools being very similar in size it would be easier to schedule Frosh games or JV games.

 

[SmallTownFootball]

So what Divisions are each team. I know Milton is D4 moving to D5 next realignment. What are all the other schools?

 

[dograt]

in 2020 it would've been 2 fours, a five, 2 sixes, and 3 sevens

 

[SmallTownFootball]

in 2020 it would've been 2 fours, a five, 2 sixes, and 3 sevens

Do you think for Milton's sake does playing these smaller schools hurt our chances of making the playoffs? Also does playing these smaller schools going to hurt our program in the long run. I believe us moving over to the smaller division in the SWBL hurt our program as a whole. I am big on iron sharpens iron and felt we had better teams when we were going against the better schools in the SWBL? Just a thought, Also I am not saying these schools that are smaller are going to be push overs. I think everyone will be very competitive.

 

[Weiskittle]

Do you think for Milton's sake does playing these smaller schools hurt our chances of making the playoffs? Also does playing these smaller schools going to hurt our program in the long run. I believe us moving over to the smaller division in the SWBL hurt our program as a whole. I am big on iron sharpens iron and felt we had better teams when we were going against the better schools in the SWBL? Just a thought, Also I am not saying these schools that are smaller are going to be push overs. I think everyone will be very competitive.

I personally would take the step back in competition to play the schools in my county. I think this will be a great league for the Miami county school. I wish we (Riverside) could go back to the WCOC days, when we played all the local schools around us.

 

[dograt]

Long version: I dont think it hurts playoff chances. It probably helps. Here's why: Opponents won/loss is way more important than their size. Since every team in the SWBL Buckeye had a crossover against a SW school that they almost always lost, I think the collective records of the TRC will be better than the Buckeye side of the SWBL was. Much of the TRC has winnable OOC games (except Bethel!)

As far as hurting the program goes, no. I see no difference between Covington and East or Waynesville and Madison. Bethel, Troy Christian and Riverside or Carlisle, Dixie, and Preble. Still playing VV and Oakwood.

As far a hurting the program when MU went from the SW to the Buckeye? tough to call. When MU was on the SW side in the mid-late '00s, they were graduating 140 kids a class. Now the biggest classes are closer to 120 and this years freshmen are 86 and in incoming freshmen are 95. If MU had stayed in the big side of the SWBL they may have gotten knocked around, causing kids to not be excited and maybe not come out. No way of knowing now, but I thought the move was the right one at the time.

short version: MU will be fine. In years they are good, they will make the playoffs. VV, Covington, and East will push them every year, and 1 or 2 others will also be good each year.

 

[NoHomer10]

Will be interesting to see what riverside does this year without Long. Clearly was one of the top players in the state and that always helps the win/loss columns.

 

[dograt]

Will be interesting to see what riverside does this year without Long. Clearly was one of the top players in the state and that always helps the win/loss columns.

They are interesting for sure. Good team from a lesser league, what will they do in a better league? I think they're good, but there is no doubt they have stepped up in size of opponent at least!
That is one thing I want to see about this league. I love the Miami County schools. to me the jury is still out on if Lehman and Riverside will fit (based mainly on size, they are the 2 smallest).

 

[ghsknightsfan]

will it hurt Miltons playoff chances? potentially.

they are playing an overall weaker schedule. the VV series is a tough one. win that and you’re in good shape. but MU isn’t beating VV most seasons. the National Trail series is a mistake. they’re already playing potentially 5 schools D6 and smaller, why add a 6th? they could’ve gotten a better game. Oakwood is fine- they can be a harbin cow if they go, say, 4-6.

7-3 probably gets them top 12 most years, 8-2 would be a home game (top 8) most years. the Valley View game is the most important one on the schedule.

 

[dograt]

hmmm. Last 2 years NT has been worth more points than Oakwood. (19 vs 4.5/15 vs 9.5). Add in that Trail goes into a new league without Fort Loramie, Covington, and East and I think Trail is the better game for MU of the 2.

a 6-4 d6 team is worth way more points than a 2-8 d 4 team.

 

[ghsknightsfan]

hmmm. Last 2 years NT has been worth more points than Oakwood. (19 vs 4.5/15 vs 9.5). Add in that Trail goes into a new league without Fort Loramie, Covington, and East and I think Trail is the better game for MU of the 2.

a 6-4 d6 team is worth way more points than a 2-8 d 4 team.

i did say if Oakwood could go 4-6. also, Trail looks to be a middle of the pack team in the WOAC. i have them at 5. Trail just graduated 2 decent classes I believe.

 

[dograt]

you have more faith in Oakwood than I do. I don't see too many wins for them.
but I get it. If Oakwood is good they'll be worth more points than NT. I just think NT being worth decent points will happen more frequently than Oakwood. I agree VV is MUs biggest game.

 

[ghsknightsfan]

you have more faith in Oakwood than I do. I don't see too many wins for them.
but I get it. If Oakwood is good they'll be worth more points than NT. I just think NT being worth decent points will happen more frequently than Oakwood. I agree VV is MUs biggest game.

I'm curious to what a 3-7 Oakwood vs a 5-5 National Trail would offer, points wise (what I predict each will be)

Greenon was looking for a week 1 game this offseason. Greenon vs Milton would've been a nice matchup as of recently and would be worth good points to the winner.

 

[dograt]

3-7 Oakwood is probably worth 14 points (Ill guess wins as Northridge, Carlisle, Madison. d4,5,5)
5-5 Trail I'll go by your ranking in the WOAC thread and have them beating Dixie, North, South, MV, Bradford. which is 18 points.

Oakwood would have to go 4-6 (Monroe?) to be worth more points, but not if Trail beats Ansonia. Basically if Trail has 2 more wins than Oakwood they are worth more points.

Milton looked HARD for a week one before scheduling Trail. I don't think that was their first choice, but some schools ran away. Almost had Kenton Ridge but the home/away didn't work out. I don't know if MU and Greenon had any talks, but I know MU's AD had it out for the world to see. I think Greenon would be a great fit in this new league. Would love to see some combination of them, Northwestern, and Brookville in the future.

 

[SmallTownFootball]

I would like to see Milton vs Brookville over NT, I know the valley view game is where we can get our points if we win but lets be honest 9 out of 10 times we are loosing that game. I feel like you get rid of valley view replace that with Greenon/ Kenton Ridge/Waynseville. I know the Waynesville we weren't wanting to travel but those were tough games and winnable for both teams. I think Brookville makes sense its close and probably will join the league at some time anyway.

 

[Bless Em All]

National Trail is being talked about like Miami East was when we added them back in the early 2000's. Greenon, NW, Brookville would be great adds but not happening right now. National Trail is a good opening game and gives the program another week to prepare for Valley View. My thought is Covington is the game for MU. Valley View for playoffs but Covington in league and for bragging rights. Focus better be on them. IMHO.

 

[Weiskittle]

Will be interesting to see what riverside does this year without Long. Clearly was one of the top players in the state and that always helps the win/loss columns.

Improvise, adapt, overcome!

 

[SmallTownFootball]

National Trail is being talked about like Miami East was when we added them back in the early 2000's. Greenon, NW, Brookville would be great adds but not happening right now. National Trail is a good opening game and gives the program another week to prepare for Valley View. My thought is Covington is the game for MU. Valley View for playoffs but Covington in league and for bragging rights. Focus better be on them. IMHO.

To me that just shows how far Milton football has fallen. I was on the team when Miami east was a joke, not trying to be rude but we could have started our JV and won the game.

Iron sharpens Iron and Milton needs schedule better competition than NT in my opinion.

 

[ex_dc_atc]

On the discussion of MU and the playoffs, this was sort of where I was going with the change to 12 teams per region. I think that alone really benefits a school like MU in this league. It's the difference of thinking where things were in their old league, verses where they'll be in their new league and new region breakdown. The Dogs do generally have some high and low seasons, somewhat inconsistent. But I think in the new league, they're good seasons can now be 8-9 win seasons, while a more down year could still get them 6 wins. 6 wins may be enough in Division IV/V to make the playoffs consistently.

The National Trail vs. Oakwood debate is interesting. Both teams have struggled at times. I think the re-alignment of both leagues should benefit each of them. For NT, they'll always have winnable games against teams like Bradford, Mississinawa Valley, Tri-County North, and Twin Valley South. It's not truly difficult to have a 4-5 win season consistently. For Oakwood, it may be a little more difficult. Some of that can depend on their OOC schedule. But I think the Jacks are more of a 3 win team.

 

[SmallTownFootball]

On the discussion of MU and the playoffs, this was sort of where I was going with the change to 12 teams per region. I think that alone really benefits a school like MU in this league. It's the difference of thinking where things were in their old league, verses where they'll be in their new league and new region breakdown. The Dogs do generally have some high and low seasons, somewhat inconsistent. But I think in the new league, they're good seasons can now be 8-9 win seasons, while a more down year could still get them 6 wins. 6 wins may be enough in Division IV/V to make the playoffs consistently.

The National Trail vs. Oakwood debate is interesting. Both teams have struggled at times. I think the re-alignment of both leagues should benefit each of them. For NT, they'll always have winnable games against teams like Bradford, Mississinawa Valley, Tri-County North, and Twin Valley South. It's not truly difficult to have a 4-5 win season consistently. For Oakwood, it may be a little more difficult. Some of that can depend on their OOC schedule. But I think the Jacks are more of a 3 win team.

I totally agree, my issue is at one point playing Miami east was basically a guaranteed win, now it is considered a tough game and I feel like that is from the lack of constantly playing tough opponents. If that makes sense? What i think is going to happen and you hit on it is even when we have a really bad team they will still make the playoffs with the expansion and we will get exposed. Kind of like Tipp did for a while where they made the playoffs every year but could never seem to win. Now if making the playoffs is good enough for Milton that fine this is a great league for that but if Milton really wants to make that step up and become a team that will make deep playoff runs i think they need to schedule better teams than NT, and Oakwood.

 

[ghsknightsfan]

I totally agree, my issue is at one point playing Miami east was basically a guaranteed win, now it is considered a tough game and I feel like that is from the lack of constantly playing tough opponents. If that makes sense? What i think is going to happen and you hit on it is even when we have a really bad team they will still make the playoffs with the expansion and we will get exposed. Kind of like Tipp did for a while where they made the playoffs every year but could never seem to win. Now if making the playoffs is good enough for Milton that fine this is a great league for that but if Milton really wants to make that step up and become a team that will make deep playoff runs i think they need to schedule better teams than NT, and Oakwood.

need to schedule the so called “harbin cows”. having one game a year against a team as good as valley view is nice. after that, Brookville/Graham/Greenon/Northwestern/Kenton Ridge would all be great options in the non conference.

 

[SmallTownFootball]

need to schedule the so called “harbin cows”. having one game a year against a team as good as valley view is nice. after that, Brookville/Graham/Greenon/Northwestern/Kenton Ridge would all be great options in the non conference.

With OHSAA going with a strength of schedule component here soon it will be interesting to see how Milton or any of these other teams start scheduling. Do we add Tipp back on the schedule?

 

[ghsknightsfan]

With OHSAA going with a strength of schedule component here soon it will be interesting to see how Milton or any of these other teams start scheduling. Do we add Tipp back on the schedule?

it’s not confirmed yet. and probably not. Tipp only has week 1 open due to the MVL schedule. Tipp seems like they prefer to schedule up or other D3’s. don’t see it happening for that reason

 

[Bless Em All]

With OHSAA going with a strength of schedule component here soon it will be interesting to see how Milton or any of these other teams start scheduling. Do we add Tipp back on the schedule?

I get where you're coming from with this but you also have to remember that times change. When I played at Milton, Tipp and Valley View was a guaranteed win. Miami East has improved and it's different game now. The strength of schedule component is the Harbins. There will be no additional SOS for playoffs.
I agree that Trail and Riverside along with Lehman next year won't get you strength of schedule but I can remember when we re-entered the SWBL the talk was about how it was weaker than the SRC.
Look at Versailles now. Look at Lehman now? Our last year playing in the SRC we lost to Lehman 48-6.
Miami East is a good opponent and would win most games in the Buckeye Division. The SW division was where we should've stayed. Better competition and better rivalries. The Buckeye wasnt as much fun to watch.
Things will change with this league like they did with the SRC and SWBL.

 

[SmallTownFootball]

I get where you're coming from with this but you also have to remember that times change. When I played at Milton, Tipp and Valley View was a guaranteed win. Miami East has improved and it's different game now. The strength of schedule component is the Harbins. There will be no additional SOS for playoffs.
I agree that Trail and Riverside along with Lehman next year won't get you strength of schedule but I can remember when we re-entered the SWBL the talk was about how it was weaker than the SRC.
Look at Versailles now. Look at Lehman now? Our last year playing in the SRC we lost to Lehman 48-6.
Miami East is a good opponent and would win most games in the Buckeye Division. The SW division was where we should've stayed. Better competition and better rivalries. The Buckeye wasnt as much fun to watch.
Things will change with this league like they did with the SRC and SWBL.

They are adding points for losses on the Harbins. As of now you don't get points for losing now you will get points for losses depending if the team you lost to is in the top 8 of their region.

 

[ex_dc_atc]

I totally agree, my issue is at one point playing Miami east was basically a guaranteed win, now it is considered a tough game and I feel like that is from the lack of constantly playing tough opponents. If that makes sense? What i think is going to happen and you hit on it is even when we have a really bad team they will still make the playoffs with the expansion and we will get exposed. Kind of like Tipp did for a while where they made the playoffs every year but could never seem to win. Now if making the playoffs is good enough for Milton that fine this is a great league for that but if Milton really wants to make that step up and become a team that will make deep playoff runs i think they need to schedule better teams than NT, and Oakwood.

That all makes a lot of sense. You're right on the NT and Oakwood games. If you're looking for MU to make the playoffs, those types of games will be fine in the OOC. They'll gain computer points. What may end up happening over time, MU may find that they do really well in this new league. They may be able to afford beefing up that OOC schedule. Maybe picking up games with teams that are not always winnable, but prepares them better for the post season. I would imagine most years 7 wins is enough for MU to make the Top 12.

 

[ex_dc_atc]

I get where you're coming from with this but you also have to remember that times change. When I played at Milton, Tipp and Valley View was a guaranteed win. Miami East has improved and it's different game now. The strength of schedule component is the Harbins. There will be no additional SOS for playoffs.
I agree that Trail and Riverside along with Lehman next year won't get you strength of schedule but I can remember when we re-entered the SWBL the talk was about how it was weaker than the SRC.
Look at Versailles now. Look at Lehman now? Our last year playing in the SRC we lost to Lehman 48-6.
Miami East is a good opponent and would win most games in the Buckeye Division. The SW division was where we should've stayed. Better competition and better rivalries. The Buckeye wasnt as much fun to watch.
Things will change with this league like they did with the SRC and SWBL.

I recall many of the MU fans were thankful to get out of that Tipp City game when that series ended recently. It had become a game that wasn't winnable and the school size difference was big. There has to be a chance for the dust to settle and see how these new leagues evolve. Then the OOC games will come into clarity for everyone.