All....Riverton announces due to low participation numbers they will not field a varsity team this season. I don't know the background on all of this but waiting till July to make this announcement sure doesn't help the remaining nine conference members much of a shot to schedule a replacement. Ratsy
Sangamo Conference Woes
- Thread starter cornerrat
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The real question is where have all the kids gone? Chatham? Billsburg? Rochester? Plains? All accounts say less than 10 years ago Riverton were flooded with youth signing up for football. Sparked the push to revamp their field and athletic facilities as a whole. Impressive track and football setup they have these days, I might add.
Last made the playoffs in 2009. Since, 25 wins and 97 losses with no head coach lasting longer than 4 years. Reports indicate there were fewer than 5 upperclassmen attending the summer sessions. They are going to try to field a JV team as they have 16-18 freshman-sophomores out.
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All.... Coach Piper on the decision. Ratsy
www.channel1450.com
Riverton’s Piper Reacts To Varsity Football Season Cancellation
DP sat down with Riverton High School football head coach Colton Piper on Tuesday after it was announced Monday evening that the Hawks’ varsity football program would not be playin in the fall of 2024. The
www.channel1450.com
The Sangamo is a very tough smaller school conference. Athens played in the 2A state finals last year. Maroa and Williamsville both have won state championships. Stanford Olympia is on the rise. Auburn and Plains both have played in state championships in the last ten years. Riverton was running clocked all 9 games last year according to Coach Piper, including losing 48-6 to (1-8) Porta. Some have suggested they go the route of another small area school (Pawnee) and switch to 8-man football.
maybe they should see about trying get another team from their conference (new berlin maybe) to join the South Central with them to give them more teams about their level.
then it could split like
you can play cross division weeks 1-2 and 8-9 and play your division games 3-7
then it could split like
| pana | staunton |
| riverton | gillespie |
| north mac | southwestern |
| carlinville | greenville |
| hillsboro | hillsboro |
| new berlin | vandalia |
you can play cross division weeks 1-2 and 8-9 and play your division games 3-7
From a strength of conference point of view, this move could help Riverton be more competitive. For proximity to a majority of the teams, New Berlin would also make sense. However, their program is not in dire straits like Riverton. The Pretzels were 4-5 last year and are in the middle of the pack in enrollment in the Sangamo. The big questions are whether the South Central is looking to expand and could Riverton get another school to go with them to make it 12 teams. Porta or Pittsfield as a second school would make more sense from a competitive standpoint but both schools are pretty far away from the majority of the South-Central conference.
agreed that is why i said new berlin for example. i dont know who they could get to go with them if they tried that route or if the SCC would find another team to come in. But it would be worth checking out i think
Wish them the best of luck, but Coach Piper did more than hint at it with that interview. He flat out called the Riverton community and school district out by saying they lack support for the program. If it's a cultural (town) issue those can be tough to push past and build up from. I'm rooting for them. From my time (4 years) living in Springfield all I ever gathered was that Riverton gets a bad rap bc it's not Rochester or Chatham, but it's a fine place to raise a family imo and the proximity to the city (Springfield) is on par with both Chatham and Rochester.
Interested in seeing how Williamsville responds in filling the open date. This is an opportunity for them to "play up" for once. They are always the "big fish" in their conference. And they seem to always fall short of what they should be in 3A. They wouldn't play Rochester in 2021 when teams were recovering from the plandemic. Rochester got on the bus and went to Loyola. Got beat bad. And then came home and had another successful season. Will the Bullets actually schedule a team worth seeing? Or will they curl up like a potato bug and take their forfeit loss?
They have a 3A title and a couple 2nd place finishes. It’s not like their schedule doesn’t prepare them for the playoffs.
All of the coaches from the conference have already pretty much said it will be nearly impossible at this point to find another game. With a month and a half before the season starts it's highly unlikely to find anyone who doesn't already have their schedule full. I don't call that curling up like a bug. Maybe you can steer them in the direction of a team that has that particular date open, preferably someone that's not 500 miles from here in another state.
If Riverton dropping out becomes a permanent thing, I wonder if perhaps Decatur St. Theresa would get an invite. That would certainly bring some tougher competition into the conference.
Playing up is one thing, taking your team to be slaughtered is another. Coach had huge balls playing an 8A top program. I am not sure it was a smart move. In any case Rochester still faired well in 4A.
As I said, play up, for just a game, and show the state you're capable. They're 30-16 in the playoffs over the past 21 years at the 2A and 3A levels, having NEVER played a school in a higher class.
Westmont has an open date listed. 377 students, which is just under the Williamsville average opponent at 395 students. 238 miles door to door. It's literally listed on the IHSA Open Dates page.
And against their 5A opponents, winning the 5A title in 2019 against a St. Rita squad which had been 7A 14 of the prior 16 seasons. And their 6A opponents.
Interesting thought and one I'd be in favor of. M-F v. St. T games would be lit for sure. St. T still feels like they're in the dumps though since their removal from their prior home. Perhaps and upgrade in competition at this exact moment is a reach.
You are correct. I merely went to the open dates page because I was tired. I will leave the rest of the research up to the coaching staff at Williamsville as well as anyone else who wants to look into, Indiana, Iowa or Missouri.
Well, Westmont looks as though it has an open date Week 3, so Williamsville could play them.
That said, Westmont High's football program has won 8 total games in the past 5 years while Williamsville has been a playoff team in 18 of the past 19 seasons, including the last 15. (6-0 during Covid season with no postseason not included).
So, for the away team in a Westmont/Williamsville matchup, there is a almost 5-hour bus ride one way, followed by what is pretty much guaranteed to be a running-clock game, followed by another almost 5-hour bus ride to get home.
The hunch here is that with the Rochester/Loyola game as comparison and with the poster wanting Williamsville to be the "Rochester" in this situation by playing up in class, this is not the matchup you are looking for.
I can't imagine that St. Teresa is on the radar of the Sangamo after being booted out of the Central Illinois Conference back in 2021 for being what they felt was "too good" at football.
As I said, that was the open date I found on the IHSS website. I will leave it to the head coaches and the Williamsville faithful to find a game in another state such as Iowa, Indiana, or Missouri.
Let's call it what it was... a witch hunt to remove the private school. They've made it quite clear, the CIC that is. Loser mentality regardless.
There's more than one conference that could benefit from the addition of St. Teresa at this moment.
It's a quarter of an hour shy of 3 hours from Billsburg to Westmont. It's about, with rounding, a 6 hour round-trip for the travelling side. The running clock is imminent, that we can all agree on.
I may do some digging but if I know Williamsville the way I think I do... they're more than fine with a W3 win for seeding purposes no matter how they can get it.
You are accurate with that assessment. As I said in my first comment, Williamsville has a reputation of falling short. They enjoy being the big fish in a small pond. They have not "played up" in any regular season game since I began following the area teams in 2001. SHG plays up. Rochester plays up. In fact, most of the Sangamo plays up as it has multiple 1A and 2A teams playing the 3A teams within the conference. QND, is going to get crushed in their first year in the CS8. However, they will get better.
Feels completely off topic and out of left field... Not sure why QND is catching strays in a Sangamo thread? QND has always "played up." At least since they were St. T'd out of their conference in the mid 90s. Crushed is hyperbole. They'll be 0-2 heading into CS8 play, that I'll agree with.Find us another 2A school playing a 2023 7A quarterfinalist and a 4A annual playoff qualifier.
It was a comment to dissuade an argument for QND playing up. It is irrelevant as QND has been mostly dismal the past decade, going 63-41 with 5 seasons at or below .500. QND has only 10 wins in the past 10 seasons over an in-state opponent with a winning record. That is not powerhouse material.. Whereas Williamsville has been highly touted in their class and has not played up in the past 21 seasons. Meanwhile, another county powerhouse in Rochester has played up for the past 15 seasons since joining the CS8. Raider fans and alums are all too familiar with the Rocket/Raider games in the past. Looking at the QND schedule, 1-3 will be the record going into the 1st 4. After that is a toss up as to what Springfield, MacArthur, Lincoln, and Jacksonville bring. QND will pummel Lanphier. I see 2-2 with the others for a final record of 4-5. If Lincoln and MacArthur can muster a 4-5 record, QND will lose to both and go 2-7.
I never claimed QND was a powerhouse, or the material to make one. You've made that up in your head. In fact, I didn't even mention QND in this thread. YOU did. And for what? That's what I was asking. A complete stray, for what? To remind QND how much better you are? For what it's worth, in the time you listed QND made a run in 3A to the semi's. Just not as good as they once were, slim years happen my guy. You have, however, reminded me why we, QND, hate Rochester. Pompous douche canoe's who refuse to challenge yourselves and instead remain in 4A where the challenge will never exist. Then talk down to those 4A or smaller programs like you invented football... Pathetic, honestly.
I was on the 1 in the 1-3 record for QND vs. Rochester. 20 years you've built a nice program. Happy for y'all. Sure beats the scenes of ambulance's and stretchers we saw in 2004. Y'all was weak AF back then. Our frosh and soph made y'all look like soccer players that day.
I can't even begin to take you seriously with the Rochester playing up part. You're a a joke for that one.
We will be 1-3 going into week 5... but, you know, that's because we ACTUALLY play up. < 400 kids enrolled... playing a 2023 7A quater-finalist, an annual 4A powerhouse in R-B, and SHG... who you're familiar with I believe. The 4th team having over 1200 kids enrolled, easy math for you on that, that's 3 times our size in student body alone. The same cupcake you've "played up" against for 15 years. QND joining a whole conference twice to 3 times their size in enrollment is nothing, though, compared to Rochester playing one little game against an 8A Loyola...
I'll take the 2-7 bet. Name the price.
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jacksonville's wk1 opponent just dropped football yesterday. jhs' enrollment is under 900 and pittsfield is close to 400. location/travel time is pretty good. it's better than not playing at all.
All.... Fairfield has needed a week one game for a few weeks and they are still up on the Ihsa open dates board. They have an enrollment a bit over 400. Don't know if they have contacted Pittsfield and one of the AD's grabbed the game which would result in about a 3 1/2 drive. I searched several states bordering Illinois and found nothing Ratsy
Score outcome would be similar for Jax vs Pittsfield or Soldan... both doormats, unfortunately.
like I said though, saving money on time, food and travel for jhs is a big plus. and not giving up a precious day of recuperation/preparation is extremely beneficial.
That I'd agree with. Plus, likely your underclass get some reps in the 2nd half. Never hurts, usually.
All.... Auburn has snagged a game according to their facebook page and it is now being shown on the Ihsa schedule. They will make the three hour drive and play Westmont week seven Saturday October 12th at 1pm. Hit the road Friday early (stay overnight) and when you arrive take the team to Uncle Bub's barbecue. Then the next day pound the Sentinels. Ratsy
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All..... Hearing it's a done deal. Jacksonville will play Pittsfield week one. Crimsons will travel. Ratsy
St Teresa would accept an invite to the Sangamo in a heartbeat.
The football team would have likely been around a 3-6 team in the conference last year, and probably lower end again this year.
But it would be a great fit overall for both St Teresa and the Sangamo conference.
St T already plays quite a few of the Sangamo teams in other sports.
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