Days of prep superpowers at an end?

Is life becoming tougher at the top when it comes to high school football?

Looking at last year?s finish in the five state classes, one would have to believe the day of dominant schools waltzing away with the state title are quickly passing. How many teams would you guess went undefeated in all five classes of high school football last year? There were just two, Maryville in 4A and Trousdale County in 1A both finished with unblemished 15-0 marks.

Sure, tradition never graduates, and teams like Oak Ridge, Riverdale, Alcoa and Germantown will always be in the playoff mix. I?d even estimate historically strong teams like Lincoln County and Gallatin, down a bit in recent years, will again rise to near the top.

However, added to these powerhouses you?ve got upstarts such as the surprise team out of Livingston which won the 3A championship despite a 5-5 regular season record. You also have a team like Ravenwood at 14-1 which came up and beat Oak Ridge in the finals after Oak Ridge put away Riverdale in the semis. It would seem there is danger lurking in the playoffs for the former dominant teams, with the danger coming from all directions and from squads which weren?t threats before. Heck, Ravenwood wasn?t even a school five years ago.

I know from being on the pigskin panel here that picking high school games is getting tougher. What used to be a no-brainer is now becoming something you have to look at from all directions. Sure, a powerhouse will beat a second-rate team every time; however, when you get two playoff-quality teams together, all bets are off, especially if the underdog is playing at home.

So what has led to the better competition within the state playoff system?

There are several reasons, I believe, which have contributed to a shift in balance of power on the high school gridiron.

One of these I believe are better coaches who know how to lead young players. Instead of the coach who happens to also coach football in addition to his rigorous class schedule, you have specialists whose main objective is coaching a winning team.

I also believe the talent pool may have reduced a hair due to the demands of other sports. Back in the good old days, it was possible, and even encouraged to some degree, for a good athlete to participate in all the major sports. Try that nowadays at your average high school.

I think any high school athlete will tell you, at least in a private conversation, that while there?s no law against playing several sports, such a practice is frowned upon by coaches given the splitting of practice time and the increased chance of injury. And, now you have sports like soccer which are gaining popularity, something that wasn?t even a consideration 20 years ago.

Along with the aforementioned reasons for increased competitiveness is the break-up of the larger schools. Cities like Murfreesboro, Franklin and Lebanon are now splintering into smaller schools due to a population explosion. Newer teams like Blackman, Wilson Central and Ravenwood are pulling away major athletes from the former super schools, thereby thinning the talent pool for everyone in the major population centers. This means frontier teams in more rural counties are able to better compete since they are staying intact.

Seeing this trend will only continue, it could give us some interesting playoffs in years to come.