2024 Three Rivers conference

Bless Em All

Bless Em All

Well-known member
Might as well post it now. The league has come out and been somewhat impressive over the last 3 seasons. Milton and Riverside bring the two most successful.
Who has what coming back in 24?
Lehman made huge strides this year.
 
 
Bless Em All said:
Might as well post it now. The league has come out and been somewhat impressive over the last 3 seasons. Milton and Riverside bring the two most successful.
Who has what coming back in 24?
Lehman made huge strides this year.
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Looking forward to the Versailles Milton rivalry starting back up
 
I thought Bethel made strides towards becoming competitive this year, still has miles to go but middle of the pack seems possible next season. East is back to average, Covington still way down.

Not sure what Lehman brings back but just for kicks , I will predict next years finish:

Lehman
Milton
Riverside
Miami East
Northridge (could be higher)
Bethel
Troy Christian
Covington
 
Lehman actually returns quite a few starters, but O'Leary was such a big part of their offense that it makes it hard to predict their '24.
Milton returns 7 on O and 9 on D, but lost Foose who was a big part of what they did.
Riverside loses Platfoot, Stotler, Shockey, Copas, and Phelps. That's gonna hurt. But having Brooks, Clary, and Orsborne back is a great way to start!
East loses alot of linemen including Bennet, but return Gustin and Mills.
Northridge returns QB (2 that both did well), Teon HIll, and Martin.
Bethel returns Mears, Brannan, Bennett, and Truman. Ton of skill there.
TC Loses most of their best players (McDonald, Rudd, Waltz, King, Knostman)
Covington is tough to predict because they were so very young that it's hard to figure which of those youngsters are going to be great.

I think they league will be stronger as a whole than it has been in the first 3 years.

(FYI, I am taking most of this off of the all-league team. I'm sure I made mistakes or have omissions. Feel free to fix them.)
 
Milton will need to shore up their running backs, since Foose and Nichol have graduated. The offensive line will be very good. Great size and most will be back.
 
O line should make MU a real threat again. The schedule is brutal with Versailles and Valley View in two weeks. I know VV loses some but the overall experience should help. Versailles will always be a rough out. Week 1 could be tell-tale for the rest of the season. You never know what Oakwood brings to the table. Being a D3 makes that another tough one.
I’ll say:
Milton 8-2/7-0
Riverside 8-2/6-1
Lehman 7-3/5-2
Miami East 6-4/4-3
Bethel 4-6/3-4
Northridge 4-6/2-5
TC 1-9/1-6
Covington 0-10/0-7
Versailles will be the best team Milton has faced since Valley View last year. I love the scheduling being done by MU.
 
Versailles and Valley View lose their quarterbacks and a few other players next year. So they might not be as strong. Milton's young guys will be better, but they need someone to replace Foose. The question is, will these out of conference games for Milton be competitive, since Versailles and Valley View reload ?
 
Schedules for 2024:

BETHEL
1(H) National Trail
2(H) Kenton Ridge
3@ Urbana
4(H) DeGraff Riverside
5@ Covington
6@ Lehman Catholic
7(H) Dayton Northridge
8@ Milton-Union
9@ Miami East
10(H) Troy Christian

COVINGTON
1(H) Arcanum
2@ Dayton Christian
3(H) Fort Loramie
4@ Troy Christian
5(H) Bethel
6@ Dayton Northridge
7(H) Milton-Union
8@ Lehman Catholic
9@ DeGraff Riverside
10(H) Miami East

DAYTON NORTHRIDGE
1@ Greeneview
2(H) Dayton Oakwood
3@ Carlisle
4@ Miami East
5(H) DeGraff Riverside
6(H) Covington
7@ Bethel
8@ Troy Christian
9(H) Milton-Union
10(H) Lehman Catholic

DeGRAFF RIVERSIDE
1(H) Ansonia
2@ Springfield Northeastern
3(H) Spencerville
4@ Bethel
5@ Dayton Northridge
6(H) Troy Christian
7(H) Lehman Catholic
8@ Miami East
9(H) Covington
10@ Milton-Union

LEHMAN CATHOLIC
1@ Delphos St. John's
2@ South Charleston Southeastern
3(H) Benjamin Logan
4@ Milton-Union
5(H) Miami East
6(H) Bethel
7@ DeGraff Riverside
8(H) Covington
9(H) Troy Christian
10@ Dayton Northridge

MIAMI EAST
1(H) Greenon
2(H) Carlisle
3@ Springfield Northwestern
4(H) Dayton Northridge
5@ Lehman Catholic
6(H) Milton-Union
7@ Troy Christian
8(H) DeGraff Riverside
9(H) Bethel
10@ Covington

MILTON-UNION
1@ Versailles
2@ Valley View
3(H) Dayton Oakwood
4(H) Lehman Catholic
5(H) Troy Christian
6@ Miami East
7@ Covington
8(H) Bethel
9@ Dayton Northridge
10(H) DeGraff Riverside

TROY CHRISTIAN
1(H) Tri-Village
2@ Springfield Central Catholic
3(H) Dayton Meadowdale
4(H) Covington
5@ Milton-Union
6@ DeGraff Riverside
7(H) Miami East
8(H) Dayton Northridge
9@ Lehman Catholic
10@ Bethel
 
hdvhsmgr said:
Schedules for 2024:

BETHEL
1(H) National Trail
2(H) Kenton Ridge
3@ Urbana
4(H) DeGraff Riverside
5@ Covington
6@ Lehman Catholic
7(H) Dayton Northridge
8@ Milton-Union
9@ Miami East
10(H) Troy Christian

COVINGTON
1(H) Arcanum
2@ Dayton Christian
3(H) Fort Loramie
4@ Troy Christian
5(H) Bethel
6@ Dayton Northridge
7(H) Milton-Union
8@ Lehman Catholic
9@ DeGraff Riverside
10(H) Miami East

DAYTON NORTHRIDGE
1@ Greeneview
2(H) Dayton Oakwood
3@ Carlisle
4@ Miami East
5(H) DeGraff Riverside
6(H) Covington
7@ Bethel
8@ Troy Christian
9(H) Milton-Union
10(H) Lehman Catholic

DeGRAFF RIVERSIDE
1(H) Ansonia
2@ Springfield Northeastern
3(H) Spencerville
4@ Bethel
5@ Dayton Northridge
6(H) Troy Christian
7(H) Lehman Catholic
8@ Miami East
9(H) Covington
10@ Milton-Union

LEHMAN CATHOLIC
1@ Delphos St. John's
2@ South Charleston Southeastern
3(H) Benjamin Logan
4@ Milton-Union
5(H) Miami East
6(H) Bethel
7@ DeGraff Riverside
8(H) Covington
9(H) Troy Christian
10@ Dayton Northridge

MIAMI EAST
1(H) Greenon
2(H) Carlisle
3@ Springfield Northwestern
4(H) Dayton Northridge
5@ Lehman Catholic
6(H) Milton-Union
7@ Troy Christian
8(H) DeGraff Riverside
9(H) Bethel
10@ Covington

MILTON-UNION
1@ Versailles
2@ Valley View
3(H) Dayton Oakwood
4(H) Lehman Catholic
5(H) Troy Christian
6@ Miami East
7@ Covington
8(H) Bethel
9@ Dayton Northridge
10(H) DeGraff Riverside

TROY CHRISTIAN
1(H) Tri-Village
2@ Springfield Central Catholic
3(H) Dayton Meadowdale
4(H) Covington
5@ Milton-Union
6@ DeGraff Riverside
7(H) Miami East
8(H) Dayton Northridge
9@ Lehman Catholic
10@ Bethel
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Thanks JE!
 
I heard that the kids like him and they don’t get any trouble out of the team, so they are letting it ride….

for the the big question, will they again lose half their team this year, or will they finally return most of the players for once.
 
Weiskittle said:
I heard that the kids like him and they don’t get any trouble out of the team, so they are letting it ride….

for the the big question, will they again lose half their team this year, or will they finally return most of the players for once.
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I mean if your hearing the kids like him then I don't see how he loses half the team. If he does lose half the team I don't see how the kids like him.
 
It’s a cycle they are experiencing. Milton is headed towards that cycle with low participation. Thank goodness for Bret Pearce.
 
"The Washington Post" wrote an article on the decline of football in the Midwest. Their writer interviewed administrators and coaches from the Dayton City Schools, Northmont, Milton Union, Covington and Bradford. Coach Pearce talked the most on the subject. He explained a lot of the hurdles that rural coaches face in getting students to play Football. Outstanding points and reasons given by Coach Pearce. I wonder if there is a second part of the article. In order to get a fair balance on the topic the writer needs to go further North and talk to coaches in Versailles and Marion Local on why they have maintained their levels of participation. We know the answer: socio economics, less divorced parents and town culture.
 
From what I hear (I have some friends who's kids go to Covington), there is a changing landscape at Covington much like other places. Parents can say that they want their kids coached hard, but when push comes to shove, they swoop in to "protect" their kids. A majority of the players at Covington look at their coach favorably, but the ones that complain about the coach being too hard, which the parents turn to the school to complain about.

I think Covington is on the right track, they were better than last year. They had better numbers and were more competitive on the field. It's just a matter of filtering out the bad eggs.
 
BigK72 said:
From what I hear (I have some friends who's kids go to Covington), there is a changing landscape at Covington much like other places. Parents can say that they want their kids coached hard, but when push comes to shove, they swoop in to "protect" their kids. A majority of the players at Covington look at their coach favorably, but the ones that complain about the coach being too hard, which the parents turn to the school to complain about.

I think Covington is on the right track, they were better than last year. They had better numbers and were more competitive on the field. It's just a matter of filtering out the bad eggs.
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That's kind of what I've heard too. The school doesn't view the coach as the reason why the team is struggling, it's the change in culture within the community. He did rub some people the wrong way in the beginning. From what I've been told, he came in breathing fire, and didn't always get along with others in the school. In their words he has been more "humble" the last couple years, and he has become more invested in Covington and is fully committed to rebuilding the program. They believe there are athletes coming up, so hopefully they can right the ship and make them more competitive in the near future.
 
Don't forget those schools up north don't have soccer to compete with for players.
Angry John said:
"The Washington Post" wrote an article on the decline of football in the Midwest. Their writer interviewed administrators and coaches from the Dayton City Schools, Northmont, Milton Union, Covington and Bradford. Coach Pearce talked the most on the subject. He explained a lot of the hurdles that rural coaches face in getting students to play Football. Outstanding points and reasons given by Coach Pearce. I wonder if there is a second part of the article. In order to get a fair balance on the topic the writer needs to go further North and talk to coaches in Versailles and Marion Local on why they have maintained their levels of participation. We know the answer: socio economics, less divorced parents and town culture.
Click to expand...
 
Is there a link to the article? I would like to hear what coach pearce has to say about not getting kids to play. If I had one knock on him would be is in ability to get new kids to try or kids that play one year and don't come back out, he just forgets them. I have always been big that high school coaches basically need to "recruit" the kids in their schools. I believe there are some hidden gems that get overlooked or just simply don't go out for many reasons but if a coach maybe takes them off to the side and understand why they aren't playing and can convince the kid to try out. Who knows at that point what that kid could become, on and off the field.
 
SmallTownFootball said:
Is there a link to the article? I would like to hear what coach pearce has to say about not getting kids to play. If I had one knock on him would be is in ability to get new kids to try or kids that play one year and don't come back out, he just forgets them. I have always been big that high school coaches basically need to "recruit" the kids in their schools. I believe there are some hidden gems that get overlooked or just simply don't go out for many reasons but if a coach maybe takes them off to the side and understand why they aren't playing and can convince the kid to try out. Who knows at that point what that kid could become, on and off the field.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/18/football-program-economic-funding-ohio/
Here ya go
 
Pearce also has to walk the tightrope being a teacher.
I think West Milton needs to grow and so does Laura, Ludlow and Potsdam.
You look at enrollment back in the 60s and 70s and Milton was twice or three times the size as it is today. More the size of Tipp is now.
That much decline tends to have huge effects. Add in Soccer and you just have to look at the results prior to Pearce to see what it did. 1 winning season from 1984 to 2001. Pearce took the team to the playoffs for the first time in 2002.
i give him 100% credit for the good results from 2001-2023. Milton got its swagger back. 1984-2001 was a dark time.
 
Angry John said:
"The Washington Post" wrote an article on the decline of football in the Midwest. Their writer interviewed administrators and coaches from the Dayton City Schools, Northmont, Milton Union, Covington and Bradford. Coach Pearce talked the most on the subject. He explained a lot of the hurdles that rural coaches face in getting students to play Football. Outstanding points and reasons given by Coach Pearce. I wonder if there is a second part of the article. In order to get a fair balance on the topic the writer needs to go further North and talk to coaches in Versailles and Marion Local on why they have maintained their levels of participation. We know the answer: socio economics, less divorced parents and town culture.
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Don't forget Versailles went through a pretty severe down turn for several years. They were just starting to appear to be more competitive when they hired in Troy Christian's coaching staff and that has led to a huge turn around with the father and son duo . They took a pretty decimated Troy Christian team that closed its program just two years prior to their arrival and they with coach Nolan brought TC back to a 9-2 team playing in the CCC conference in 2016. Athletes are important but I tend to agree with the MAC fans who say athletes without a coach of certain skill will end in wasted talent.

My gut tells me coaching is much more difficult today than 20 or 40 years ago. Society has changed significantly in that period, and coaching in general has gotten significantly better across the board. Merely getting 50 kids in uniform will not guarantee success.
 
No doubt coaching football today is a lot harder than it was 40 years ago. So many more forces are confronting coaches today . That includes an anti football bias among society that is growing.
 
dograt said:
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I think I have good Intel that suggest at least one head coaching change will be made. Perhaps I either have bad Intel or I actually got it before I was supposed to which is why I asked the question not pertaining to a specific school. Keep your ear close to the ground, there is most likely at least one that is going a different direction.
 
D4fan said:
I think I have good Intel that suggest at least one head coaching change will be made. Perhaps I either have bad Intel or I actually got it before I was supposed to which is why I asked the question not pertaining to a specific school. Keep your ear close to the ground, there is most likely at least one that is going a different direction.
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curious.
newer coach or established coach leaving?
 
dograt said:
curious.
newer coach or established coach leaving?
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Just thinking about the possibilities it has to be 1 of the following 3
Ridge
Covington
TC.

Unless Pearce retires it wouldn't be him.
East and Lehman have to be happy with their hires.
Can't imagine Riverside's coach would leave for a different job considering he's an alumni.
I can see Bethel's coach leaving one day, but he still has more to build before that happens.
 
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