Saltsburg forfeit

[X3pointer]

Your all missing the point  about Saltsburg. It's not about enrollment , they forfeited the LV game because they could only dress 15 players and  would have had to play too many young players who are not physical enough.  This is a one time situation.  They will have enough players for next year .  Today's high school football  players need to lift weights for safety purposes, but should not lift until they are freshman . That's why you need to be careful about playing freshman who have not lifted.

[tubmill]

Fball rules, I know that Is not a co-op. Technically, it was a consolidation, not a merger.I realize that every young man walking the halls of the Carey building are “LV boys”. You know what I meant. I was referring to the Laurel Valley attendance area. I find this size difference topic amusing. Laurel Valley was usually the smallest school in whatever conference or whatever section where they were placed. In most of those years, they played significantly larger schools. In fact, when The Appalachian Conference went to a north/south configuration, they were actually placed in the north, where the larger schools and Bishop Carroll resided. United, Blairsville, Marion Center, Northern Cambria and Purchase Line were all AA schools. Then you had Bishop Carroll, who might have been AA, because of the advantage which they enjoyed. In thirty-six years, the Rams only had five non winning seasons. With that being said, so far the Heritage Conference not asked Ligonier to leave. However, I have heard some grumbling from some Ligonier folks, thinking that the Rams need to be playing schools of their own size. I would have no problem with that. If the kids continue to love to hit the weights, the should not have a problem being competitive with the larger schools.

[TallDom85]

You’re wrong, Fbrules17.  The group of kids that has come through the past few years has been exceptional, but it’s not just an endless supply of talent.  2 seasons ago, LV’s junior high team went winless. They have a sophomore class of 5 players.  Their JV team has struggled all season.  

People need to get over this “LV is 2 schools” garbage.  Laurel Valley closed 9 years ago.  They were graduating somewhere around 30 kids per graduating class.  1 starter on their team lives in the old Laurel Valley District.  It would be like Harmony closing and sending their kids to Purchase Line or Northern Cambria and me saying they have a competitive advantage...

Also, pretty sure that Berlin has a co-op with Rockwood.  Shade with Shanksville.  Not that it matters, because West Shamokin is AA and so is Marion Center, and both lost to Saltsburg this year.  If the size disparity was the issue, why did the Heritage invite West Shamokin into the conference?!  I may be wrong, but when they came in, they may have been the biggest school in the conference.  Haven’t beaten LV yet.

LV has beaten McCort (twice), Cambria Heights and Dunmore in the postseason over the past 2 years.  All are AA.  They beat Westmont in 2016, who is AAA.  They did it with teams led by athletes Colin Smith, Jackson Daugherty, Aaron Tutino, and special linemen like Jake Neiderhiser and Mike Petrof.  This isn’t a Southern Columbia situation where kids move to Ligonier to play for LV.  This cycle will end.

Credit needs to be given to the coaching staff, too, for being willing to evolve.  Beitel ran the Wing-T his entire career before scrapping it 4 years ago for a current, modern system while everyone else is still running the Power I, Wing T, or the Veer.  That’s when LV’s offense exploded.  But no one else has evolved.  3 yards and a cloud of dust, while Aaron Tutino breaks the all-time State record for touchdown receptions.  And it’s not that other teams don’t have the talent to do it, because several have and do now.  That’s on the coaches of those programs for being stuck in the past and unwilling to learn and change with the game.

It’s also evident that LV does what Roger says, and that’s that their kids live for the weight room. Northern Cambria was bigger than LV this week, but LV was stronger, more explosive, and more athletic.  

It’s also amazing still how LHAC teams like Johnstown and Somerset play down to everyone all season but you never hear about this “competitive advantage” with them.  Both teams are terrible this year but are the biggest schools in that conference, so the logic that bigger schools = better teams is competely void of any truth.  

LV is on a great run.  Give them credit and enjoy the show.  If your team can’t beat them, either get better or wait, they will one day.  Or, just keep showing your complete ignorance and lack of sportsmanship.  

This post is spot on. 
The defeatist attitude of some other Heritage schools needs to change, not anything LV is doing. Dan McGregor at the Saltsburg meeting last week had the gall to basically blame LV for Saltsburg's football problems ... please. 

[marley1]

Look.  Saltsburg had 19 kids dress for the Blairsville game.  They lost two kids to minor injuries in that game.  I believe that those two kids played in their next game.  Their AD stated after the Ligonier game in 2017 that they would not play Ligonier in 2018.  In fact, according to the Indiana Gazette, their AD was quoted saying that if the circumstance was the same they would not play next year either. Saltsburg has a nice set of athletes this year and there is absolutely no excuse for them to have forfeited the Ligonier game.  In case you forgot they forfeited a game against Westinghouse a couple years ago and also got in trouble with the PIAA for walking off the field in the 4th quarter in a game a decade or two ago.  I guess habits are hard to break.  

[marley1]

Tub. I didn't think that Blairsville was ever 2A. Could be wrong however.

[knowitall]

Blairsville was AA way back in 1986!

[12HankQB]

Why is Blairsville so small? They have a Walmart, Sheetz, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Goodwill, Ford Dealership, Two golf courses, IRMC Urgicare, multiple large businesses. Is it just the size of the district?

[knowitall]

The population of the three municipalities that compose Blairsville is about 9000.

Richland Township’s population is nearly 13,000.

[BlueYonder]

Why is Blairsville so small? They have a Walmart, Sheetz, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Goodwill, Ford Dealership, Two golf courses, IRMC Urgicare, multiple large businesses. Is it just the size of the district?

Don't forget the Tractor Supply!

[12HankQB]

There's businesses all around this place. Short drives to Greensburg, Latrobe, Indiana, Johnstown, and even Monroeville. Is this all old people in a retirement town? Seems like a nice place to live out of the city that's just far enough into the country. Yeah, tractor supply. Westinghouse. There's a lot of places for people to work. Something isn't right. Does the district send a lot to private schools somewhere? The Kiski School?