Class AAA; Nonsense Football League

So here it is, 2012. Whether the earth as we know it comes to an end this December, we know for a fact that this will be the last year of six classes of South Dakota high school football.
I suppose it is time though, for a state of just over 800,000 residents to move to five classes of football…………. oh wait, what’s that? There will be SEVEN classes instead of six?

 

So it case you’ve been in a cave and didn’t hear the announcement last winter; in addition to 9B, 9A, 9AA, 11B, 11A, and 11AA, South Dakota will now sponsor 11AAA football so that the Rapid City public schools can still get drilled by their Sioux Falls counterparts 55-0, but no longer have to worry about playing those pesky Huron Tigers, a team that they can actually compete with.

 

How ridiculous is this new class? Well I’m so glad you asked. This past Friday night O’ Gorman and Brandon Valley played a tight game with BV just barely coming out on top. Both teams are considered top-five favorites in Class AA this season, and there is an equal chance that either team could avoid moving up to 11AAA if they so desire.

 

If you don’t yet know the specifics, the 11AAA plan will create 2 classes of 8 teams apiece where the 16 teams in 11AA used to be. 11AAA will feature the RC and SF public schools along with Watertown, Aberdeen Central, and Brandon Valley. The only problem with this plan? Watertown and Aberdeen Central have been mediocre at best for a half-decade and O’ Gorman is a smaller enrollment school that would absolutely demolish their seven new Class 11AA rivals.

 

All signs point to O’G petitioning up to 11AAA which would give BV the option to drop down to 11AA as the smallest of the eight schools set to be classified in the largest division. So really, what is being gained by this? The Sioux Falls schools already completely dominate the Rapid City schools, yet they will still all be in the same class. The Huron Tigers and Sturgis Scoopers of the world will still likely find themselves regularly blown out by competition…. and what happens when Harrisburg and Tea enrollments continue to grow at a massive pace?

 

Sorry, but the O’G factor and the little tidbit that Sioux Falls schools went 25 years, until 2006, without winning a state crown in the playoff era, points to the fact that enrollment really does not have that much to do with football success. I have vivid memories of my Washington Warriors, with more than 3x the enrollment of Yankton, being dominated by the Bucks twice in 2002 including in the state title game. Well, luckily the Warriors wont have to put up with those pesky Bucks anymore. As long as they can handle Rapid City Central and Stevens they’ll be on their way…..