Rankings

December 19, 2023

I have mentioned how even though I switched my local newspaper to a digital format it is still being delivered.  I have yet to find out how to cancel something I never ordered.  I was surprised this morning when I went out to retrieve my “digital” newspaper to see our free hometown weekly had also been delivered, as this paper is delivered on Wednesday.  As I poured over the local coverage, I noticed the banner date was, “Wednesday, December 18, 2023”.  This threw me at first because the paper had been delivered on Monday, December 18th and Wednesday is going to be the 20th.  The front page lead was a story congratulating the town’s high school football team for winning the 6A State Championship (with a full page of pictures on the back) and being on top of the State’s rankings.  While it was a nice gesture, the game took place on December 1st, or three editions (weeks) ago.  I guess things do move slower in a small town. 

When I went online, I found the Greenwood Bulldogs were crowned 6A state champions after beating Little Rock Christian Academy, 41-23.  This is not the first championship for the varsity team.  Since 1996 the Bulldogs have appeared in 17 state finals under 3 different head coaches and won the championship for the 11th time in school history.  Greenwood’s rise as a football power began under former head coach Ronnie Peacock, who took two teams to the state finals (1996, 2000) and won in 2000.  Legendary Head Coach Rick Jones took the Bulldogs to 11 state finals and won eight titles (2005-07, 2010-12, 2017-18).  Chris Young was elevated to head coach when Jones left for an advisory position with the University of Missouri Tigers in 2020 and promptly led the Bulldogs to a 10th state title during the difficulties of the pandemic.  That team was perfect (14-0) as was this year’s squad (13-0).  Young and his staff have taken the Bulldogs to the finals all four years of his tenure, losing in the championship in the intervening years to El Dorado and Pulaski Academy, respectively.  Young was also named Conference 6A West’s Coach of the Year.  The win catapulted the Bulldogs from 3rd to 1st in Arkansas’ overall 2023 football rankings. 

According to MaxPreps the Bulldogs have never been ranked in the top 25 High School Football teams nationally.  Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) began the season at No. 2 and ascended to the top spot after St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) posted a 28-0 shutout win over then-No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) on Oct. 13.  The Gaels held the top spot over the final two months of the season, capping a 12-0 campaign with a dominant 56-11 win against Liberty (Henderson) in the Nevada Class 5A Division I state championship.  This is the second national championship for Bishop Gorman in the last eight years.  Bishop Gorman joins Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas), Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), Mater Dei, and St. John Bosco as the only two-time MaxPreps National Champions.  MaxPreps was founded in August 2002 by Andy Beal and in 2007 was acquired by CBS Interactive.  The company professes the goal of covering, “Every team, every game, and every player in High School Sports.”  As of 2017, MaxPreps covered a total of 29 sports categorized into one of three categories: Boys, Girls, and Co-Ed.

Thoughts:  While national rankings were not considered when my brother was in High School, he did play on a football team that sported three High School All Americans.  Now, every year MaxPreps awards an American high school the MaxPreps Cup signifying they are the #1 Athletic Program in the Nation across all sports.  With all the pressure now to be “the best”, many of the top ranked teams seem to be Academies or Christian schools which give them the advantage of “recruiting”.  Bentonville High School is a public school in Arkansas that won the award in consecutive years (2013 – 2014, 2014 – 2015).  In most competitions it usually comes down to creating a winning culture.  That is true in sports, in academia, and in life.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.