Where have these 3A Powers gone??

[Dogman_1969]

I was looking at some old Texas Football mag's last night and started wondering what happened to some of these programs.

Listed in no particular order:

Dangerfield
Forney
Gatesville
La Vega
Sealy
Navasota
Columbus
Van Vleck
Barbers Hill
Atlanta
Jefferson
Commerce

[kaorder1999]

Originally posted by Dogman_1969
I was looking at some old Texas Football mag's last night and started wondering what happened to some of these programs.

Listed in no particular order:

Dangerfield
Forney
Gatesville
La Vega
Sealy
Navasota
Columbus
Van Vleck
Barbers Hill
Atlanta
Jefferson
Commerce

Dangerfield- 2A
Forney- 4A
Gatesville (not horrible this year, no Taureen Henderson on team)
La Vega-- ??
Sealy -- Been a while since they were elite
Navasota -- have no idea
Columbus-- hae no idea
Van Vleck -- 2A?? I think
Barbers Hill -- NO idea
Atlanta -- been subpar for the last couple of years
Jefferson-- good 2A team

[WOSgrad]

Barbers Hill - moved to 4A this year. Will probably be in the playoffs.

[pancho villa]

Barbers Hill 4a, Van Vleck is 2a

[big daddy russ]

Dangerfield- Moved down to 2A, lost some of their magic
Forney- Moved up to 4A, lost some of their magic
Gatesville- Were down a little, but look like the real deal this year... just beat top 10 Cameron Yoe
La Vega- Not much of a power, but a playoff contender
Sealy- See KAOrder
Navasota- See LaVega
Columbus- Going through some lean years...
Van Vleck- Moved down, lost some of their magic
Barbers Hill- Moved up, but still good
Atlanta- Still 3A, but lost some of their magic since 2003... Was supposed to make a run last year (you know, Atlanta's two-year cycles)
Jefferson- Moved down to 2A, the second-ranked team in the state
Commerce- Still 3A, but not a state title contender

[maestro]

people tell me that the blurred school zones hurt some communities..

rumors thar the columbus/rice consol. zones have shifted in favor of the raiders...

i know that some of these rural communities have kids that can basically choose.....

van vleck and others.....well....2a numbers means that it really is difficult to sustain greatness.....can be competitive is all some of these communities can muster.....it's all a cycle...

some of it also is realignment......you can be really good in some districts and have a losing record........it's just tough...

support your hometown kids.....remind them that it is a worthwhile activity....

[g$$]

Van Vleck's demographics changed, if you follow me. Basically Bay City (a few miles away) now gets the kids who used to go to VV. Van Vleck was tough in their day under Bill McGonigle. I can name former NFL guys Eric Martin, Robert Blackmon, Melvin Bonner, Rodney Bonner, etc. that came thru that program. Warren Polk was a bad dude too. There was no shortage of athletes. Times have changed.

[Paratrooper]

Originally posted by g$$
Van Vleck's demographics changed, if you follow me. Basically Bay City (a few miles away) now gets the kids who used to go to VV. Van Vleck was tough in their day under Bill McGonigle. I can name former NFL guys Eric Martin, Robert Blackmon, Melvin Bonner, Rodney Bonner, etc. that came thru that program. Warren Polk was a bad dude too. There was no shortage of athletes. Times have changed.

Bay City is down also I thought?

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by Paratrooper
Bay City is down also I thought?

Just the last couple of years... went 10-1 in '04, lost to La Marque in Bi-district?

Made the playoffs last year, lost to La Marque again I think...

Their district has gotten a lot tougher though, this year they seem down though at 0-2... Maybe Van Vleck's getting the athletes now?

In all honesty though, I do not see re-zoning effecting Columbus and Altair Rice Consolidated so much... if you're ever in the area there really isn't too much in between these two towns, but that's just me... Columbus really had a good program in the 90's, but that head coach that had 'em in the 90's is in Boerne now? That'll tell you something there...

Sealy??? the talent isn't too far down to be honest... they are still a disciplined ball club and play 111% (figured we've wore out the 110% ), but it all started after Mills left so maybe he took some the Sealy Mojo with him when he left for Mojo...

[The wizard]

Have a college friend on the staff at Gatesville. They are pretty good this year and could make a run in the playoffs.

[PPHSfan]

Where have these 3A Powers gone??

To 5A

[g$$]

VV is down. Not the same athletes.

[lostaussie]

Originally posted by The wizard
Have a college friend on the staff at Gatesville. They are pretty good this year and could make a run in the playoffs.

i bet he is sad this morning!!!!!!!!!

[DaRaiderz]

Originally posted by maestro
rumors thar the columbus/rice consol. zones have shifted in favor of the raiders...

False. The district lines between Columbus and Rice have not changed at all. Even if they did, nobody really lives between Altair and Columbus where a change in the lines would send a large group of kids one way or the other. Its nothing but gravel pits between Altair and Columbus. Columbus' problems hinge entirely on the fact that there aren't any Schobel's walking the halls currently. They have no talent at the skill positions. Give them 12 years and the new wave of Schobels will arrive and they will be back on the map.

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
Sealy??? the talent isn't too far down to be honest... they are still a disciplined ball club and play 111% (figured we've wore out the 110% ), but it all started after Mills left so maybe he took some the Sealy Mojo with him when he left for Mojo...

COMPLETELY not true. Sealy's current talent is not even in the same ballpark as their teams in the early 1990's. The Sealy class of 1997 lost one football game in their life, in 7th grade. That goes a little beyond coaching, that tells me they had extremely supreme talent. On the Sealy team in 1995 (either 95 or 97 were their best team), I can think of at least 8 kids on that team who at least received offers from D1 schools. Their current program doesn't have anything remotely close to that.

Mills left Sealy for the same reasons Bludau left Columbus. They saw the talent pool was going dry and jumped ship before everything turned south. Thats just going to happen at schools with only 500-600 kids. The powers shift and Im sure both programs will be in the spotlight once again one day.

People always want to give TJ Mills so much credit for being such a great coach but they forget he coached at Sealy for 15 years before he won anything. He had a rush of incredible talent through a 3A school and give him and his staff (he had a wonderful staff in those days) credit for getting the absolute most out of that talent that they could.

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by DaRaiderz
False. The district lines between Columbus and Rice have not changed at all. Even if they did, nobody really lives between Altair and Columbus where a change in the lines would send a large group of kids one way or the other. Its nothing but gravel pits between Altair and Columbus. Columbus' problems hinge entirely on the fact that there aren't any Schobel's walking the halls currently. They have no talent at the skill positions. Give them 12 years and the new wave of Schobels will arrive and they will be back on the map.




COMPLETELY not true. Sealy's current talent is not even in the same ballpark as their teams in the early 1990's. The Sealy class of 1997 lost one football game in their life, in 7th grade. That goes a little beyond coaching, that tells me they had extremely supreme talent. On the Sealy team in 1995 (either 95 or 97 were their best team), I can think of at least 8 kids on that team who at least received offers from D1 schools. Their current program doesn't have anything remotely close to that.

Mills left Sealy for the same reasons Bludau left Columbus. They saw the talent pool was going dry and jumped ship before everything turned south. Thats just going to happen at schools with only 500-600 kids. The powers shift and Im sure both programs will be in the spotlight once again one day.

People always want to give TJ Mills so much credit for being such a great coach but they forget he coached at Sealy for 15 years before he won anything. He had a rush of incredible talent through a 3A school and give him and his staff (he had a wonderful staff in those days) credit for getting the absolute most out of that talent that they could.

The class of '97 only lost one game which was in 7th grade or the class of '98 (season '97)???

No, it the talent may not be the same, but having seen these kids play every year (minus this year) and seeing the ones in the mid to late 90's play I'd have to say they're not TOO far off...

'99 was most likely the most-talent team Sealy had (when it came to size and speed), and they didn't win it...

No, there are no Derek Curry's there right now, but there are some Joyners etc (and no I'm not talkin' eligibility issue-wise)...

when it comes to Talent, Sealy still has a lot more than a lot of the teams that make the playoffs...

my opinion is that Mills took some of the mojo with him...