Ridley Week 2

[Joe_Kane]

I'm seeing on easternpafootball.com that Ridley currently has an open date for Week 2 on 9/11; but I'm also hearing rumblings that that date could be filled by Springfield in a non-league capacity. Can anyone confirm this? Speed, looking in your direction.

If true, I'm not sure how I feel about this move. So the Central League goes to 8 league games to allow teams to schedule more non-conference games, and then you fill that void by scheduling a AAA opponent from your own league (which would count as a non-league game)? I guess its nice to keep the "rivalry" alive since they haven't played in the past few years; but I think Ridley could've gotten a bit more creative with the scheduling.

 

[SPEED&JUMP DR.]

Joe( and others):

It is still up in the air at this point. When the Central League went to an 8 game schedule starting in 2015 it meant one less crossover game (AAAA vs. AAA) for each team, freeing up an open date to schedule another non league game. So not every AAAA wouldf play every AAA in a given year. Some schools balked at this arrangement as it would affect some long standing AAAA/AAA rivalries( SHaven v Penncrest, LM v. Radnor, etc) since it would not be a leauge game that is played every year. As a compromise, the League AD's offered as a compromise the "rivalry game" concept whereby longstanding rivals could play every year as a 9th game assuring the rivaly games continue every year.

Some of the teams without any natural rival games then questioned this set up. Is the 9th game-the rivalry game-a league game or a non-league game? Is it a league game only when it falls withing the normal AAAA/AAA rotation as part of the 8 game league schedule and a non league game when its the 9th game of the season? Depending on those answers, some teams could have 8 league games, some 9.

In the course of all this, Springfield desginated Ridley as its natural rival to be played in weekj 2 of the upcoming season. Ridley , on the other hand , did not designate a natural rival and went out and scheduled a home and home series with Bishop Shanahan ( I know-another AAA school-which is a topic for another thread). The league is putting pressure on Ridley to play Springfield for obvous reasons. Ridley was looking forward to some flexiblity in being able to schedule another non league game and would rather keep Shanahan. To further complicate matters, the Ridley AD retired in May and the position has not been filled on a full time basis. And both Springfield and Shanahan are both showing open dates as well in Week 2-so the matter is unresolved as of now for all3 schools and one school( Springfield or Shanahan) could be looking at an open date for good depending oh which way Ridley goes.

 

[ChesmontLeague1]

I would like to see Shanahan play Ridley but don't understand what the game accomplishes for either? Shanahan already plays a tough schedule w all AAAA schools and doesn't need another AAAA opponent. A winnable AA or AAA is what they should schedule. On the other hand why would Ridley an AAAA who many from that community pick as a district favorite want another AAA on the schedule? I would think they would want an AAAA school who is at least middle of road or better to solidify a playoff berth? A really good matchup would be Shanhan vs Springfield both went to playoffs and lost to Great Valley by almost identical scores.

 

[SPEED&JUMP DR.]

Chest

I agree it makes not much sense for Ridley. The AAAA schools in the Central were complaining thAt with too many AAA schools on the schedule it was hard to accumulate a lot of bonus points for playoff rankings compared to other leagues that play mostly a full AAAA schedule. To go out and schedule another AAA game does not make sense.

The kind logic behind scheduling the game was that Ridley has a few guys on the staff that were from Shanahan so there is a connection there. Also, , shanahans enrollment is trending up, so if it does become a long term series, the hope is that BS will be AAAA in the near future.

PS. I do not see Ridley as a district one contender this year.