This should not be read as yet another complainer whining about boundary vs. non-boundary teams. St. Joe's Prep is not your ordinary non-boundary school. Most non-boundary schools get their athletes from an approximate 30 min radius within their state. SJP radius is never-ending and they get kids from Philly, the greater Philly area, the state of Delaware, and several parts of New Jersey. In fact, 25 players on their current roster are from New Jersey! To add to this madness, 6-7 of them start on offense and 5-6 of them start on defense! In fact, SJP's starting offensive line are ALL FROM NEW JERSEY except the center!!!! That is downright ridiculous. So a public school has to compete not only against kids from all over the region near SJP but also has to compete against New Jersey kids too??? This is not an argument about boundary vs. non-boundary it's about how SJP makes a mockery of the PIAA. They humiliated GV the other night. That game should never take place because GV should not have to compete against kids from other states TOO. The whole thing is a joke. PIAA State Champs and you live in Vineland, NJ or Cinnaminson, NJ or Wilmington DE?
Just not sure what SJP gets out of beating up on teams that they SHOULD beat up every year. Why not play UP to your competition. Why play a "national schedule" only to come back to the PIAA and demolish a boundary-strapped school? SJP would survive just fine playing against the Don Bosco, St. Francis, St. Peter's Prep, DePaul Catholic, Paramus Catholic, St. Joseph, Blair Academy, Wyoming Seminary, LaSalle, Bergen Catholic, St. Johns, and Ceasar Rodney. That's 12 teams to choose from. Then have their very own regional championship much like Blair Academy does in wrestling.
What the PIAA should do regarding the playoffs is seed the state playoff contenders at each classification 1 thru 8. Then re-seed after the quarter-final round. This would avoid the same district matchups year after year and mix up the state championship process. This format currently is not working nor is the idea that it makes sense to have SJP in the mix! They should win every year! It's not coaching. It's taking in the best 22 kids from 20 different NJ high schools, a few from Delaware, and spreading them amongst the other 45-50 kids from the Philly region, the largest region in the northeast outside of NYC! When you really look at the arrangement, it was impressive what Freedom High School accomplished two weeks ago! Change is needed.
Just not sure what SJP gets out of beating up on teams that they SHOULD beat up every year. Why not play UP to your competition. Why play a "national schedule" only to come back to the PIAA and demolish a boundary-strapped school? SJP would survive just fine playing against the Don Bosco, St. Francis, St. Peter's Prep, DePaul Catholic, Paramus Catholic, St. Joseph, Blair Academy, Wyoming Seminary, LaSalle, Bergen Catholic, St. Johns, and Ceasar Rodney. That's 12 teams to choose from. Then have their very own regional championship much like Blair Academy does in wrestling.
What the PIAA should do regarding the playoffs is seed the state playoff contenders at each classification 1 thru 8. Then re-seed after the quarter-final round. This would avoid the same district matchups year after year and mix up the state championship process. This format currently is not working nor is the idea that it makes sense to have SJP in the mix! They should win every year! It's not coaching. It's taking in the best 22 kids from 20 different NJ high schools, a few from Delaware, and spreading them amongst the other 45-50 kids from the Philly region, the largest region in the northeast outside of NYC! When you really look at the arrangement, it was impressive what Freedom High School accomplished two weeks ago! Change is needed.