tulla- i can chime in on the topic of Ohio football- yes stronger than PA in recent years imo. Pine Richland has lost 2 straight to Pickerington North (PN) in week 1 Exhib games- they are pretty impressive- a winning program, but seems to "never quite" win championships. Last year we got pounded, this year, little closer. So, PR being one of the better programs in PA, is a few steps below a team that is not top 5. Not sure why- but it seems like the "overall statewide" quality of Ohio football has gotten stronger than most of PA. Also supported by PA no longer facing Ohio in the "once prestigious" Big 33 all-star game.
Any information on st Joes schedule 2024
- Thread starter lilromeo
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Probably the main reason Ohio Football is stronger than Pa. On a team by team comparison is that Ohio students can transfer to districts that are contiguous to their own. Students that are in bordering districts can transfer without moving into the district they will play for. This is a voluntary program and all districts do not have to sign on. I have a friend whose grandchildren are doing this now. This is public schools, private schools do what they do here.
no facility, practice field, or close commute is going to give kids the size, speed, and athleticism that is all over the SJP roster
you are either born with that or not
Peters Township just had the best season in school history
their new high school was built about 3 years ago, and they play and practice at their old high school about a mile down the road
Homewood is arguably the worst town in all of Pittsburgh, it's in the news almost weekly for all the wrong reasons
I mean, St. Ed's did go from 4-6 in Finotti's first year to the undefeated state champions and ranked #2 in the country in his second season. And were 6-4 an 4-5 in the two years before Finotti. If that's not a sudden emergence, I don't know what is. But you're right, they didn't totally and completely pass St. Ignatius and Archbishop Moeller until the last five years or so.
I don't follow Ohio football anywhere near as closely as I did when I lived there. My mom went to Upper Arlington and her brothers played for the Golden Bears (huge public school outside in Columbus, kind of like Parkland or North Allegheny) and I tend to know how they're doing (St. Ed's beat them in the final four last year). But I'd agree that Ohio football has been stronger than PA.
On the individual side, I don't know how to explain that - but Ohio has churned out more top end FBS recruits over the last 10 years that PA, on average they have 13 4/5 stars in state since 2014 where PA is averaging more like 8. I don't have a good theory on that.
On the team side, I do think that Ohio benefits from having way more private schools spread throughout the state. You have robust private school conferences in Cleveland (St. Ed's, St. Ignatius, Benedictine) and Cincinnati (Moeller, Elder, St. X, LaSalle) that concentrate most of the talent in those cities, which have tons of football players. But Toledo Central Catholic is elite in their division, Cardinal Mooney in Youngstown, Hoban in Akron, and I'm sure others I'm not thinking of. The only major metro part of the state that isn't dominated by private schools is Columbus, where Hartley and De Sales have had their moments, but the story of Columbus football has been places where farmland has turned into sprawling housing developments - that's why Upper Arlington dominated for generations, then why Dublin Coffman (Brady Quinn) and Scioto blew up when Dublin tripled in population in the '90s and '00s, and the same thing has happened in Pickerington in the '00s and '10s, which has turned Pick North and Pick Central into elite programs.
Rover,
I remember St. Edward's as having solid teams around 2005 to 2015 when their games with St. Ignatius were called "the holy war." But my memory isn't what it used to be!
I also remember hearing a lot about Glenville and, for a few years, Hilliard-Davidson.
So- regarding SJP, and the teams they play-
tulla i was just looking at previous SJP schedules on maxpreps- it kinda looks like 2015/2016 they started getting some bigger opponents like IMG. Is that about right? Also seems to be that time frame to start getting national ranking. Was Infante the "push" behind that, was it boosters and alumni, or "all of the above?"
SJP has almost always played teams from outside SE PA at least once a year. Sometimes it was other Jesuit schools (Loyola Baltimore or St. Peter's from Jersey City) and sometimes it was south Jersey schools (Holy Cross, Gloucester Catholic). In the late 90's and first years of this decade Gil Brooks had them playing tougher SE PA teams (CBW, North Penn, and Neshaminy) and very good teams from outside SEPA, eg. Gillman from Baltimore and Brooklyn Poly when they had really strong teams, PCC in 2004, St. Ignatius, Bosco, Hilliard Davidson, etc. Infante started taking them to one "long trip" a year beginning in 2012 when they went to FL to play Cocoa. they played Dallas Jesuit in 2013, a Chicago team in '14, Evangel in LA in 2015, and Oaks Christian in CA in 2016. He also had them play more games against north Jersey teams (St. Joe's Regional as well as Bosco and St. Peter's) and games against DC area teams (St. John's , Good Counsel and Gonzaga). They've played IMG just twice ('19 and '23).
St. Ed’s and St Ignatius have been calling their games the Holy War probably since Ed’s opened! And that’s in all sports, that is the private school rivalry in Cleveland and always has been. But Ed’s in the 1990s was: 4-6, 7-3, 3-6, 7-2, 6-4, 8-2, 8-3, 6-4, 5-4, 4-6 (one state playoff) Then in the 200s: 6-4, 11-1, 11-4 (runner-up), 11-1 (but had to forfeit 4 games for using an illegal transfer), 12-1, 9-2, 4-5, 6-5, 4-6, 14-0 (state champs, national #2). So a better run than I remembered in 2001-2004.
So Glenville is like Imhotep - it is an open enrollment program in Cleveland that is part of the public school system, but gets kids totally different. Most of the football stars at Glenville are part of the Ginn Academy, run by the father of longtime NFL receiver Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn Sr. is also the football coach, and Ginn Academy is a program for at risk youth in Cleveland. Were talking super high poverty, kids in the foster system, kids in the juvenile justice system, etc. Ginn Sr. has had great football teams, but also gets a lot of credit for doing a lot of good in the world. He and Jim Tressel are very close, and Tress used to recruit the hell out of Glenville, particularly taking kids on the advice of Ginn, who may have been higher risk, but Ginn vouched for. Glenville also only has one state title - like Imhotep they’ve had stretches where they’ve been super talented, but would hit roadblocks deep into the state tournament against teams that were good, but often better organized (penalties, special teams, etc). Notable Glenville kids are Ted Ginn Jr., Troy Smith, Donte Whitner, Cardale Jones, Marshon Lattimore, and Frank Clark.
Hilliard Davidson is another huge public school that used to be farmland outside of Columbus. Hilliard and Dublin were the first two townships to really explode in size, with Pickerington (and Westerville to a lesser extent) following suit. Again, Columbus doesn’t have the same deep rooted, successful Profar school programs in the way Cleveland, Cincy, Youngstown, and Toledo do. The other place where public’s dominate is Canton, where McKinley and Massolin have been awesome basically since they were wearing leather helmets.
So, the program looking to play IMG would that have been Infante? Or, boosters, alumni- or all of the above?
As far as I know, there's no boosters group at SJP like there is at some other schools. If there is, it doesn't make itself known to the Prep community. I know some alumni are really interested in and supportive of the football program, but it varies quite a bit. When I went to a major reunion in 2022, almost none of those present said they regularly or even semi-regularly attended games, but that was no doubt partly because they are geographically quite spread out--including in western, midwestern, and southern states. I know there are a relatively small number of alumni who make significant financial contributions to the football program, but a much larger number who make small contributions and generally take some pleasure or satisfaction in the team's success.
I think the administration looks at the football program partly as a way to market the school. Tuition is a lot higher than it used to be--partly because there are very few Jesuits on staff--and you no longer have lots of families with three, four, or five boys and a commitment to send them all to Catholic schools. So the football team helps give name recognition to the school and its success reinforces the association between the school and excellence. At least that's the idea. There are also obvious risks in having such a high-profile program.
I think it was mainly Infante who drove the more ambitious scheduling, but of course he's been gone for over five years. Roken has continued in the same vein. interesting to see what they do for 2024.
Saw this reposted by a WPIAL football account, but 8th graders posting commitment videos to SJP is not the look that’s going to keep people less mad.
Also see that the other person who reposted it is an incoming 6’4 220 defensive lineman whose highlight video is getting tweeted out by big national recruiting analysts (Mike Farrell from Rivals). Machine keeps churning.
Played for Little Quakers, Brick City (Newark, NJ) AND a CYO team, simultaneously, according to Twitter.
5’10 d tackle is nothing to balk over. Kids do this bc they think it’s cool when seniors do it. Majority of the highly touted middle schoolers entering hs don’t pan out. This isn’t unique to sjp. I’ve seen every school down here with 8th grade committing post. Bit excessive but if it makes the kids happy , let them have it.
commitment announcement by an 8th grader? cmon, this cannot be viewed as "okay." This has not and will not ever happen in 99% of PA schools. So, yea in a way it IS unique to SJP- maybe common in D12? And is SJP "helping them" with their recruiting info, video clips? Some colleges do not even do that. Middle School? These are as young as 13 and 14 years old kids. There are rules and laws to protect kids (less than 18), from exploitation- making this "okay" is the opposite of doing that. But, at the end of the day, it does not surprise me- trainers, 7v7, NIL sponsers, and FBS college recruiters are all about $$, trying to get the biggest name kids, booster $, and TV contracts- using 17 yr old kids to get more $$, now starting at middle school? ugh
It’s just the way the sport is going. The schools have nothing to do with it. If so I get why that would be frowned upon. D12 or PIAA can’t tell parents what to do with their children. You have college coaches verbally offering 8th graders. 7v7 is becoming only about exposure and not much football being played. Kids with 10 different hats at signing day all for attention.
You're right. I've never heard of any high school, including SJP, being involved with this sort of thing. What struck me was the kid advertising his gpa--must be his 7th grade gpa. That tells you a lot!
See this kinda often for prep Roman and Imhotep. And usually they tag some equally young burgeoning graphic artist. Don’t think the schools have anything to do with it, and it’s often not the kids whose names you’ll be hearing for years to come
Thier football recruiting is getting out of hand. Unbelievable.
ok, so he found his own graphic of SJP and found a SJP jersey "on his own" to take a picture? Ok.... btw other current SJP kids re-posted his picture?? C,mon. So let's pretend that SJP had nothing to do w this. IF they told him that "recruiting 8th graders was not ok" then SJP couldv and shouldv told him NOT to announce this is an "offer/commitment." I'm sorry RCH, i just don't buy it, that someone from SJP did not encourage this, or say "go for it."
I’d say this board is majority baby boomers, gen x and the occasional silent generation member. Twitter is where you find millennials and zoomers. So to answer your question, yes most people here are geriatrics
That’s not a prep jersey. Just out of curiosity have you ever heard of photoshop. Of course their current players will repost it once he tagged sjp. I’m all for being mad at sjp, if that’s the way you feel. This is one of those things that cost nothing and every school could engage in it. This is not an advantage and at Roman we do it too. It’s no different than colleges allowing players to take pics in their jerseys. It’s not solely tied to one school and players love it. So if I’m an AD and players that enroll in my school want to make post like this I would encourage it.
Does SJP play Lakeland this year? All I can find is Lakeland opening with Miami Central who finally agreed to play them. Florida dropped the M/S Classifications and is back to the 1A - 7A class designations. Lakeland is a 5A.
If any openings left on SJP's schedule and looking to play top shelf comp, here are a few egs from the various classes.
7A Columbus, Venice
6A Armwood, Mandarin
5A STA, Lakeland
4A Plantation, St. Augustine
3A Miami Central, Bishop Moore
2A Berkeley Prep, Booker T. Washington
1A Chaminade Madonna, Clearwater Central Catholic
If any openings left on SJP's schedule and looking to play top shelf comp, here are a few egs from the various classes.
7A Columbus, Venice
6A Armwood, Mandarin
5A STA, Lakeland
4A Plantation, St. Augustine
3A Miami Central, Bishop Moore
2A Berkeley Prep, Booker T. Washington
1A Chaminade Madonna, Clearwater Central Catholic
From what I heard sjp schedule is 90% complete. Don’t think they’re going southeast this yr I’m hearing Midwest and west. Looked on beast of the east and sjp isn’t on there. Img will play Bergen at the shore instead.
