I hope I'm wrong with this assesement but I think the days of parity in high school football are dying. I place no blame on any school, coach or fanbase but rather the value our society places on sports, winning and promoting the "individual" brand.
Teammates, loyalty and attachment to your community/school are gone. We must play where can either win or increase "our owns" chance of success. It happens in every region with your Fort Hills, Bridgeports, Martinsburg's, Fairmont Seniors. Mind you I am not blaming the schools, it is a societal issue.
You take one, two or even three kids from surrounding schools who are impact players and they play for the powerhouse school slowly but surely the other schools have a weaker roster, losses pile up and then the remaining players no longer want to invest their time and energy if they are not winning.
Programs then struggle to survive and some fold. Some of it is indeed coaching but not always. In all of the schools listed above they have been aided from players who moved, transferred or whater they call it nowdays to play for THE TEAM.
There is no team in our area that can provide Fort Hill with a competitive series year in and year out. You might get a good game occasionally but that is not the norm. The same could be said of Martinsburg until the area became so densly poulated that Spring Mills was able to make a move.
I know I will get blasted for this but if we think what this may lead to, in a few years it could change high school football drastically. I know my values are traditional but you also must think about what we are teaching our student athletes and how it will impact them in the game that truly marks their future and that is the game of life.
