You drop the football because you are expected to drop the football. FH is expect to win homecoming by 3 scores and a championship. So they will. Players are expected to not want to face FH in a game so they quit - they quit rather than lose by 30 points to a team that is getting most of the cties' talent... and they know it. Times have changed. There is no dignity in playing for Allegany regardless of the outcome of the game. My generation is gone. Families move to FH to get a ring and Alco players quit rather than play a lopsided BS game that has lost its meaning.
Unfortunately this scenario is beginning to play out at even the pee-wee level. I spoke with some friends who have children playing on a cumberland pee-wee squad that feeds Fort Hill. They told me that they have several players from WV and other teams playing for the Saints because they want to one day play for Fort Hill.
I have talked with people who have moved to Cumberland for that reason, so their sons can play at Fort Hill. What once occured at the high school level, then the middle school level now is happening even earlier.
In no way am I implying that Fort Hill is recruiting, they are NOT! These actions are initiated by the parents. Young people do not think that way, they are not mature enough yet.
It not only happens here but pretty much almost everywhere. The concern I have is the way it throws off the parity of local high school football. Can anyone but Keyser on an occasional year compete with Fort Hill? No, not even close. How about Martinsburg in the eastern panhandle of WV? No.
As this scenario continues to unfold combined with students who overall are less interested in playing football (just check out local rosters or for that fact rosters in many other places) the future for football is concerning. It is very concerning in those areas like Cumberland in which population is declining.
The most unfortunate observation I have always seen in high school and youth sports is that the adults take a great thing and ruin it for their kids and many other kids too. Before I close I would like to say that these statements are merely my opinion and in no way am I disgracing Fort Hill, Allegany or any other local school, it is happening everywhere.
