High school football league does it right

I was pleased to see the Northeast Kings Titans not only make the playoffs in the NSSAF high school football league, but win their playoff quarterfinal against Cole Harbour.

To a first-year program like NKEC, the win allowed the Titans to salvage some positives after a regular season in which they lost seven of eight games.

Like their lone win of the regular season, it came against Cole Harbour, a team that, while not among the league powerhouses, has still been playing high school football longer than NKEC.

Avon View went 2-6 in its first season, also a respectable record for an expansion team. Both of the Avon View wins came against NKEC, and the Avalanche lost their playoff quarterfinal to C.P. Allen.

With their win, the Titans advanced to a Tier 2 semifinal meeting with Lockview Monday, and I have to agree with Titans' co-head coach and defensive co-ordinator Wally Archer, win or lose, it has still been a great inaugural season.

The goals were to have the players learn the game, play as well as they could and be able to hold their heads up, develop a loyal fan base and, hopefully, win a game or two along the way.

Individually, defensive lineman Alex Sarsfield and defensive back Andrew Stirling were named to the Tier 2 all-star team, and Marco Visentin was named Special Teams Player of the Year. The individual stats and recognition, though, pale in comparison to the strides NKEC football has made as a team.

As Archer points out, success for a first-year team, in any sport, “has to be measured in terms of more than simply wins and losses.�

The Titans were competitive in the majority of their losses, and in even the one or two lopsided defeats they suffered, they learned.

Late in the season, the coaching staff made a number of personnel changes aimed at shaking up the offense. The players, as they had with the entire concept of high school football, readily embraced the changes. The results weren't immediately noticeable against a talented Dr. J.H. Gillis team, but showed up in spades against Cole Harbour, a team from NKEC's own Tier 2 division.

By the way, that's one thing I liked about the reorganization of the provincial high school football league this year. There were getting to be so many schools from outside the Metro area - five at last count, with another (Horton) likely as soon as next fall - the Metro High School league was reorganized into the NSSAF provincial high school football league to reflect that growth.

Recognizing that all programs weren't created equal, the schedule makers took the step of dividing the league into two tiers.

This allowed the expansion teams - and newer, less-competitive established teams like Cole Harbour and Lockview - the luxury of playing the majority of their games against each other, rather than beating themselves up with little or no chance of winning or even learning anything.

Each of the Tier 2 teams also got in a pair of games against Tier 1 opponents - NKEC's were against QEH and Dr. Gillis, with predictable results - that permitted them a glimpse of the direction they would need to take to become competitive in the long run.

At the conclusion of the regular season, each division had its own playoff schedule and declared its own champion, meaning NKEC and Avon View had the same chance of winning as the other Tier 2 schools.

This was exactly the way to go. The established programs didn't get to clean up against the expansion teams, possibly skewing the league standings in the process, and the new teams didn't have to suffer the negative impact of a host of lopsided losses.

Allowing all Tier 2 teams at least one play-off matchup afforded them a little reward and, for those who won - like NKEC - a little extra.

Because their first-year experience was generally a positive one, NKEC and Avon View will likely see their programs continue to develop in a positive way, likely lessening the time it will take for them to become truly competitive with anyone in the league.

I liked what I saw of NKEC football - and the little bit I saw of Avon View. I hope both programs have long and successful experiences playing high school football, and that Horton and maybe even other Valley schools will be able to join them.

Football is an expensive sport to play, but anyone who has played it will tell you there are lots of positives to be gained by including it on your school's slate.